Arneldo |
15-08-2006 02:42 PM |
The History behind Pete\'s Vision from Heaven
This is from Yitzhak! A FM on the C4 Forum!
TRAGIC TRAIN ACCIDENT
I’m sure Pete’s vision will be much discussed (and sadly...demonised) on the forum today. For anybody who is interested I have read up on what happened to Pete’s friend (assuming this IS the friend he is talking about) and so I would like to offer some history and context on the matter.
When stories of Pete’s drug problems hit the tabloids, a Pete fansite (perfectpete.com) affiliated with friends of his, put up an article that had appeared in the Brighton local press two years ago. It described how one night a friend of Pete’s had been messing around on a live railway line and had been electrocuted. Pete and another friend not only witnessed his death, but attempted to drag him from the tracks and were both shocked unconscious. Police interviewed in this article said it was a very traumatic event and commented that the friends were very close.
Pete’s friends sent the article to the fansite to give context to Pete’s drug problem, begging fans not to judge him too harshly for it. They also hinted that in the months following Pete had gone through a bit of a mental breakdown that included not only drug abuse but suicide attempts. (I have never seen a friend die in front of me so I don't feel that I can even comment on this...)
For those who have not heard – Pete told Richard last night he was scared about not winning because his dead friend had spoken to him in a vision and told him he would go on a journey of discovery in the BB house and would win. Pete told Richard that everything had clicked into place so far - apart from the winning. He was scared that if his vision did not come true he would have to accept that his vision of heaven wasn’t real and that he had just been going mad. Pete looked very anxious as he said all this, twitching badly – at one point he said “Heaven is very important to me. I really want to get back there.” I respect Pete’s beliefs but it is a rather worrying to hear this from a person who has been suicidal at several points in their life.
I am not even going to bother with the knee-jerk cynicism. There will be plenty of threads slating him and speculating already. Pete’s vision didn’t make me feel cynical at all (I believe him to be a genuine person) but it made me feel concerned and a little disturbed. Ash and Richard said that by thinking this way Pete was putting himself under huge psychological pressure – to win BB not only for his families financial security but for reassurance in his own faith and sanity.
For me Pete winning or losing both have worrying implications. It sounds like Pete has really screwed himself up over this matter and either outcome seems likely to screw him up more. As a Pete fan my main concern is not the gameshow, but Pete’s happiness and mental health. Whatever the result is on Friday I sincerely hope that he will be okay. Pete has so much to give as a person – he makes people laugh, he is very good-natured and creatively talented. The thought of a person like Pete ending up hurt or mentally damaged by this experience really upsets me.
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