How should we view disabled musicians who achieved success because of abuse?
Hey guys, I was reading up on Daisy and Violet Hilton, the famous conjoined twin musicians from the freak show era, and it really got me thinking.
Their story is honestly a pretty disturbing paradox. It kind of reminds me of Michael Jackson’s childhood—except in MJ's case it was his dad, while for the twins, it was their abusive owners and managers. They were treated terribly and forced into brutal, exhausting practice routines every single night, all because their handlers wanted to milk them for money.
But here’s the messed-up part: that horrific, forced training is exactly what made them so incredibly skilled and world-famous.
How do you guys look at this kind of situation? Can we actually say their success was "thanks to" the abuse, or does the sheer cruelty of what happened to them completely override the outcome? I'd love to hear some thoughts on this.
