Before seeing her documentary, I already loved Amy Winehouse. It’s not easy for anyone to watch her decline and the events that led up to her death.
Winehouse’s drug problem was made into a laughing matter by the media when she was alive. It wasn’t until she passed away that people began to understand just how bad her drug addictions were.
The same talk show hosts that praised Winehouse when she first came into the spotlight were the same ones who later joked about her drug addiction.
Often times peers, family members or friends tend to overlook the seriousness of issues, such as drug addictions, that someone they know has.
Winehouse’s immediate family, her father in particular, initially liked the idea of having a documentary about Amy, until he saw the direction the documentary was taking.
Which isn’t surprising, considering the documentary suggests to viewers that Amy’s drug problem could have been avoided had her father made her health a priority instead of her money and fame.
If there’s one take away factor I got from this film, it’s that Amy Winehouse never wanted fame, she just wanted to make music.
Winehouse was blunt, and made it clear that fame was never something she would be able to handle. She didn’t care for fame, she cared about music.
Winehouse, no matter how many personal problems she faced, always remained an amazing vocalist. Despite her family and ex-husband pushing her very open drug addictions to the side, other people in Winehouse’s life didn’t.
Nick Shymansky, Amy’s old manager, treated her drug addiction with no sympathy. Shymansky, along with Amy’s close friends, Juliette Ashby and Lauren Gilbert, did everything they could to try and prevent their friend from falling down an even darker path.
Winehouse’s story should serve as an example to people everywhere that celebrities face real problems. Celebrities are just regular people placed on pedestals, and not even celebrity’s cries for help are always heard.
“Amy” (2015) is rated R for drug and alcohol use.
Kristina Martinez can be reached at [email protected] or @kristinacsuc on Twitter.
