Without A Whisper Of Protest
To Whom It May Concern,
Seeing as there is no e-mail address listed on your site under the heading of 'ethical concerns', I thought I'd just use this one. I hope you are able to forward this message on to Ian Preece or whomever else is relevant.
I was interested to read today that Orion will be publishing the diaries of Pete Doherty. While I've never had much time for the antics of Mr. Doherty and have always been slightly dubious of his talents, I understand that there is a market for this kind of thing and that the book, when it is released, will almost certainly be a bestseller. It's good to know then, that Orion Publishing Group is honest enough to come right out and admit that it is the moral equal of such great British institutions as The Sun newspaper, which, as I'm sure you know, adopted young Doherty mostly due to his ability to generate the requisite 'bad boy' headlines they need to fill the space between photos of celebrities falling out of their dresses.
You see, the point isn't that Doherty has a story to tell, that he's a bright and talented kid from a difficult background who has achieved fame against the odds. The point is that Pete Doherty is slowly killing himself in public, and Orion Publishing Group seems more than happy to lend a helping hand in this endeavour by giving him money he will, of course, use to buy drugs. And it isn't just Pete. What about all those kids you see turning up to support him at his court appearances? What sort of message do you think it sends them when a guy like Doherty is given money for his story? Orion, it seems, is more than comfortable with glamourising Heroin addiction and its victims in order to turn a profit.
I'm amused to find myself writing a letter like this one. It's not as though I'm some ultra-moral, church-going conservative outraged at the behaviour of the youth today. I just can't believe a successful publishing company can joyfully announce that it's putting money in the hands of an addict - thereby lending validation not only to his behaviour, but to the behaviour of all those who will follow - without a whisper of protest.
Still, that's the world we live in, eh? I guess it would have been too simple to ask the boy to perhaps complete a proper spell in rehab as a condition of the book contract. No, that would be ridiculous. After all, if he goes and dies between now and next March, those hardcovers will be flying off the shelves, right?
Right.
How do you sleep?
Curiously,
Michael O'Mahony
Seeing as there is no e-mail address listed on your site under the heading of 'ethical concerns', I thought I'd just use this one. I hope you are able to forward this message on to Ian Preece or whomever else is relevant.
I was interested to read today that Orion will be publishing the diaries of Pete Doherty. While I've never had much time for the antics of Mr. Doherty and have always been slightly dubious of his talents, I understand that there is a market for this kind of thing and that the book, when it is released, will almost certainly be a bestseller. It's good to know then, that Orion Publishing Group is honest enough to come right out and admit that it is the moral equal of such great British institutions as The Sun newspaper, which, as I'm sure you know, adopted young Doherty mostly due to his ability to generate the requisite 'bad boy' headlines they need to fill the space between photos of celebrities falling out of their dresses.
You see, the point isn't that Doherty has a story to tell, that he's a bright and talented kid from a difficult background who has achieved fame against the odds. The point is that Pete Doherty is slowly killing himself in public, and Orion Publishing Group seems more than happy to lend a helping hand in this endeavour by giving him money he will, of course, use to buy drugs. And it isn't just Pete. What about all those kids you see turning up to support him at his court appearances? What sort of message do you think it sends them when a guy like Doherty is given money for his story? Orion, it seems, is more than comfortable with glamourising Heroin addiction and its victims in order to turn a profit.
I'm amused to find myself writing a letter like this one. It's not as though I'm some ultra-moral, church-going conservative outraged at the behaviour of the youth today. I just can't believe a successful publishing company can joyfully announce that it's putting money in the hands of an addict - thereby lending validation not only to his behaviour, but to the behaviour of all those who will follow - without a whisper of protest.
Still, that's the world we live in, eh? I guess it would have been too simple to ask the boy to perhaps complete a proper spell in rehab as a condition of the book contract. No, that would be ridiculous. After all, if he goes and dies between now and next March, those hardcovers will be flying off the shelves, right?
Right.
How do you sleep?
Curiously,
Michael O'Mahony
posted by Michael at 6:00 PM
4 Comments:
Every head turns at the car wreck. Is this much different than watching a gladiator go down?
No, because the Gladiator was respected. Doherty is just a cunt.
Pardon my Klatchian.
Mike, I really hope that wasn't a metaphorical letter. Please say you sent it..
Oh, I sent it. No sign of a reply so far...
I miss "musicians" who were functioning heroin addicts. Which I see nothing wrong with, though I hasten to add it's not for me. Therefore the term "heroin addict" should be reserved for those who would otherwise be fine. Doherty is the very epitome of the "smackhead" - the addict without the semblance of class.
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