Amy Reflection
Amy is a documentary based on the hardships and successes of the renowned musician, Amy Winehouse. This docu-film was released in 2015 and invited Winehouse fans and music lovers in general to understand how her musical talents and career gave her life, but ultimately, also brought her to her own death. In my opinion, on the one hand, this film has a clear main protagonist – Amy Winehouse. One the other hand, I believe this film has many antagonists: her parents, Blake Fielder-Civil (her long-time lover and ex-husband), alcohol, drugs, etc. Although I knew of Amy Winehouse and her music, after watching this film, I felt I had a better understanding of not only Amy’s life story, but also why Amy’s life ended in the tragic way it did. Personally, the most striking and appalling aspect of this entire film, to me, was the affect her parents had upon her upbringing, her decision making, and ultimately, her life’s outcome. Through my personal upbringing, stories and my education, I have come to believe that how an individual is raised, and depending on his or her relationship with his or her mother or father, has a tremendous impact on how he or she sees and views the world. Therefore, I believe, if Amy’s mother and father had operated differently, perhaps, Amy’s life could have operated differently, as well. To be specific, at around the age of 15, the documentary explains that Amy had confessed to her mother about her “new and brilliant diet” – Amy would eat whatever she wants and then throw it all up. Her parents, even after knowing about the beginning stages of her bulimia, did not address or handle her body image issues at all. This trend of parental neglect, unfortunately, did not get any better throughout her life. Amy’s father, Mitchell Winehouse, left a lasting and disgusting taste in my mouth. I believe he had the largest impact on Amy’s mental and physical disabilities. To be specific, even after Amy had appeared to be in a state of mental and physical distress (she had recently left rehab), Mitchell continued to push her to fly abroad to perform. When it came time for Amy to perform, she appeared so wasted that she could not even get the words out to sing. Additionally, when Amy and her family decided to retreat to their favorite island for a family get-a-away, Amy appeared extremely distraught when she realized her father had invited a filming crew to join them. At one point throughout this traumatic series of scene’s, the audience sees Amy arguing with her father over why she must take a picture with some fans; she asks her father why it is not enough for them to go on a vacation without a film crew. Mitchell responds by saying the film crew is there to obtain footage for a new series about being Amy’s father. During this series and throughout the entire film, Amy explains that she solely wanted her father’s approval – I believe this may have been why she also yearned for her lover’s affection and approval, Blake, so deeply.
