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I have to admit Gone Too Far was extremely difficult for me to watch. I can’t say that I knew DJ AM personally but I did get to meet him and witness his unbelievable skills on the turntables a few times. Interestingly enough, AM was the first person that I ever interviewed when I started my music journalism career five years ago.
Naturally, I was a bit shaken up to hear about AM’s passing but I was happy to hear that MTV was going to air the show in his memory. There were so many negative comments floating around the internet and I thought that Gone Too Far was a great opportunity to show that despite having flaws (everyone does) AM was really a great person at heart and was willing to help others battle the disease that he was still struggling with himself.
Watching the show, it seemed exactly like A&E’s Intervention just designed for a younger audience with a celebrity DJ as the host. The main focus of episode one was Amy, a 23-year-old heroin addict from Philly who had lost her dad to drugs and was resorting to stealing from her family to support her habit. DJ AM met with her immediate family to determine the extent of her addiction and then helped them stage an intervention to offer her a shot at sobority. “Everyone wants to see you live,” he told her. “No one wants to see you die.”
“Wow, right now I feel a lot of pressure,” DJ AM told the cameras. “I can’t cure addition but what I can do is offer Amy a chance at a different life.”
Though Amy was caught off guard by the intervention, she agreed to accept help but insisted on shooting up one last time before she hopped on her flight. Later, DJ AM visited her in rehab, got her some much needed dental care and surprised her with a visit from her mother and her sister.
By the episodes end, AM gifted the newly sober Amy with an ipod which was cleverly inscribed with the words, “don’t pawn me” on the back. Cute, funny and supportive. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Gone Too Far.