Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Reflections On The Death of Heath Ledger

I heard the news last night about Heath Ledger being found dead in his apartment in New York. It was shocking to me. They mentioned that they thought it might have been suicide, but I thought for a minute and said, "Naw. I don't think so. I hope not." Later reports said that his last two acting roles involved putting himself in some very sad places mentally. They mentioned that the last role particularly weighed heavy on his mind, and left him unable to sleep well. Now, I've heard that when people can't sleep, they hallucinate. Sleeping is an essential part of being healthy and happy. To have thoughts that are so uncomfortable as to cause you to not be able to sleep- that's torture.



I also heard that Heath Ledger had pneumonia when he died (I heard that on TV from that guy who runs TMZ, who said that he knew it for a fact). Walking pneumonia is not cute and doesn't feel good. If you can't sleep, I'll bet it's impossible to get rid of).



I've heard it said that, "Thoughts are things". I really believe that. What you put in your head- what you allow to go into your head- be it a song, a movie, or an episode of "Ugly Betty", will somehow affect you. The amounts of things and the kinds of things that we choose to put in our heads play out somehow in our lives every day. These things definitely affect your mood. Actors often get into character by trying to think the way their characters think. Always having to be someone else, particularly if you're having to be a sad or vile person, might adversly alter your moods. They say that that Heath's last role as the Joker for the new Batman movie had left him depressed and unable to sleep. Imagine being unable to control your thoughts. That scares me.



I really liked Heath Ledger. I was rooting for him to win the Oscar for "Brokeback Mountain", a film that he was superb in. I'd also seen him in "The Patriot" and "A Knight's Tale", and he was really good in "Monster's Ball". I saw him on "Oprah" a couple of years ago, too, and he seemed happy and normal. One thing that I do remember is that when he was living out here in Hollywood that the paparrazi would always stalk him outside his home, and he'd literally drive crazy down the street to get away from them. I do think that a law should be passed to stop the paparazzi from chasing celebrities.



He was only 28 years old. That's young. Not as young as James Dean was when he died. There are plenty of people who die younger. But this guy, who depicted life so magnificently through his acting roles, and who seemed to be really humble and down-to-earth, through his early death reminds us that it doesn't matter whether or not you were expecting to die. When death happens to you, that's it. It's too late to seek help if you need it. You're done.



I hope that Heath Ledger's death helps other people, - stars and non-celebrity people alike, realize that life is a gift, and that you have to love yourself and take care of yourself. Your life is fragile, and can be taken away in an instant. (I'm so glad that Owen Wilson survived his ordeal last year and I hope that he's doing better).



Heath Ledger will live on through his movies. There are tons of photos of him on the internet. He was a cool guy that I wish that I could have met. I'm going to miss him.

No comments: