Bria Faison

Professor Diehl

Human 2010

Depression and heartbreaks are found almost everywhere in life. Some people’s

depression and how they deal with sadness depend on the person and or particular situation

someone is going through. In particular heartbreaks and depression have been shown in movies.

The movie, The Royal Tenenbaums, heartbreak is depicted through the character Richie who

goes through traumatic changes in life which ultimately lead to his depressive state. Another way

that heartbreaks and depression can be expressed through is artist’s music. Amy Winehouse, who

was a famous pop singer, told her story of depression and heartbreak through her songs, in

particular Back to Black. This song portrays Amy’s life of how she deals with depression. To

compare the two is almost as simple as the way both, Richie and Amy handle their depression

and how it changes them as people.

Amy Winehouse’s song, Back to Black, shows signs of depression. The depression she

experiences is expressed through the breakup of her relationship with Blake. When Amy sings,

“I’ll go back to black”, it means that she was going back into her depressive state. Amy going

back into her depressive state means that she is going back into the same cycle of excessive use

of drugs and alcohol which she mentions when she sings, “I love puff”. As Amy sings, “I love

you so much, it’s not enough”, represents that no matter how much she loves Blake, her

relationship with never bring her happiness. Back to Black represents the life that Amy is

holding on to, but the life she is holding on to is no longer in reach. While she sings, “ I died a

hundred times”, tells us that this heartbreak that she is experiencing is taking a major toll on her

life and possibly her mental health.

 In the Royal Tenenbaums, Richie was always deemed as the favorite child. As a child

Richie would be the only one of his siblings to actually spend quality time with his father.

During his life, Richie always wanted to hang on to happiness which ultimately made him hold

onto his childhood. While growing up, Richie was a tennis star which kept his father’s eyes on

him while his parents were divorced. The love Richie had for tennis was stemmed from the fact

that he wanted his father to love him. He thought that if he constantly played tennis, his father

would stick around. As Richie got older and stopped playing tennis his father was not around and

a grew a sense of darkness while he was away. This ultimately led to his thoughts of depression

which followed his suicide attempt.

Both Back to Black and The Royal Tenenbaums represent how people manage

depression. Both Amy and Richie attach their happiness to someone else. Richie viewed

happiness as having his father around, and Amy viewed happiness as being in a relationship with

Blake. Amy and Richie try to hold on to times when they were happy and before their trauma

that led to depression. Richie always being the favorite did not know how to find a different kind

of happiness without him no longer playing tennis for his father. Richie gets into a depressive

state when he gets older because he feels he is no longer worthy of his father’s attention because

tennis is no longer in his life. This aligns with Amy because she made music in order to keep

Blake around. In almost every song that Amy has released is connected to her relationship with

Blake. Like Richie, Amy has come to a sense where she thinks that if she continues to make

music, Blake will stay around her, but that is simply not the case. The love that both Richie and

Amy experienced was brought by something that was materialistic and not by genuine love.

This choice connects with everything learned in class because it has to deal with

depression. Throughout class we have discussed depression and heartbreaks and the tolls it takes
on people. The trauma that both Amy and Richie have represented a type of heartbreak that can

change someone and how they react to it. Depression is a type of heartbreak that is hard to shake

and to work through. By analyzing Amy’s music and Richie’s life we are able to see how

depression affects different people but ultimately breaks them. Looking through both of their

lives we are able to see depression in different ways but lead to the same heartbreak.

In conclusion, heartbreak and depression can come in different forms. Between Amy and

Richie, their depression led to their despair and choices. Both people had to learn to detach

themselves from the life they once had before their depression. By not detaching from their

heartbreaks, Amy and Richie both tried to hold on to a life that was no longer there. Ultimately

throughout life we all experience some burst of heartbreak and or depression. Each can be

brought on by different aspects in one life but leads to the same feeling of sadness and despair. In

my life currently, I look at things that cause me to have burst of heartbreaks and try to learn from

them rather than being sad about it which is better said than done. The choices that Richie and

Amy both made taught me lesions that once a time in your life is over, dwelling on the past can

lead to heartbreak and depression. Another lesion that is to be learned is that even though a

highlight in your life is over; you cannot dwell on the past because you might miss out on what

can be instead of what was.