If you live in the United States and care for current events, you probably know the feast the media has had this week with R&B singer Chris Brown's latest batch of bad decisions (to put it mildly): He freaked out after being asked some Rihanna questions on Good Morning America, and a chair ended up hitting a dressing room window, sending glass shattering onto the sidewalk. Thankfully nobody was hurt. The next day Brown apologized (ahem!) on BET's 106th & Park, saying basically that his actions were a reaction to feeling blindsighted by the line of questioning, because it wasn't in line with previously agreed upon talking points, saying, "I felt like, it was like okay, they told us this, just so they could get us on the show to exploit me."
Obviously, what the young man needs more than anything else is help. But that's not the story that sells. It's the Look-See! story that sells most when celebrities unravel, hence the media circus spotlight, the collective How Could He?!, myriad debates about how long he should have to suffer for his past, or whether he's being treated fairly, given what Charlie Sheen has been up to (??!!!) etc, etc ...
By now you might be wondering what a post about Chris Brown's drama (with other peoples' names in the title) is doing on a beauty blog. Well, while I couldn't escape the story (as a consumer of media), I did run into two reactions that made me feel hopeful, and made me think, Beautiful. Check them out:
From Jay Smooth's ILL DOCTRINE:
And writer Kevin Powell's Open Letter To Chris Brown from News One, which concludes:
"All eyes are on you because you’ve brought the world to your doorstep, my friend. The question alas, Chris, is do you want to go forward or not? And if yes to going forward, then you must know it means going to the deepest and darkest parts of your past to heal what ails you, once and for all, for the good of yourself, and for the good of those who are watching you very closely and who may learn something from what you do. Or what you do not do. The choice is yours, Chris Brown. The choice is yours—"
Both men offer in depth, heartfelt reactions to the madness of the situation. But most importantly, they also offer constructive solutions to Chris Brown's problems, which go so much deeper than the PR of it all, and that is what I find beautiful.
Thoughts?
This is perhaps tangential, but when I was going through my CDs last week, on the never ending quest to minimize my possessions, Chris Brown ended up in the "sell" pile. And he ended up there because while looking at the album cover, all I could think was "this guy hits women". That is not the reaction he wants people to be having to his music.
ReplyDeleteI know. The story is a sad as it is disgusting. I really do hope he gets help.
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