In the grunge era, when the focus was almost entirely on men who who looked like slobs, here was a fierce, smart woman with her own style, who bridged the gap between riot grrrll and hard rocking grunge eras. As a young girl during that era, she was an inspiring antidote to other famous ladies.

Yeah, Courtney is obviously not a pleasant/sane person to be around, and I’m sure I would totally hate her in real life, but I’m sure i would hate most famous people in real life, especially “great artists.” Even before Courtney became the train wreck she is today, she was hated, obviously in part for being an outspoken woman attached to a famous man.

Also, we tend to remember Kurt as a saint, but he was a paranoid, delusional drug addict (who didn’t shower) who killed himself and left his infant daughter with another drug addict.

And poor Kurt..I know more about suicide than I did before. I no longer see it as selfish. Just desperate.

These days Courtney can be a little hard to defend, even for me. The Chanel-bedecked wannabe bourgeois shit is tired. But she’s still a charming little wacko, like Eloise and Nancy Spungeon’s revenge in one…and the press is her Plaza and everybody’s stupid reactive hatred is the Chelsea she’s burning to the ground with her cigarettes.