M D AmySon
By
Leonard Zwelling
If you want to see a slow motion but accelerating train
wreck, go see the new documentary Amy
by Asif Kapadia. In graphic, stark and ever more depressing detail, Mr. Kapadia
tells the story of the rise and fall and eventual death of one of the truly
most original artists of the past 50 years, Amy Winehouse.
While
often described as a pop or soul singer, she was truly a jazz artist capable of
writing complex music with poetic lyrics and then performing with a style all
her own that would put an ache in your heart and a smile on your face. Amy
Winehouse was great. And Amy Winehouse died at the age of 27 on July 23, 2011,
probably from having used up her body with alcohol, drugs and ever-faster
living. Like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Keith Moon, Brian
Jones and countless others before her, Amy Winehouse was too meteoric for this
world. She felt so much that she had to numb herself while all those around her
who should have been protecting her were using her as their meal ticket. It is
depressing in its inexorable eddy down the toilet bowl of her life, but it is
also celebratory of her music, her talent, and her spirit. She was the real
deal.
And,
like everything else, it seems, this film reminded me of MD Anderson.
Just
like Amy Winehouse, Anderson has had great zeniths, but of late, far too many
nadirs and like Amy, I fear MD Anderson may be at the rim of the bowl flushing
its past down the drain while taking its faculty with it.
The
recent White Paper makes it clear that the faculty recognizes the need for
change, literally for rehab, for the Leadership addicted to money. Yet the
Leadership answers like Amy did—”No, No, No.”
When
you see this movie, think how many points there were when just a little bit of
effort or intersession on the part of her family and friends could have saved
her. Think about what you can do to save MD Anderson. You know that we’re in
trouble and you know that they’re no good. But YOU can be!
