posted
Did anyone see the Dateline interview with Melissa Etheridge???? What an amazing woman!! Unfortunately I did not watch the Grammys so I missed her tribute to Janis Joplin. But from the clips of the performance they showed on Dateline it looked incredible.
I have a sister-in-law battling cancer right now and so Melissa's candor and courage about her experience really touched me.
Posts: 295 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I adore Melissa Etheridge. I only just heard last week that she has cancer. I wish I'd seen her performance and her interview, but I never know what's on TV. Maybe it'll show up online.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
I saw it, and while I am not a big JJ fan, she was excellent.
When she came out on stage Jenni and I both rolled our eyes a bit at her "shaved head", because we didn't know anything about her being sick...we thought it was just another music industry stunk for publicity.
She sounded awesome though, and the next day found out she had cancer.
I wanted to see that interview...my grandma died of cancer, as did my grandpa.
posted
She rocked. I have never been a Melissa Etheridge fan, or a Joplin fan, but I appreciate the strenght and depth of her voice. I also really like her as a person. She seems to really have herself together "in real life." Her life energy seems so strong, I hope she can beat this thing.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
I remember her best for the "U" song on Sesame street. I had to wonder if U2 could have gotten away with giving "ugly and unkind" as U words on Sesame street. It's only a coincidence that they also start with U. I was thinking more in terms of them being a white male Christian bad. But it was a good song otherwise. The chorus went "uh uh uh uh..." I think Sesame Street jumped the shark for my family that day.
P.S. It's not that I want my kids to live in a Potemkin village where no one is ugly or unkind, that's just not what I tuned into Sesame Street for. We don't avoid it, but we stopped taping episodes, and my 4 year old just isn't into it.
posted
So she has cancer...big deal. She's now joined the ranks of the 1.4 million other Americans who were diagnosed with cancer in the last year. Funny thing is, no one offered them an interview, or expressed any level of concern or sympathy to them. Guess it wasn't "news-worthy" .
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
You are one of those people that dislike others just because they're famous, huh?
When someone has cancer it's a big deal. No matter if you are Melissa Etheridge or a hermit on a mountain.
However, we are more familiar with Melissa Etheridge so her story is akin to hearing that an acquaintance is going through the ordeal. Her job is a public job, and it's simply unrealistic that there not be talk about her battle.
A celebrity is not more deserving than your average citizen, but neither are they less deserving. Her pain counts.
To the people that love someone with cancer, they are just as important as Melissa Etheridge, and deserve every bit as high of a level of care. That doesn't mean that you can realistically expect as many people to feel connected to the person living the non-public life (and is a stranger), whom they will never meet, as you would for someone that has millions of people that know their face.
The awareness that a celebrity brings to issues - be it Melissa Etheridge, or Christopher Reeve, or Michael J. Fox - is what will benefit all people that struggle with those issues. Michelle
quote:Funny thing is, no one offered them an interview, or expressed any level of concern or sympathy to them.
Actually, we are a nation currently peopled with skinny white kids wearing yellow armbands, out of respect to wayward testicles, gray matter, and lungs, and I have a little pink bow/pin in my desk, owing to women and breasts. We care a little.
I've always considered Etheridge to be a class act. She has something honest and desirable, and it's a shame and crime that she has cancer. Hunter S. Thompson's death, on the other hand, I'm not going to bother to muster up any grief.
posted
Let's be serious here...does breast cancer really need a celebrity to champion the cause? Will she be able to elevate the amount of money being spent on research? Cancer research is already one of the highest funded areas of research, and it just seemed strage to me that this was worthy of being reported as heavily as it has been.
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I disagree...it is a big deal because her music has meant a lot to a large number of people.
I don't think that she deserves more sympahy than my Grandma got, but I am not suprised that ME got more press about it...my Grandma wasn't a well known musician, or public figure.
But to say that "nobody" cared about her because it wasn't on the morning news just isn't true...and that fact that you would say that says more about you tahn about others.
We didn't need a press release to make it real to us, or to care.
posted
\\\Let's be serious here...does breast cancer really need a celebrity to champion the cause? Will she be able to elevate the amount of money being spent on research? Cancer research is already one of the highest funded areas of research, and it just seemed strage to me that this was worthy of being reported as heavily as it has been. ///
Yes, I do feel more money will be raised. Aside from that, a lot of females will look at her and schedule that mammogram or that doctor's appointment that they've been putting off.
The weird thing about your words is that you are acting like the woman got cancer so she could have a cause to champion. What really happened is she became sick and put another face on the disease.
In a world where Paris Hilton can get her own show, and a celebrity marriage - or break-up - is international news, I don't think the coverage has been too much. Not by a long shot.
I first heard about her plight months ago, and the press largely left it alone, until she stepped out and addressed it publically. Her public appearance brought it into public consciousness and made it a story. What else happened at the awards that night that was as worthy of dicussion? Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Kwea, you're very quick to judge my character based on a short paragraph.
I'd personally be more impressed if our national news took one person who was more like your grandmother and told her story. Why should we care about a millionaire celebrity who can afford the latest medical treatements and care? I think what truly puts me off of this topic is the overwhelming sense that causes are not taken seriously by the mass media until they have a celebrity to champion them. We all know the dangers of cancer. We all know the tests that we should be getting every year. We all know someone who beat cancer, or sadly, was beaten by cancer. Unfortunately, the personal tragedies that we're involved in aren't powerful enough to generate mass interest.
I suppose that for all of our sakes, we should hope that enough celebrities become ill with every possible incurable malady known to man. Maybe then we can get some momentum behind curing them...
Posts: 1480 | Registered: Dec 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
From now on when someone tells me they have cancer I will make sure they don't make a good living, or are well-known, before I decide whether or not to care about the matter. Michelle
Posts: 152 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:So she has cancer...big deal. She's now joined the ranks of the 1.4 million other Americans who were diagnosed with cancer in the last year. Funny thing is, no one offered them an interview, or expressed any level of concern or sympathy to them. Guess it wasn't "news-worthy"
quote: Let's be serious here...does breast cancer really need a celebrity to champion the cause? Will she be able to elevate the amount of money being spent on research? Cancer research is already one of the highest funded areas of research, and it just seemed strage to me that this was worthy of being reported as heavily as it has been.
I don't know why all the animosity. I think her interview was inspiring. Not necessarily because she is a celebrity to champion the cause, breast cancer has many champions, but because she looked so vibrant and alive. I have always admired caring, strong, confident, talented, and honest people. All of these qualities showed through in her interview. I am sure she gave encouragement to many people going through the same things that she endured.
I have similar feelings about Lance Armstrong, not because he is a celebrity who overcame cancer but because he uses his story to give hope and encouragement to millions.
There are many cancer survivors in the world and I am sure many are heros and deserve recognition. I think those that are given the opportity to share their story and choose to do so are brave and I applaud their courage.
Posts: 295 | Registered: Jul 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
I was not judging you, I was judging you comments, which were rude and insensitive.
I think, after taking a step back, that I see what you are saying, and a kinda agree with it.....
I think that your point was that they aren't any more special than anyone else who has gone through it....adn I agree with that part completely. Howeverr, you reallly seemed to have a problem with celebrity, and you implied, intentionaly or not, that they are less worthy of sympathy, and I don't agree with that at all.
I don't think it is wrong for people to wish her well, even though I personally don;t care one way of another. I don;t know her, nor am I a huge fan. But I haev sympathy for anyone who goes through this, as long as they are trying their best to fight it.
Famous or not.
Also, keep in mind that you are the one who said it was "no big deal", and then implied that there was already enough money being spent on research it.....so I think I wasn't so far off in the first place, considering what was said.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Who is the father of her children? I remember reading this quite a while ago, but don't remember at all now, and it's really making me insane.
Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
Something else to consider is that many people come to feel a personal relationship with an artist--more so than with famous people in general. Melissa Etheridge is one of my favorite artists. She doesn't know me, but I feel a warmth for her similar, though less intense than, that I reserve for my personal friends. Her songs and her words have touched me. I have never spoken to her, but she has spoken to me. So to hear recently that she had cancer . . . it doesn't affect me quite as much as it has when someone I truly know in real life has been diagnosed with breast cancer, or with a brain tumor, but it does affect me. I don't know that I'm wrong to feel this way. I feel sorrow that anybody should go through this, but I don't have as much of a relationship with some random person I do not know. Melissa Etheridge has added something to my life, and I would be sorry if she were gone, in no small part because there would be no more new words from her.
I would feel the same way if OSC had cancer, or if any other artist who has moved and touched me did. It doesn't mean that I value these people more than your neighbor's aunt. Just that I don't know your neighbor's aunt, or if she has cancer.
Posts: 13680 | Registered: Mar 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
What could a champion for breast cancer do?
I don't know, maybe something like get this law passed-- making a mandatory 3 day stay in the hospital and mandatory for the insurance companies to pay for it when a masectomy is performed. Seems that insurance companies have been able to block that bill for several years now.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
But from the clips of the performance they showed on Dateline it looked incredible.
![[Hat]](graemlins/hat.gif)
