Originally Posted by
antceleb12
I think, for the most part, you are correct. At the expense of the women's personal physical and mental health, Gordy pushed the Supremes into international superstardom and made them a crossover act that appealed to people of all races.
That being said, I do not believe that even if Gordy had made the environment a happier one - or kept it happier, as it was in the beginning - Florence would have stayed happy. Florence suffered from severe depression, from what we know, and depression doesn't rely on environmental circumstances. Gordy could have made Florence the lead singer and let her chose her own schedule and she still would have fallen apart. Florence needed therapy and likely medication, but depression wasn't recognized as a legitimate illness as much back then as it is now, and it certainly wasn't discussed [[look at Nina Simone). Rape was also certainly not a matter of public discussion, and the lack of treatment for both her depression and rape, I believe, contributed drastically toward Florence's downfall.
It's a really touchy subject when people talk about how Florence should have "pulled herself up by her bootstraps" because she legitimately suffered from mental illness that went wildly untreated and was left to fester out of control. For as much flack as Mary gets for this, I believe Mary was acting with the correct intent for the telling Berry Florence did not want to be in the group anymore. Florence needed help that remaining in the Supremes could not provide.
That being said, Berry is certainly not off the hook here. He exploited all three girls - Diana included - to DEATH. Berry achieved wondrous things with the crossover appeal, but at the great expense of the artists' personal lives and money. At the end of the day, none of the girls could walk away freely with their due money or rights to the group name. Motown treated the girls like property and Florence was just the first to crumble. She may have been the only one to succumb so young, but each Supreme had to pay a high price for their share of stardom.
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