Canada's online magazine: Politics, entertainment, technology, media, arts, books: backofthebook.ca

Politics, tech, media, culture and more, from a Canadian point-of-view

  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Science and Tech
  • Living
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
You are here: Home / Culture / Little Ms. Cobain celebrates a birthday

Little Ms. Cobain celebrates a birthday

09/28/2008 by backofthebook.ca 2 Comments

Frances Bean Cobain, daughter of the late Kurt Cobain, recently decided to throw herself a “Suicidal Sixteen” birthday party. Now look, I’m all for themed parties, and if any other teenage girl planned this macabre festivus, I suppose we’d just shake our heads and mutter something about kids today before returning to our “Murder She Wrote” marathons. My first instinct, though, isn’t to shake my fist and tell little Frances to get off my lawn, but to go all Princess Buttercup on her ass (“You mock my pain!”) and shove her down a hill.

This feels like some sick, sick finger pointed, not at her father, but at all the people who cared for him. Millions of people (a good chunk of them the age Frances is now) were torn up when, in 1994, they heard that Kurt Cobain had shot himself in his Lake Washington home. Cobain’s life belonged to the world, which is part of the reason behind his suicide and part of the reason Frances’ party makes me want to vomit a little bit. The tiny teenager inside of me who still thinks plaid shirts are the shit wants to shout that Kurt’s death belonged to all of us, too, and to cut a bitch for poking fun.

On the other hand, if someone doesn’t care enough about being your daddy to decline the Long Sleep, I guess you’re allowed to be pissed, and even enjoy a few ironic laughs. And how can I demand that she be sensitive to my feelings of grief and loss when I have no way of understanding her childhood? (Courtney Love is her mom, after all.) Frances has been dealing with all the crappy-ass trickle-down that comes from celebrity parents (particularly dead and/or fame-whorey ones) for 7/8s of her young life. If anyone has the right to spoof a personal tragedy this publicly, it’s Ms. Bean.

Sticking with that same hand (the one where I’m kind of okay with it), Frances is 16. Isn’t this what 16-year olds do? Prance around with their skirts too short or their jeans too low, middle fingers to the world? To shock a mother like Courtney Love, you’d pretty well have to have your face replaced with your ass. Frances has taken the somewhat easier route of alienating a good chunk of the Western world. Few teens would have this opportunity, but Frances is simultaneously a teen craving attention and a young woman who has had entirely too much; she is clearly exploiting the hell out of it. Considering how badly growing up in the spotlight — your own or the reflection from your dead daddy’s — is guaranteed to eff you up (see also: Lindsay Lohan; Macaulay Culkin), maybe Frances Bean is doing all right.

It is dangerous to make light of something as serious as suicide because it disguises all the sharp edges, makes razor blades and shotguns into gag gifts. Dealing with tragedy, however, is not a choice Frances has been given, and this snide shebang may be her way of coping. It’s inappropriate, sure, but if it’s any worse than anything I’ve done, that’s only because her normal teen angst is backed by abnormal fame and fortune.

So happy birthday, Frances, however you celebrated it. Maybe you’ve even given your Dad a good laugh.

Filed Under: Culture Tagged With: celebrity, family, music, violence

Subscribe to BoB by e-mail or RSS

Comments

  1. matt says

    07/31/2011 at 8:12 pm

    “Smells Like Teen Spirit”

  2. john says

    01/11/2010 at 12:19 pm

    ok….
    totally dumb to have a SUICIDE party if ur dad ‘comitted suicide’……….
    yes. it is in quotes. it is not true. kurt is not even dead. he is partying with jim morrison.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Google+
  • Living
  • Politics
  • Media
  • Culture
  • Arts and Books
  • Features
  • The Video
Fire sale sign

Fort McMurray: Shopping time!

By Brady Tighe We’re now officially in the aftermath phase of the northern Alberta wildfire crisis. The fire is long gone, and everyone with a home to return to is back in its … [Read More...]

Nathan Cullen

Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking

By Alison@Creekside The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen's suggestion, … [Read More...]

Trudeau on quantum computing

The Trudeau gush fest is getting old

By Jim Henshaw There have been several bewildered as well as angry accounts coming out of the USA lately about how little media time has been spent covering the Democratic Presidential Primary … [Read More...]

Rick Meyers in Nanaimo Pride Parade

My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade

By Frank Moher On this dreadful day, I don't want to write about the shootings in Orlando. I want to write about my friend, Rick. Rick lives just outside of Nanaimo, a city of about 80,000, … [Read More...]

Stephen Colbert on Late Night set

Triumph of the drama nerds

By Frank Moher Two drama nerds have recently moved into high profile positions. Before I name them (or perhaps you’ve already guessed who they are; or perhaps you’d like to scroll down and look at … [Read More...]

From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon

Originally published on Our Rape Blog, the author's account of the aftermath of a violent sexual assault. By Mary Fraughton Have you ever played Hearts? It’s a card game. For our purposes, … [Read More...]

First Nations defending Lelu Island

The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

From Creekside: The B.C. provincial government is trying to green light the construction of a massive LNG terminal on Lelu Island in the Skeena Estuary -- Pacific Northwest LNG, backed by Malaysian … [Read More...]

Google

Follow Us!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

RSS CBC News



Recent Posts

  • Fort McMurray: Shopping time!
  • From “Our Rape Blog”: Shooting the Moon
  • Electoral reform: Hashtag fresh thinking
  • The fish hotel
  • Hatred on an Alberta golf course
  • The video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”
  • My friend, Rick, at the Pride Parade
  • Our selective sympathy
  • The Water Bomber, The Frogman and The Great Canadian Novelist
  • Komagata Maru: The story behind the apology

Tags

9/11 Afghanistan Alberta bad behaviour books British Columbia business Canada Canadian military Canadian politics CBC celebrity computers Conservatives crime environment family film G20 Globe and Mail internet Jason Kenney journalism Justin Trudeau law Liberals Maclean's music National Post NDP newspapers oil sands online media Ontario Quebec RCMP religion sports Stephen Harper television theatre Toronto U.S. Vancouver women

Archives

The Video: Lelu Island: “They will come.”

Pages

  • About
  • Privacy

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in