KELLY OCONNELL SHOW: George Michael: No More Encores

RIP GEORGE MICHAEL: For the phenomenally gifted yet utterly tormented artist, many will ask -- Was he a Victim of Fame, Hedonism, HIV/AIDS -- or ALL of the above? Well, we now know the singer was nursing a secret heroin habit to go along with his all-night partying and recent ponderous weight gain. Elvis with a heroin habit. Certainly, after all his brushes with death this appears a slow suicide.

For example, he told one interviewer few years back that his daily routine involved getting up, smoking a joint of marijuana, and going onto the Hampstead Heath to pick up a partner for casual sex. Further, he stated he once absorbed 25 joints a day which kept him sane and healthy.

So is there a lesson for the rest of us in this fame-soaked, ammoral culture in which we marinate daily? In a culture that positively worships fetishes, anything-goes and “letting it all hang out,” -- could the lesson be here that such things do not bring happiness, health or peace of mind? And what is the point of becoming an entertainer, a successful singer, a superstar?

PC has effectively separated moral acts from their inevitable outcome. In this sense, PC has caused great blindness to fall across this land. In fact, in every attempt we have to make sense of our world by common sense and traditional analysis -- we are blocked. In other words, according to the liberal view of life, no deed which has been condemned in the past as immoral is allowed to cause a negative effect.

While it’s too late to save George Michael, perhaps this can be another valuable lesson for us not to take at face value the supposed joys of celebrity and pop culture superstardom. Certainly if George’s life now appears wasted can we not agree there must be a better way? Certainly life must be about more than what he had.