I heard small bits of Amy Winehouse’s music growing up, but like many people, my main association with her has never been her songs. Tabloid photos of her staring back at me under a headline that had something to do with drugs popped into my head whenever I thought of her before last week.

As often happens after learning more about a person, I felt horrible for Amy once I had heard her story. What struck me the most was that she was aware from a young age that fame would probably unravel her – the film included a recording of her saying, when she was very young, that if she ever thought she was actually famous she would “go crazy”. That context made watching paparazzi crowd her on the street or her father bring camera crews to her vacation spot much more difficult. Seeing her advance through her career when we knew the end of her story was powerful. I was struck by how even once she had died, the media and the public wouldn’t leave her alone – they carried her body out her front door, with a crowd and cameras gathered right next door.

We often talk about how judging someone immediately upon meeting them is wrong, but we forget that celebrities are people too, and they’re subjected daily to the snap judgements of millions of people. Somehow the idea of considering what might be going on under the surface (or giving people the benefit of the doubt) doesn’t always apply when you’re famous. It’s easy to see why this would be so devastating to someone like Amy, who was a little on the shy side and didn’t want the vast majority of the attention she received. I hadn’t though much about this until watching this documentary, so I’m glad I had the opportunity to see it and gain a better understanding of such a talented artist.