… but do it right. That’s the message I’m getting.
I noticed the somewhat unsympathetic response to the news that “troubled” singer Amy Winehouse spent a night in hospital following an “adverse reaction to medication” on a local forum and I couldn’t help but compare it with the reaction to news of the death of Heath “Keith” Ledger early in the year.
Of course, as I noted, Keith has been in the news again recently with the release of his final film, The Dark Knight, over which gushing and enthusiastic noises are being made by those who know about such things.
I have to believe that if 24-year old Amy popped her clogs tomorrow, the general reaction would probably not be one of sympathy, surprise, shock and sorrow like we saw and heard ad nauseum for 28-year-old Ledger.
Why? Because we (the public) are apparently fed up of hearing about Amy’s much publicised problems, while Ledger had the grief athletes eating out of his hand by OD’ing completely out of the blue (I hesitate to use the phrase “quick and clean”, because according to some reports he had lost control of his bowels when he was found).
Thankfully, I’m already too old to fall into the latter category of the “Live Fast, Die Young” club. But the message is clear and simple – if you are a celebrity contemplating suicide as a career move; if you want to be remembered just for the good things you did in life and to have the ugly bits forgotten, don’t bother us with your troubles before you top yourself. Just do it.