I was looking forward to seeing this documentary which allows viewers to see pieces of her life which were not necessarily emphasised by the media. The audience has access to footage of her starting out in the music industry and her attending her first meetings with her manager, just as a regular girl from Southgate. The documentary follows her through her career up until she dies, unfortunately, on the 23rd of July 2011 at the young age of 27.
Honestly, I was not entirely sure what to expect going to see the documentary about the troubled star as the media can play a bit part in an individuals opinions so I was not prepared for the way the TV production team were going to portray her as a star. What I was able to take away from the documentary was that she was a lot different in person to what people had her labelled as, and through what people had witnessed of her behaviour in the media, all situations were over emphaised, definitely.
She was just a normal, working class, London girl who loved to sing Jazz and write songs about her life experiences. In my opinion, she got involved with the wrong people and I believe that her husband, Blake, was no good for her; without blaming him directly for her death, I think if she had walked away and got herself some help to over come the drugs then there would've been a very different outcome. However, it is not possible to predict these things, and it is just my opinion. Doing research, in an article provided by the Guardian, Blake states: 'I find it disrespectful to imply I was some machiavellian puppet master'. However, he was the person to introduce her hard drugs such as heroin and crack, which he has had a history of being dependent on.
My overall thoughts about her life is that she was very misunderstood and she got involved within the wrong crowd of people. Her true passion was to make meaningful music about the things she wanted to write about but instead the fame got too much for her, and she could not deal with the pressure of being in the public eye 24/7. I don't think she ever realised how big she would be and how much of an iconic musician she'd become- she became an idol for other aspiring artists and this was a huge responsibility.
It may sound naive but the individuals surrounding her did not provide positive influences and I strongly believe that she was blinded by the love she had for Blake and she was willing to try hard drugs because its what he was addicted to.
In relation to her songs and listening to her lyrics, they definitely apply to her life and you can gain an understanding to her relationship with Blake and the experience of her life. She was a fantastic song writer and knew exactly how to write a good song- she would use her guitar to create a sound for her songs and was very good at doing a lot of the producing herself. She was a very talented young singer. You can tell that she was very much allowed to have full rein on her music and her music videos specifically, as she represents herself as a person and her management team never tried to take that image away from her. They never attempted to mold her into a perfect pop star, it is not Amy's image and from watching the documentary, she would not all let others change the woman she was.
She was only 27 years old when she died but due to the extreme amount of alcohol and drugs in her system, she looked like a 50 year old. It was very upsetting to witness her become out of control of her own life and she became stuck in a rut which she was unable to get out of. I feel like now she is at peace and she is in a much happier place where she is away from the fame and from the stresses of her very public life. She still lives on as a music legend and her songs are still being played today and is still being nominated for awards. She created music genius and it will live on for a long long time.
