Ringo Starr recently came out and talked about his alcoholism through the 70's and 80's How he's in a fog from those years. Man, do I feel his pain. The 90's and 2000's for me was a fog.
I'm obviously different for him, because I was no superstar, HE still had to face the public on a daily basis. Why wouldn't you put yourself in stupor until you didn't feel anymore. Well, the repercussions of alcoholism does rear itself. No one thinks the long term when it comes to that. I certainly didn't. Indestructible at youth.
I have a friend now. About to turn 28. I watch his drinking style. It's very similar to my own (when I drank). He doesn't realize how he's polished off a six pack and few snifters of scotch. Also, he becomes combative. Like myself. It's a harrowing ordeal. No matter how beautiful, rich or famous you are. These demons are your own. The worst part is, it cycles on itself. You feel bad, so you drink to not feel bad, so you drink more to pass the time. I do have a theory...
...I think a lot of the times when I was drinking, it was because I was focused on all the awful things in my past. That's pretty obvious. But it wasn't necessarily explaining why I started when I was 18. I think it's because, in this world, we all feel phony. Whatever endeavor or outlet we decide to let loose with, this was always a nagging thought. John Hamm went into rehab. The success of the show had a little to do with it. But if you consider his climb to who he is now, it wasn't the prettiest. So, I think in his mind, it can all be snatched away. What better way to bring that manic energy down but to booze.
I went out with a woman once who thought I drank to slow my brain down. Because it thinks like a bumblebee. I think that's true. But the energy came from bouncing back from hangovers. I'd not clue why I had a hair-trigger temper. Or an erratic, sometimes self-destructing scary violent tendency. I see it in my friend as well. To destroy things around you. Booze releases that control so that the bad can be vented.
Adam Carolla, famous podcast/filmmaker...created booze and is marketing it openly. You can hear him take sips during his podcast. No one says anything. Why should they? He's rich, funny and he seems to have his life together. Better yet, he functions perfectly like this. Alarming is Dr. Drew Pinsky, known addiction specialist who probably nags him about it. In Carolla's case, he will always face his low self-esteem. That's just how he was brought up. And fight tooth and nail over his environment to prove he wasn't a flower grown from manure. The sense of inadequacy, like myself, and to be found out a phony causes one to lash out. And people enjoy this, because in our shitty lives, it's great to hear a voice that doesn't filter. Because deep down inside, we are awful people. Maybe not awful, but selfish.
In the case of Ringo Starr, I think he always felt inadequate to the other three. Why shouldn't he? We would make jokes about it. He only suffers as he felt he was on the coattails of genius. Maybe he felt he got a free ride. And we're back to thinking we're phonies. See: "Catcher In The Rye."
Alcohol addiction is terrible. The only reason why it hasn't been banned is because we failed at it before. Funny right, we're asked to go into sobriety, but we couldn't even figure out Prohibition. I know a lot of people think drinking responsibility is an adult's choice. People should have the right to drink, fuck you. You should. I just see some real physical pain from abuse. Like pain you wouldn't wish on people in Hell, which they're in right now. That Hell doesn't stop when you stop drinking. You now have to face the people you've hurt along the way. And that is real Hell.
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