Some Words on the Subject of petal
It is not typical for me to care intimately about the lives or health of celebrities; and, as a matter of fact, Ariana Grande used to be one of the celebrities I cared about the absolute least. But I am continually so shocked by the mass media's incompetence (at best) and lack of regard for human life (at worst) that I felt obliged to say something. We can talk at length about how Nickelodeon failed Grande, and how her team, in denying that anything is the matter whatsoever, continues to fail her. We can talk about the many vicious and irresponsible ways the general public discusses and speculates on the current state of her health. But music critics, I think, also severely neglect their duties in their writing on her new album. As an aspiring journalist myself, I think there comes a time when we have to weigh our obligation to report against our obligation to not disseminate hazardous ideals. More often than not, the latter wins out.
Given the delicate nature of this discussion, I feel obligated to first clear out several things I am not saying. I am not saying it is the job of Ariana Grande, or any lady celebrity, to be a role model. I am not saying the true nature of her health, whatever it may be, is our collective business. At the end of the day, if Grande needs help, only she can choose to get it; and, simultaneously, it is provably false that simply ignoring someone's eating disorder will make it go away. Both of these can be true. Consequently, I am not saying that the media's responsibility is to simply ignore her output and not report on petal at all; this would be a ridiculous proposition. Nor am I saying that their responsibility is to interrogate her on the state of her physical and mental health, as if this would accomplish anything other than being a miserably uncomfortable experience for everyone involved.
What, then, am I saying? I suppose what I truly mean to say is that there must be a better way. There must be some balance we can strike between industry obligations and ethical duties; there must be a way we can get the churning machine to stop, even momentarily, for someone in need. There must be some way Grande can get the care she's needed for so long without being tracked by swarms of industry vultures. There must be, and in fact there is, a way we can choose to talk about this subject (because it is public, after all) without the kind of callousness that hurts our ED'd friends and family members more than it will ever affect a distant star. There must be a balance between healing and responsibility; because you do have responsibilities, however sick you may be, when you're telling your legions of loyal fans that you're "the healthiest you've ever been" in a time when it's increasingly fashionable for women to be small and silent.
There must be a way we can talk about this album without venerating what feels, to me, like a public suicide note.
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