I've said it before on this blog and I'll say it now. Death sucks. And the untimely death of Heath Ledger at just 28 (actually I'm surprised how young he is) is no exception. I'm with Margaret Pomeranz, it always seemed to me that Heath Ledger was a talented actor with a good soul, who chose intelligent, diverse and demanding roles. Kinda like Johnny Depp.
There's already plenty of scandal and salacious gossip around his death, of course no sense in waiting for the real story before reporting pills scattered around his bed (oops, they're saying now, no pills actually scattered. Of course they're not saying sorry for making up a big whopping lie.)
Anyway, I don't know him, or know who he was away from the cameras. But I think it's sad, I think it's a terrible loss.
Love the new look! Very clean!! Reading your post about bush-life reinforces our own future plans and how smart they are! Bush yes, city nooo!
ReplyDeleteAs for Heath Ledger, I feel the same. I'm reminded of when River Phoenix died. Something about that shared generation(ish) that strikes a chord. And he has a little girl. I feel quite sad for all those who knew him.
As I guess I should for all those who lose a family member every day somewhere in the world. But I don't have enough (insert appropriate German compound noun meaning pain for the world... actually, I believe it might be Weltschmertz...) to go around.
In a way that's kind of the point of grieving for celebrities, they kind of represent weltschmertz in a way we can comprehend and cope with, my sadness for Heath Ledger is my sadness for all men who die young, all little girls who lose their fathers, all parents who lose their sons.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same reason I'm happy for Nicole Kidman being pregnant. it has nothing to do with her talent or her abilities otherwise, it's about feeling human about another human, about feeling connected to a stranger.
If that all makes sense.
That is nicely put Penn, it's just empathy pure and simple isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWhen I read on a news site 'Why should I care about some random celebrity when people die every hour from this that ...' (clearly not a direct quote!) I think, because we DO know some facts about their life, we know their face, we've seen them grow, and they and we are human.
ps: I agree about Nicole too, I have no particular warmth toward her but I'm happy that she is joyful.
Couldn't agree more. N and I were saying only yesterday how surreal it is to feel real grief for a complete stranger...and yet we do.
ReplyDeleteSuch a sad loss of a wonderful talent.