Apparently Melanie Brown and Geri Horner Halliwell, formerly of the Spice Girls, have fallen out – again. MailOnline The report states: “Geri has put plans for a new Spice Girls reunion tour on hold after her falling out with bandmate Mel got ugly.”
A “source” quoted by the Mail added: “Geri has simply lost patience with Mel and her little taunts and jabs… she doesn’t want anything to do with Mel at the moment, let alone be on stage with her. They have always had a difficult relationship but now things have become very messy and no one has been able to smooth things over between them – so it’s all over again.”
It’s a cliché to say that “there’s a fine line between love and hate,” but I’ve found it to be true that the difference between a friend and an enemy is negligible compared to someone you don’t care about at all.
I’ve had friends I’ve fallen out with and found a new passion for – albeit an ugly brand – after making enemies of them. A few vicious drunken emails, a bit of character assassination over a boozy lunch with a mutual pal, and before you know it, a relationship that felt like beating the proverbial passed-down pony is back in the swing of things.
Like many divas, I’m not the type to stick with my friends through thick and thin; on the other hand, I’m all about it when I feel like it. Being an only child and enjoying my own company, I don’t relate to people the most naturally. I have a habit of starting out with someone, making them the center of attention, dedicating a book to them – and then waking up one morning and being completely baffled as to what I ever found in them.
I am aware that I project personalities onto people that do not actually exist. “Stop telling our male friends that your friend X looks like Winona Ryder and your friend Y looks like Kim Basinger – that is not true and it is not fair to give people false hope,” a husband once advised me.
The good thing is that I don’t feel threatened by others because of my high self-esteem. And because I’m a writer, I like to do things with them that others might shy away from. I had only known one friend for a week when I suddenly found myself in a hospital room while she bit my hand while she was undergoing surgery without general anesthesia because she had to work that afternoon. After such a bonding experience, going out for brunch once a month will seem pretty mundane.
When the beautiful atrophies into a slightly dreaded diary item – like VAT week – the decision must be made: do you let someone you loved so much that you read their horoscope before you knew your own become a mere acquaintance, or do you take active steps to alienate yourself from them? When someone becomes an enemy, you remember all the things you originally liked them for – whereas this is nearly impossible when the friendship atrophies into boredom.
But perhaps the most interesting (and rarest) journey of friendship is when a best friend becomes your worst enemy – and then not just a friend again, but someone you really admire. That’s what happened to me with Toby Young, whom I met as a cheeky teenager and who is now the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, one of the most energetic and dynamic organizations fighting state-imposed censorship.
I can’t help but think that the two feuding Spice guys will still be remembered – as friends or enemies – when they’re old and the memories of the sensible Baby, the balanced Sporty and the serious Posh have long since faded.
