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Just over a decade since the tragic death of Amy Winehouse, a film promising to chart her ‘intense journey to fame’ was released. While some fans have delighted in seeing her legacy play out on screen, many have criticised director Sam Taylor-Johnson for exploiting female pain.
I vividly remember the day that Amy Winehouse died. Growing up, she was by far my favourite singer and despite being only 14-years-old, the news of her passing shook me to my core.
Though I didn’t really understand the intricacies of what led to her tragic death at the time, I do recall a thought that came to mind: “at least the media will leave her alone now.”
Just over a decade later, and I can’t tell you how sad it makes me that this did not transpire – quite the opposite in fact.
Back in 2011, some of the UK’s most trusted publications latched onto the story that her struggle with eating disorders and substance abuse were to blame for her untimely passing at the age I am today, keeping her under public scrutiny that she couldn’t even defend herself against.
Fortunately, the frenzy surrounding this would eventually fade into the background, as is often the case when something more interesting pops up.
Emily Ratajkowski slams ‘Blonde’ and people who ‘fetishize female pain’ in new TikTok:
“We love to fetishize female pain. Look at Amy Winehouse, look at Britney Spears, look at the way we obsess over Diana’s death.” pic.twitter.com/0iWRPRpwVG
— Pop Base (@PopBase) October 1, 2022
And of course, in the digital age, there’s no shortage of sensationalist narratives to find and profit from, so headlines throwing around the words ‘junkie’ and ‘addiction’ and ‘big problems’ were archived as quickly as they’d reared their ugly heads.
Unfortunately, while you might not encounter quite-so-blatant displays of hardship exploitation on the homepages of your go-to news sources in 2024, they still very much exist, except now they’re known as clickbait, which most of us netizens are acutely conscious we should steer clear from buying into.
What we don’t ignore so easily, however, is popular culture’s involvement in perpetuating this issue.
In the past few years alone, we’ve had Bohemian Rhapsody, two Elvis movies, Maestro, One Love, Blonde, and Rocketman.
Designed to satiate the apparently unabating appetites of adoring fans, they exemplify Hollywood’s latest obsession with making millions off of music biopics (Michael Jackson’s, Bob Dylan’s, and each individual member of the Beatles’ are currently in the production pipeline) and have proved hugely successful in box office terms.
First official look at Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. pic.twitter.com/VyKHStMGfS
— cinesthetic. (@TheCinesthetic) March 27, 2024
Clearly, we enjoy these hours-long insights into the lives of the rich and famous – even more so if they have a dark side.
