Comments on: Thoughtful Thursday - The Values Hollywood Glorifies

by: Caridad

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:19:32 +0000

I don’t think he deliberately overdosed. I definitely believe it was an accident. A very tragic one.

by: Irene

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:12:40 +0000

I was in college when the whole “drug culture” thing hit really hard.
Never saw the need for it, myself, but I was never one to go along with the crowd.
However, I do think that Heath’s death was an accident. There may have been some undiagnosed heart trouble…he took some sleeping pills and something snapped inside. Happens all the time. I would like to believe that more than that he deliberately overdosed. All that potential…gone in an instant. Sigh.

by: Caridad

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:45:19 +0000

You are correct that if it was related to his problems sleeping, I should not associate it with the “drug culture”. There have been rumors about this and that his role in Batman deeply troubled him.

Thank you for your thoughts.

by: Caridad

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:30:29 +0000

I wonder about that and yet as writers, we go into multiple heads all the time. It’s the only way to truly make the character live. Of course, look at how many great writers and poets die young.

I once took a class in college on poetry and the final exam was a report on a famous poet. I did Sylvia Plath — stuck her head in an oven if I recall correctly. In fact, nearly everyone of the poets we had chosen had either killed themselves outright or led self-destructive lives.

So maybe it’s just the creative bent in general? Still, truly sad.

by: Nonny

Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:19:04 +0000

I’m still in a bit of shock over it.

Though there’s nothing conclusive yet, the articles I’ve read seem to suggest that he died from an OD on prescription sleeping medication, and that he had been having extreme insomnia for several months. People who are deprived of sleep for long enough do things they might not otherwise do.

I wouldn’t equate it with the “drug culture” because that insinuates that Ledger was abusing the medication instead of taking it for a legitimate purpose. Sure, there have been enough illegal drug related deaths in the Hollywood community, but at least what I’ve read seems to indicate this was most likely an overdose by a man desperate for sleep.

by: Pat Cochran

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 22:02:21 +0000

How tragic! Yet we will see this happen
again! A profession that calls for persons
to “fragment” their lives, living for times
as other personalities. Could this be a
part of the situation? Suppose you have
some sort of underlying problem, could
this exacerbate that uncertainty? My
sincerest condolences are extended to
Mr. Ledger’s family and friends.

Pat Cochran

by: Caridad

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 18:04:33 +0000

It’s so sad. He was so young and had so much to live for. We do have a tendency to believe — not us — but the reality of it is, tomorrow is promised to no one, right? Isn’t that the old saying?

by: Gretchen

Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:45:19 +0000

It is such a shame. People continue to believe that it could never happen to them and continue to deny the fact that they’re mortal.