(no subject)

[coldblossom.livejournal.com]

Am I the only one who is feeling like the general Hollywood grief over the admittedly tragic death of Whitney Houston seems a bit...hollow?

I don't mean that its not authentic or deeply felt, but to me the pre-Grammy party is the perfect metaphor for Hollywood's true attitude for drug abuse: while the authorities were upstairs taking custody of Whitney Houston's body and gathering evidence, the party carried on four floors below.

Sure there were prayers offered, and I think I read someone sang an a capella tribute, but did anyone take a step back and examine the hard-partying lifestyle that is so ingrained into Hollywood nobody can identify it as a seperate entity anymore?

It seems like everytime a celebrity dies like this, there is the required outpouring of grief and support, along with the fond memories and lamentations of "I saw this coming." Everyone acknowledges that the problem with substance abuse (both legal and illegal) is endemic to Hollywood.and celebrity culture in general, yet nobody of influence steps up to say that the culture needs to be changed. I don't hear about directors or producers requiring a drug-free work environment. I don't hear about doctors being held responsible for allowing their celebrity patients to strong-arm them into prescribing medications they don't need or medicines they do need but without carefully monitorinig usage.

If everyone is so "grief stricken," and if this is so "tragic," then why don't any of these influential people who are happy to butt into our personal business with their various advocacy projects turn their gaze inward and stop treating drug abuse like it is a joke? Like it is a given that if you work in "the industry" you must also be a user? Why do they tolerate (even encourage) people like Lindsay Lohan and now Miley Cirus (who will be next, Justin Bieber?) to behave recklessly rather than coming down hard and putting zero-tolerance for substance abuse into their contracts? Refusing to work with them? Doing random drug-tests like the any other employer and firing them if they fail? Why can't someone like James Cameron or Steven Speilberg say, "this is a drug-free set. There will be random testing during production and if you fail, you're out and you're reimbursing me. If I catch you on TMZ driving your car into a wall, you're out and you're reimbursing me." Instead they all look the other way until the person finally kills himself and then they shake their heads and discuss the tragic loss over cocktails.

I am sorry about the length of this rant here, but Hollywood is so ridiculously fake and this scenario repeats itself so often that I am tired of hearing all of the faux concern and seeing the "remembrance specials" etc when nobody there does anything to prevent the next tragedy from happening. I understand that at the end of the day only Whitney Houston could choose whether or not to abuse drugs, legal or illegal. But there were a host of people along the way who pointed her in the right direction to get started, who put her in touch with the right people to get hooked, who gave her the drugs, and then watched as she self-destructed.