As Always, the WSWS Has the Best Obituary Write-Ups

of public figures because the writers always look at the person's life in the context of bigger issues.

This morning the subject is Whitney Houston:

As we have noted many times, the worship of celebrity itself plays a deeply unhealthy role in the US. Under conditions in which masses of people have seen their living standards worsen, and official politics assumes an entirely unreal character, in which none of the major questions of life can find expression, the need to live vicariously through celebrities grows and helps to fill the vacuum. The media exploits this, promoting a voyeuristic fascination with figures like Houston, Michael Jackson or Lindsay Lohan.

When a celebrity, whose significance is blown far out of proportion, is then caught “slipping up” or showing signs of real human weakness, their status as an American icon is quickly revoked, and adoration turns into anger and resentment. The media leads the way in the vindictive demand for accountability and punishment. The entire cynical process is itself a big business.

For years, reports on the scandals of Houston and husband Bobby Brown, including rumors of drug abuse and Brown’s frequent arrests, were common in the media. One especially ugly episode was an exploitative interview with Dianne Sawyer on ABC’s “Primetime” in 2002, in which Sawyer attempted to exact from the star a confession that she was not prepared to give.