cwta eugene wrote:But... her version of Syd just conflicts with everyone elses. We all have a tendency to put people we have loved and lost on a pedestal and forget their shortcomings, even in the face of people who know otherwise.
Of all accounts we, the fans, have read about Roger Barrett, the man, Rosemary is the only one who actually KNOWS him.
We can read all we want about him being an "acid casualty"...but according to WHO? People who hadn't seen him in 30+ years?
I'm 28. I'd hate to think that people would still view me as they did even 5 years ago. People grow and change and it happens.
My 9 year old son has Asperger's syndrome. He, at times, is very vain about his hair. He won't let me touch it...and if I do it anyway, he'll go to great lengths to put it back the way it was. However, about a month and a half ago, he inexplicably went into the kitchen, got out the meat scissors, and chopped off a huge chunk of hair off of the top of his head. When asked why he did such a thing (he doesn't generally do strange things like that anymore...he did a lot when he was younger) he just said that he didn't know. I asked if he'd gotten gum stuck in his hair, and he said no, he just couldn't figure out why he did it.
If Rosemary suspected Roger had Asperger's syndrome...there is no explanation, then, for some of the things he'd have done. Answering the door in his underwear could be chocked up to that, had that been the case. It doesn't mean that in general (or when in a certain phase) he wasn't concerned with his appearance.
And who are we to be so ridiculous and demanding that we'd believe there MUST BE a photographer at the ready, waiting in the wings, every time the man left his house? Sure, he looks somewhat disheveled in some recent photos, but he looks quite nice in others.
Remember, we have only a very limited perception of the man and his life. We believe things because the media tells us so. It's in our nature. The recent photos of Mr. Barrett are few and far between...and don't forget, only extremely brief glances into his daily life. I'm sitting at the PC right now in only a long comfortable skirt and a bra, my hair thrown messily into pigtails, wearing glasses (which I *NEVER* wear in public) and the skin cream I wear at nights.....if someone were to photograph me right this instant, I'd be QUITE embarrassed. And when I go out in the mornings down the street to 7-11 for my daily coffee, I'm certainly not looking my best then either. I'm generally wearing an oversized messy t shirt that I'd wear around the house, ugly cut off shorts or comfortable skirts, or sweat pants. My hair always looks like crap and I'm not wearing any make up. That being said, I *DO* care about my appearance on the whole. I just don't feel the need to look my best when I'm sitting around the house or going out down the street to the convenience store. If someone published pictures of me from those little trips in a newspaper or magazine, people could easily look at these photos and say I'm a slob and I don't take care of myself. That's just simply not the truth, though. When I go out to work or to socialize, THEN I'll put an effort into how I look.
What can I say? People are people. Even former rock stars who just want to live a normal life (normal being subjective) are people too.
