Why does dying make you better?- Page 3

[keen on kean]

Posted: 1/26/08 at 9:01am

Has anyone mentioned the archetypal example, Princess Diana? Her only accomplishment seems to be having married into the royal family under wildly unrealistic expectations (hers, and everyone else's), produced two sons, and then spent 98% of her time jet setting around. Her death was tragic because she was young and it was avoidable, but she got more press coverage than Mother Theresa whose life was truly extraordinary from a human inspiration standpoint. If Diana had lived, she would have moved to the US and starred in a sequel to THE BODYGUARD with Kevin Costner, been on the society pages for the rest of her life, and still been seriously unhappy.

Interesting thread but rather unkind about Ledger. May he rest in peace.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 1/26/08 at 9:32am

Don't get me started on my other theory: that some people react so to a celebrity's death because they have never experienced a REAL loss of their own.

And others re-live their own "real" losses each and every time they have suffer another loss, or even when a friend suffers a loss--or, yes, even when a beloved entertainer or inspiring political figure dies.

The wounds get reopened time and time again, even if the subsequent losses are not as deep or profound as the "real" loss.

[Guillermo Ugarte]

Posted: 1/26/08 at 5:52pm

It seems a standard press frenzy is in order whenever a celebrity dies. Still it is sad that this young man died so soon. He did have talent. The frenzy has been made worse by things like this:

'Hate group' church to picket Ledger memorial
Posted Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:25am AEDT
Updated Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:29am AEDT


Heath Ledger in the award-winning film Brokeback Mountain.

An evangelical anti-gay US church plans to picket any memorials to Australian actor Heath Ledger, who died this week, because of his portrayal of a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain.

It is understood a service will be held in LA this coming weekend, before the Perth-born actor is laid to rest in Australia.

Ledger, 28, was found dead in his New York apartment on Wednesday morning. Prescription medications were found in the residence, but an initial autopsy proved inconclusive.

The actor's family insist his death was "accidental."

Shirley Phelps, of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas, has told Sydney radio station 2Day FM that they will also picket any attempt to honour Ledger, 28, at next month's Academy Awards ceremony.

"I'm going to stand outside of any public memorial service that he has here," Ms Phelps said.

"And then the other place I'm going to picket him is when they prop him up to worship his dead, rotting carcass further at the Oscars. I'll be right outside by the red carpet."

Ledger won widespread acclaim for his sensitive portrayal of a repressed homosexual cowboy role in the Oscar-winning film Brokeback Mountain.

He had also starred in The Patriot, A Knight's Tale, Two Hands and Ned Kelly.

The Westboro Baptist Church is classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Centre in the United States.

It regularly pickets the funerals of soldiers killed in Iraq, claiming the war is God's punishment for tolerating gays.

- AFP

John Gibson Apologizes for Heath Ledger Comments

Atlanta, GA 1/25/2008 10:23 PM GMT (FINDITT)





Fox news anchor John Gibson has apologized for mocking Heath Ledger’s death on his radio show. Fox News’ Gibson made fun of the actor’s death by opening his radio show with funeral music. Gibson called Ledger a “weirdo” who had a “serious drug problem.”

He then played a clip out of Ledger’s movie ‘Brokeback Mountain’ where the actor says “I wish I knew how to quit you.” Gibson mockingly said “Well, he found out how to quit you.”



Gibson played another clip from the film where Ledger said, “We’re dead” before repeating the quote himself. Throughout the rest of his segment Gibson continued making fun of Ledger and at one point joked the 28-year-old may have been suicidal over the presidential debate.



“Apparently Heath Ledger was suicidal and his friends saw it coming. I think he watched the Clinton-Obama debate last night. I think he was an Edwards guy, cause he saw his Edwards guy was completely irreverent,” he said.



The news anchor has apologized saying he is “sorry that some took my comments as anti-gay and insensitive.”



“I am aware that Ledger has a family and many fans who were grief stricken by his sudden death. Those who knew him say he was a great actor and loving fan and what happened to him was terrible and was evidently an accident,” he added.



To view more stories and news related to Entertainment please go to:

http://news.finditt.com/NewsList.aspx?cat=2&wcat=6

It would be nice if a group of family and friends were allowed to grieve for this loss without the press and public going crazy and using the death as a cause celeb. If you are in the public eye today you have to endure this kidn of nonsense every day of your life and it only gets worse after you die. A sad commentary on the state of Western civilization.