With the entertainment industry in turmoil with the Writer's Strike, and the tabloids getting their dollar's worth with the "B" word, I've decided to lay low until the writer's strike is over. I have no snide or rude comments to make about Nicole Richie's new baby, in fact, I think it's a beautiful thing. Then on Tuesday, I went into a kind of zombie shock that I must get off my chest.
The headlines on Yahoo read "Heath Ledger, 28, found dead." This had to be a mistake. Check the calendar, no it's not April 1st, what the FUCK is going on here? What upset me the most, well second most, the first being the fact is that Heath Ledger was so incredibly talented, you just knew he was one of the ones that would achieve icon status, was that it didn't take the tabloids 10 minutes to start crying "Suicide" and "Intentional Overdose". No, they didn't use the words intentional, but they did allude to it, painting a tableau of strewn drugs and his naked body at the foot of the bed. Did he overdose? Probably. He was taking a myriad of prescription drugs, all LEGALLY prescribed to him, however, all drugs have a potential lethal combination. They mentioned Ambien, which if you read this blog normally, you will see that I was prescibed Ambien in the middle of December for my insomnia. I stopped taking it, though, because I was doing some pretty weird shit while under the influence of it. Thankfully, I never took other drugs with it, but I could see how someone might. I was having full on conversations with people that I had no recollection of, making phone calls at 2 in the morning to people, taking my dog out in the middle of the night (Couldn't figure out why she looked at me with fear and loathing every morning, the only reason I knew about the 3 am dog walking was because a neighbor and friend saw me...apparently she flagged me down, I spoke to her for about 20 minutes and started walking toward the wrong front door) and apparently I even drove my car to the store to get soda. That's just the stuff witnessed by others. God knows what I was doing in the privacy of my own home. Although my dog absolutely does not want me to brush her anymore. That worries me.
The point of my story is, that there is a tragically logical explanation for Heath's demise. I am so utterly shattered by this event, and I can't even imagine the pain that Michelle must be feeling. My thoughts and prayers go out to her, her family, his family, and most of all their daughter Matilda. The way the news organization handled the whole thing was eerily reminiscent of the demise of Kurt Cobain. When People Magazine published a picture of Kurt's body laying on the floor with the gun still near his body, I could have screamed. I whipped off a scathing, vituperative letter to People because someday Frances might see that picture. Now in shades of sensationalism, showing Heath's body being rolled out in a bodybag, come on people show some decorum. What happens one day when Matilda sees that picture? The lack of shame is overwhelming. Anything for a buck, huh?
Rest in Peace, Heath. You were too good for this world.
PS - And if you want to see him at his finest, take a look at "Candy", a little known flick he did a couple of years ago with Abbie Cornish. You will begin to get a glimpse of what our generation has just lost.
