The Untold Story of a Music Royalty's Tragic End • Hacker News Board

Re: The Untold Story of a Music Royalty's Tragic End

#11

Post by sokoloff » Sat, Feb 18, 2023, 5:11 PM UTC

boomboomsubban wrote: post #2

This is a strangely written story. I don't get the point of hiding who the person is until the end, it's not like keeping them a secret changed how I felt about their tale. spoiler, since that's how this article is written Do they think I'd go "oh, who cares about Elvis' grandson?" More likely people wouldn't know anything about his grandson and back out after the first line.

I felt like the (largely artificial and entirely author-opted) mystery detracted from the story.

I’m no particular fan of Elvis (have gone to Memphis several times and never even considered visiting Graceland), but I guessed it was Elvis’ grandson and spent 20% of my attention trying to confirm or deny that.

IMO, it’s not a particularly useful artifice.

Re: The Untold Story of a Music Royalty's Tragic End

#12

Post by winternett » Sat, Feb 18, 2023, 5:43 PM UTC

stephc_int13 wrote: post #7

This is a common pattern. The issue is not really the pressure, even if the pressure itself can be extremely toxic over a long duration. The problem is the lack of satisfaction from personal growth. We're all built with an internal feedback loop, inherited from our complex evolutionary path, this feedback loop is mostly sensitive to change. It is impossible to live a happy life without positive feedback into this loo…

The problem is when people invite drugs into their lives... It distorts perception and causes so many other issues like clinical depression, physical illness, and mental illnesses that can't properly be treated.

It's also a strange situation in which racial minorities that succumb to drug abuse are seen as criminals, while white people that have the same affliction are seen as "tragic cases of innocent societal victimization".

This world is deeply screwed up, and the music industry is even more so, but it's hard to see a story like this, as someone who wasn't "born with everything" yet still struggling after many years to create a foothold in music out of nothing, while people who have the opportunity of wealth and even ease of relation to celebrities keep failing and burning out... It's not jealousy, it's bewilderment.

The ideal that some sort of superior talent and creativity comes out of genetics, and that nefarious behavior should be forgiven based on genetics is rooted in racial superiority... It's a sham ideology we should all abandon in my opinion, especially when it keeps getting proven to be false. That being said, tragic loss of life should never be ignored and should be a lesson to us all about how to live our lives better.

Re: The Untold Story of a Music Royalty's Tragic End

#13

Post by OzzyB » Sat, Feb 18, 2023, 10:39 PM UTC

boomboomsubban wrote: post #9

OzzyB wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's exactly why it's written this way -- to devoid the reader of any prejudice and humanize this tragic story -- because it is tragic. If it was written "normally", like "Elvis' Grandson Ben killed himself, and here's why..." some people might hand wave it away as just another "poor little rich boy story". This is also probably one of the reasons for his suicide (IMO of course). I mean, he's Elvis' kid he couldn't…

The first sentence is >The grandson of a legendary musician, Ben grew up in wealth and luxury. If they're trying to avoid the "poor little rich boy story," they did a poor job. I said nothing about it being unsuited for HN. I take issues with the story telling, not it being posted here.

> "poor little rich boy story,"

I think you're taking my example a little too literally there... it's an example. The point is to save the reveal (spoilers?) till the end so that you can relate to the story more.

Re: The Untold Story of a Music Royalty's Tragic End

#14

Post by boomboomsubban » Sat, Feb 18, 2023, 10:58 PM UTC

OzzyB wrote: post #13

boomboomsubban wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first sentence is >The grandson of a legendary musician, Ben grew up in wealth and luxury. If they're trying to avoid the "poor little rich boy story," they did a poor job. I said nothing about it being unsuited for HN. I take issues with the story telling, not it being posted here.

> "poor little rich boy story," I think you're taking my example a little too literally there... it's an example. The point is to save the reveal (spoilers?) till the end so that you can relate to the story more.

I find it difficult to relate to a story about growing up the ultra wealthy grandson of a famous musician. Them being related to Elvis doesn't make it less relatable.

And personally, adding the "who is it" mystery made the story less relatable. Instead of reading it and empathizing, I was trying to figure out who they were talking about. Then there's the morose reveal of "Aha! It was Ben Keough that committed suicide."

Re: The Untold Story of a Music Royalty's Tragic End

#15

Post by hammyhavoc » Wed, Feb 22, 2023, 10:35 AM UTC

boomboomsubban wrote: post #2

This is a strangely written story. I don't get the point of hiding who the person is until the end, it's not like keeping them a secret changed how I felt about their tale. spoiler, since that's how this article is written Do they think I'd go "oh, who cares about Elvis' grandson?" More likely people wouldn't know anything about his grandson and back out after the first line.

Because it's clickbait. It's really that simple.