Amy the documentary

The other day I watched Amy, a documentary on Amy Winehouse. It was a very compelling film. Interestingly, instead of using talking heads to describe events, it showed video footage - both amateur and professional - and used voiceovers from each person to tell her story.

Her story was so sad. At 9, her dad left and since she was a daddy's girl, she was devastated. She never really developed good coping skills; she drank and smoked weed and was bulimic. When she had writer's block, she drank heavily.  She was an incredibly talented singer and songwriter but she really wasn't ready for what happens when a musical act becomes big. There were the exhausting tours, singing the same songs in the same ways over and over again and there was the paparazzi. The film shows just how awful they were - she couldn't leave the house without being followed and photographed.  

Seeing the difference between the fun, beautiful, engaging girl that she was and the slow, out-of-it, used up person she became drove home just how far she had fallen. The documentary is very powerful, and if you're at all interested in her life it's definitely worth watching.