Sometimes it seems as though

stories about entertainers ruining their lives and families are getting

a bit old. But in this age of media dominated by "Entertainment Tonight"-style

programs and periodicals - which I affectionately call "Celebrity

Butt Kissers" breathlessly reporting every move these people make

as if the security of our republic depended on it, perhaps it is wise

to attempt to use the tragic events in some celebrities' lives as a lesson

to those of us who would consider fame and fortune the end-all of existence.

A lot of people in this country

sat at attention in front of their television sets last Wednesday night

as Diane Sawyer spent an hour with singer-actress Whitney Houston. It

was roughly akin to watching a train wreck.

I remember seeing her in concert

at Chastain Park in Atlanta in 1986, right after the release of her first

album. She appeared to have it all a fabulous singing voice, style, great

looks, and her whole life ahead of her. I bought her first two albums

on cassette tape and wore them out. I also could play most of the songs

on the piano (note to guys: chicks dig that).

The woman on television last

week is a far cry from the rising star of the 1980s. I know, we all get

older, but Whitney Houston appears to have aged twice as much as she should

have.

Painfully thin, with a raspy

voice, she looked closer to 59 than her actual age of 39. Anyone who saw

her on the street and did not know her might think she simply has had

a rough life. Of course, the truth is that she is solely responsible for

her present condition through a serious of ridiculous lifestyle choices.

She admitted to using alcohol,

marijuana, cocaine and prescription drugs at various times in her career,

although she vehemently denied using crack (what a relief). She also refuted

the rumors of anorexia and serious health problems, rumors fed by a number

of missed concerts, a drug arrest and the alarming video from a Michael

Jackson tribute concert where she appeared to be little more than skin

and bones.

But she hasn't lost her edge

as a performer, as she demonstrated in the Diane Sawyer interview. Her

answers bordered on melodramatic, as if she rehearsed before sitting down

in front of the cameras. She defiantly said that she would not let drugs

defeat her, while mentioning that she is not in any form of conventional

drug treatment.

Incredibly, when asked if she

will completely stay off drugs, she said, "Well, I'm not going to

tell you that." Of course, there were the obligatory references to

spirituality and how God would play a role in her recovery. One hopes

those comments are sincere, but given her track record and even the rest

of the interview itself, you have to wonder.

Actually, many viewers were

probably wondering just why Houston's handlers didn't do everything in

their power to stop this interview from taking place, given her condition.

But just about the time you start think about that, husband Bobby Brown

appears.

Anyone who reads the Atlanta

newspapers or watches the news on television knows what this guy has been

up to. He's been in and out of more courtrooms in the past few months

than Judge Judy. But he was able to put our fears to rest as well, saying

that he has never used cocaine or hit his wife, and that he only smokes

marijuana about "every other day" for his bipolar condition.

I wonder which doctor prescribed that.

Everything you have just read

would probably be a waste of time except for Bobbi Kristina. She's the

9-year-old girl who is rarely mentioned in the stories about her parents'

troubles. You might think that she has everything in the world going for

her wealth, privilege, endless opportunities.

I'm sure many people thought

that before last week. Now that millions of Americans know the truth about

her situation that she lives with a mother in denial about her drug problems

and a father who is an admitted dope-smoking manic depressive maybe the

rest of us should have a different point of view.

As I have so many times after

watching a "Celebrity Butt Kissers" installment, I turned off

the television this time feeling pretty good about my own life ordinary,

middle-class, just trying to make a living and raise a family and feeling

sorry for a deprived 9-year-old girl.

[Monroe Roark's Web address

is www.mroark.com.]