Amy Winehouse Addresses Depression in New ‘Amy’ Teaser
A new teaser from the upcoming Amy Winehouse documentary, succinctly titled Amy, sees the late artist speaking to the role that music played in helping her cope with depression.
She says, "I don’t think I knew what depression was. I knew I felt funny sometimes, and I was different. I think it’s a musician thing, that’s why I write music. But I’m not like, some messed up person. There’s a lot of people that suffer depression that don’t have an outlet."
Amy has drawn comparisons to the recent Kurt Cobain documentary Montage of Heck, due in part to its similar use of home videos to create an intimate portrayal of its larger-than-life subject. It's interesting timing: The parallels between Winehouse and Cobain extend beyond the similarities of their respective documentaries, and well into the way society has chosen to celebrate the late Nirvana frontman for succeeding and creating hugely influential music in spite of his shortcomings (read: drugs), while simultaneously denigrating a female figure who managed her own impact on music and suffered similar failings (read: drugs).
Winehouse may not be credited with reluctantly bringing an underground genre into the mainstream, but her talent is undeniable. So is her addiction, but for whatever reason, the latter overshadows the former for her, as though her inability to get clean somehow negates her musical contributions.
It becomes easy for the public to disregard the person beneath the celebrity, something that happened with Winehouse and what certainly happened with Cobain. David Joseph, chairman and CEO of Universal Music U.K, put Amy together in an attempt to portray the singer fairly, just as she was. He said (quote via Variety), "I don’t want this to sound too karmic or romantic, but I just felt compelled that we should really tell the proper story of Amy."
Whether the documentary will affect the more unkind Internet trolls who have somehow deluded themselves into believing the world is better off without Winehouse remains to be seen, but Amy reportedly makes the effort.
Amy is set for a limited release in New York City and Los Angeles on July 3 and will open up nationwide on July 10.