Celebrity Lives Tainted by Drugs

By Feliz Moreno

With the tragic death of Whitney Houston this past weekend, I couldn't help but reflect on the legacies of celebrities who have died in recent months. Of the recent celebrities whose deaths have been widely acknowledged in the media. How many of them were known for being superior role models? None.

Beginning with the death of Michael Jackson in June of 2009 many celebrity deaths have followed: Amy Winehouse drank herself to death in July 2011, singer Etta James died of leukemia earlier this year and now Whitney Houston.

It is no question that Americans love their celebrities, but we particularly love celebrities of the entertainment realm. All four of the people previously mentioned ­had remarkable talent when it came to singing and entertaining. And while all four will be remembered and recognized for that, all four also had other aspects of their lives for which they will be remembered.

Let's not forget that, while he was alive, Jackson was arguably one of the most controversial American celebrities after being put on trial for his alleged misconduct with children on the Neverland Valley Ranch.

Winehouse was a small woman with a big voice and an even bigger drug problem. James was just as notorious for her singing ability as for her heroin problem, and Houston's vice was crack-cocaine.

I think their talents have earned them a well-deserved spot in the hearts of Americans, but their controversies are what earned them a spot in our memories. Now, I would be the first to applaud these artists for their contributions to modern music and culture, and I am personally a huge fan of the music produced by all four of them. They are recognized more after their deaths because while they were alive, we couldn't forget the social issues they were associated with.

You can argue that they are recognized because they were so great at what they did, because they had a large fan base or because they produced timeless music.

Or you can even argue that Jackson, James and Houston are remembered for the strides they made in the media for the black community, which would also be true. But Patricia Stephens Due, a black civil rights leader of the sixties who lived the latter half of her life partially blind from tear gas that was used to disband the sit-ins she protested at, made more progress for the black community than they ever did and she died nine days ago with barely a mention. Or you can argue that they are remembered for having addiction problems.

Let's face it, celebrities who do good things and live nice, non-controversial lives are boring. I think it says a lot about our American values that the musicians we have idolized for generations — Elvis Presley, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, Janis Joplin (just to name a few) — all had very public, very serious drug dependencies and personal issues that they dealt with throughout their lives. The people a society chooses to idolize say a lot about its culture.

I am in no way trying to discredit the fame of these celebrities. All I'm saying is that, amidst all this drug and alcohol use, let's not forget all the Andy Rooney's and the Jeffrey Zaslow's — people who undeniably did more good than harm while they were alive.

If we are going to recognize artists who had genuine talents, but weren't great role models in their personal lives, let's remember why they are being recognized in death more than they were acknowledged while they were alive.

Feliz Moreno is a sophomore English major and editor of the Opinion section.