We need a culture change - a big one. Today I was listening to NPRs Diane Rehm show as she talked with drug experts about the rise in heroin use (80%) in the last 5 years, and lamenting the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. I started to think about how many Drug Overdoses kill incredible artists and wondered why the arts are such a sickbed for this specific kind of loss. And then I began to realize how much power an audience has. How many film producers offer contracts to actors that they KNOW have a drug problem? How many record labels continue to give an artist an advance on an album, with the same knowledge? How many audience members listen to a top forty song on repeat that they know is put out by an artist who has relapsed, yet again? Our eyes and our ears are incredibly powerful. The success of a television show or movie is based on VIEWS. Top forty is decided by how many times we LISTEN. Who and what we give our AUDIENCE to is a big deal. And as a society, we continue to make it socially acceptable for artists to participate in self-harm. We chuckle at Amanda Bynes and videos of her get, not thousands, but MILLIONS of hits. Its not about forcing morality, its about saving lives. Dont give your audience to things you dont agree with - and do your research. If you dont like the kind of role model an artist is, you better not buy their album, because you know what that little purchase on their iTunes account, or royalty check or whatever means to them?? - that theyre doing things well, people approve of their choices and they better keep it up. BE A SMART CONSUMER, for your sake, for those you influence and for the sake of the artist. The sooner we make it clear that these kind of drug habits are completely unacceptable (and profitless), the sooner we get the Philip Seymour Hoffmans and Amy Winehouses and Heath Ledgers and Judy Garlands and Chris Farleys and Marilyn Monroes etc... to get it together and stick around.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Feb 2014 21:28:28 +0000
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