Mac Miller: a beautiful tragedy

Madison Diemart
Staff Writer

When I got to my boyfriend’s house last Friday, I didn’t expect for his roommate to start yelling that Mac Miller had died. I also did not expect to be listening to Mac Miller for the rest of the night through his PlayStation. 

Mac Miller, whose real name is Malcolm McCormick, passed away last week September 7th. Mac was only 26 years old.

He was found at his house by one of his friends, who made a 911 call. Mac was pronounced dead at the scene. 

According to Fox News, an autopsy has been completed but there are still more tests needed, which can sometimes take months to complete, to find out exactly what drug killed Mac. 

And that’s the kicker. Mac had dealt with addiction for a very long time. He was a known substance abuser. But that’s the norm now, isn’t? We expect our favorite artists to be using drugs off all kinds, and that’s just how it is. 

But in the wake of this tragedy, we should be thinking long and hard about addiction, and what a terrible disease it is. We already lost Prince, and Lil Peep. We also almost lost Demi Lavato to a heroin overdose.

Time and time again we’ve tweeted and posted and talked about how bad substance abuse is, how we shouldn’t glorify it, but do we really mean it?

We still consume all this music that glorifies drug abuse, even Mac’s music did. And that doesn’t really give us a good track record, does it?

What does it mean when we say one thing, and then act totally different? These artists are singing and rapping about drug abuse, not because it’s fun, but because they actually do it. So, when we consume and buy their music, we are in a way supporting this lifestyle.

We’re saying that’s it’s okay, that it’s cool. And that isn’t right. 

We need to stop supporting an artist’s work if it glorifies drug abuse. That only pushes them to keep creating the same art. They won’t change their ways if we normalize it. It also tells people that it’s okay to consume and abuse drugs. 

We’re so adamant to share our opinions on how bad addiction is when a celebrity dies, but we don’t actually do anything about it.

Could we have saved Mac, if we sent him the message that substance abuse wasn’t right? 

My answer is, probably not. Mac had already been struggling for a long, long time. He was trying to get better, but he just didn’t make it that far. But there is always a chance that we can save others who are dealing with the same problems. 

We need to have this conversation regardless if someone dies. We need to continuously bring attention to drug addiction, to the lifestyle, and to mental health as well. Many times, drug addiction is brought on by a mental health issue. 

Celebrities get overwhelmed because- let’s face it- being the in the public-eye 24/7 has got to be awful and probably induces much anxiety. It can also bring on depression and other mental health problems.

One way someone like Mac could cope is through drugs, but we need to start shedding light on how toxic the entertainment industry can be, and how being in the spotlight for so long can contribute to addiction. That isn’t to say that Mac’s reason for addiction was because of a mental health issue, but it’s still an important topic to discuss. 

The more we talk about these issues, the more people will think about them, and the more they will help people change. We can’t just keep going in this endless cycle where someone dies, we speak on it for five days, and then go back to our old ways.

Change doesn’t happen when we just talk, change happens when we actually do something.  

I’m sure Mac would agree with this. Regardless if his music contained the glorification of drugs, Mac would definitely want this conversation to be held. He was struggling to gain sobriety and was in need of help, and there’s no reason he wouldn’t want us to help each other. 

This also isn’t a blame game. No one is to blame for Mac’s death or substance abuse, but there are ways that we could lend a hand to others if they need it.

Along with that, I’ve seen recently that many people are trying to blame Ariana Grande, Mac’s ex-girlfriend of two years. I expected this, honestly, after she and Mac broke up earlier in the year and when she went off to date Pete Davidson a mere month later. 

But again, no one is to blame for Mac’s overdose. It was an accident, and a tragedy. Grande had a reason to breakup with him, and we have to respect that.

Addiction is hard for everyone, even the people in the addict’s life. We can’t blame Grande for leaving a relationship that she felt was unsatisfying or toxic for her. 

Loved ones of an addict should not be held accountable for their substance abuse, or their overdose.

These things happen, accident or not. There’s no way that Grande could’ve known that Mac would overdose, and there’s no way she could’ve known that he would pass. 

Right now, we need to give Mac’s family and Grande some time to grieve. Mac and Grande were together for about two years and loved each other as any couple would after that period of time.

She is grieving now, just like the rest of us and we need to give her that time. 

I’m sure she did everything she could to help him, but sometimes a person needs more. And maybe Mac just needed a little more. 

There’s a lyric from Juice Wrld’s song “Legends” where he says, “All legends fall in the making.” And that’s where he’s right. Mac is a legend, and he fell in the making. 

Feature photo courtesy of The Associated Press.