Being a musician in the media spotlight obviously has its perks – but when things start going down hill, which it often does, the media will be right there by your side, and not to soften the blow – mainly to aid it.
Musicians such as Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty are two of the media’s main targets at the moment. However, there have been examples of more sympathetic views towards Winehouse.
Okay, Winehouse has had her fair share of insults thrown at her via the media – but essentially she is now pretty much in the same shoes as the ex-Libertines rocker Doherty.
For obvious reasons the media loves to hate Doherty – he’s a drug-addict, he’s filthy rich, he’s been in prison, and for some reason has still managed to attract the likes of Kate Moss. How does he do it?
But let’s be honest – Amy Winehouse is a drug-addict and she’s probably equally as rich and yet for some strange reason people seem to be more sympathetic towards her. Yes, her husband Blake is in prison and yes she’s very talented but that doesn’t excuse her behaviour.
Not too long ago Winehouse appeared on BBC’s Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and not only was she completely intoxicated but she was inexcusably rude and generally an embarrassment to herself and the people who spend their hard-earned cash buying her records.
But many people’s excuse for Amy is often that she is so talented but a little misguided, oh and look she’s lost so much weight (yeah that’ll be because of all the drugs!) and she must be so heartbroken what with Blake in prison and everything.
If Amy wanted to get back on track with her life and live free of drugs then she certainly has the money to check-in somewhere like the Priory for rehab. But she hasn’t done that – instead she continues to make public appearances in a drugs or alcohol-induced state.
The last time Doherty appeared on the Jonathon Ross show on BBC it was sadly clear to see that it may be verging on too late for him to make a recovery – he made little sense and seems to be all over the place.
Of course there are many Pete Doherty fans out there that defend him because of the quality of his music, but a large percentage of his fans accept that he’s a junkie because that was almost an accompaniment to his music and lifestyle with Babyshambles and the Libertines. It’s not an excuse of course, but the music associated with the Libertines is a far cry from Amy Winehouse’ hits.
Perhaps there is a more simple reason why at times the media favour Winehouse over Doherty: she is a woman. Often the public together with the media dislike men who are trouble, and there is no denying that Pete Doherty is indeed trouble.
You wouldn’t bring him home to meet your parents really would you?
In a lot of the gossip magazines and tabloids Amy has been pictured looking painfully thin and depicted as a grieving woman over her husbands’ imprisonment. The reality is that a large part of the reason Amy is so thin is because of her drug habit.
Drugs are a huge problem in today’s society, and people’s reasons for getting into them differ from person to person.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean that one drug addict is worse or better than the other.
Get a grip of your public image, contact Media Mentor on 0800 032 1127.
August 13th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Pete Doherty filthy rich?
Had you have done any research on this you would have easily established that Pete is FAR from ‘rich’, he has himself recently admitted that he’s not really made any money from Babyshambles, despite successful tours, singles, albums. He reportedly earnt £30K last year.
Where does all the money go? Hmmm, straight up his nose I would suspect.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Any Libertines fan would prefer the Libertines with Pete, without the smack. Mrs Brown has done nothing to enhance the Libertines, Peter Doherty, or his music – in fact it is the reason he was cast out of the band leading to their ultimate demise and no real fan can see his gruesome spiral into oblivion as a good thing, and it has robbed music fans of one of the most exciting band of a generation.
This is borne out by the fact that neither bands emerging from the burning embers of the Libertines have reached the heights of their previous efforts by any stretch of the imagination, and Pete is a sorry replica of the promising young talent that set sail upon the good ship Albion with Carl and the boys in the band.
Drugs have left him a burnt out shell of a man, with a voice now much weaker than he used to muster.
Another example of woman being treated more favourably than the males in the John Leslie debacle?
Leslie lost his career over drugs and lewd sexual encounters paraded for Joe publics amusement, and Abi Titsmuss gained a career, and a huge pile of cash from her efforts in said filmed fun and games.
Obviously there was the added element of the accusations against Leslie, which although proven not guilty on two occasions have served to bring an end to his career on the box. I’m not saying this is wrong, as he obviously didn’t maintain the kind of image required to enjoy longevity in the public domain, however, innocent until proven guilty was a concept overlooked during the trial by media which is so often apparent in the UK today.
Another case in point is Kate Moss. A perpetual tart with a drug habit, endless partners on the go and a kid – but a multi million pound a year career, a party girl tag, and she’s alright, our Kate – or so it seems in the eyes of the media.
During the beauty and the beast relationship shared by Pete and Kate she was often cast as the pure virginal saint in the matter being led astray by the evil junkie rocker. In fact, Kate had been caning it for years before Pete was even known, yet he was cast as the villain, a potentially dangerous influence on Kates poor wee daughter. What about her mother? Another case of double standards?