Heath Ledger's Tragic Death - Already Pretext for Controversy and Pointless Cruelty
The controversy snowball is already rolling downhill
By Monica Gaza, Entertainment News Editor
23rd of January 2008, 14:59 GMT
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It hasn't even been one day since Heath Ledger died and already we seem to be spiraling into a media frenzy fueled by the wildest rumors and speculations regarding his death and the last months of his life. It's been incredibly hard for everyone (whether in the entertainment business or not) to handle the news of the talented actor's untimely death - but I have an ominous feeling that the worst is yet to come and that things will only get harder and dirtier. Already on many forums and chats we can find endless controversies and contradictory discussions, with many people calling Heath a selfish drug addict and blaming everyone from Heath himself to his parents, his ex fiancée Michelle Williams and his friends for allowing him to be consumed by his personal demons.
I find this so wrong on so many levels, that I'm having a hard time putting a little bit of order into my arguments. First of all and before being a famous Hollywood actor, Heath Ledger was a human being, a talented and shy human being for all that, a son, a father and a close friend. His passing is a tragic event, which is in itself so crushing that the pain it caused on those he loved and who loved him back cannot be put into words. This much is true when it comes to the death of any human being, superstar or not. And then there's the undeniable fact that Heath Ledger the actor was someone who had a special gift of making us all, his audience, his fans, feel like we knew him closely.
Like all great actors, with every part he took on he made us all feel a deep emotional response to his characters, whether empathy or hatred, and he made himself loved, familiar, agreeable to us. We all felt we knew him, we all felt a sense of gratitude for his performances which in turn amused us, terrified us and made us forget for a few hours about the troubles of our own existence. By expressing their deep sadness and regret at the news of his death, those who loved Heath Ledger the man and the actor are not putting him on a pedestal, claiming he was some sort of saint and that all his actions and choices were right. He was a human being, he made mistakes, and his demons and troubles were his own. If he failed to ask for help, if he descended into depression, even if by some absurd twist of fate we will learn that he has killed himself, his choices were still his own - as are and were the consequences of his actions.
In the end, Hollywood is not worshiping Heath Ledger but merely expressing regret at losing one of its most promising young stars. He was, after all, only 28. It's a pity to see people calling him a druggie and a junkie who simply got what he deserved. No one called Heath a saint - and it is, I believe, OK to mourn the loss of someone without turning that person into a role model. Heath Ledger was a talented man and a loving father. He will be dearly missed by fellow actors and fans alike.
Here is a moving tribute to Heath and his extraordinary career.
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