Death of Celebrity

I was shocked, and sadly not-so-shocked a few moments ago when I turned on my computer and logged on to my daily guilty pleasure, pinkisthenewblog.com. The headline for today's post read "No Joke, Heath Ledger is Dead!". At only 28 years old, yet another young and talented celebrity has taken his own life.

What is most sad is what I find in myself - the shock and disbelief lingers no longer than a few minutes. With the announcement of anyone's untimely demise, acceptance should be days, weeks, or even months or years ahead as the natural grief cycle takes its course. Yes, granted we do not know this person personally, but yet anyone's death at such a young age with such a promising life ahead is, and should be, tragic. When it becomes all too commonplace to see and hear "so-and-so has died of a suspected overdose/suicide", especially in the world of celebrity, should we not turn the lens on ourselves??

We as a society idolize the lives of the famous. It's a life of glamour, luxury and pomp, traveling the world and everyone knowing your face and your name. And yet from the golden pedestal, more and more young celebrities fall. I'm beginning to wonder if its our fault for placing too much stress on the famous, disallowing any fault or misjudgment or any amount of privacy. Or for not taking their problems or the warning signs seriously enough. Take Owen Wilson for example. In August, he attempted suicide and survived the ordeal. Since then, gossip magazines have all but forgotten the mishap, yet have followed closely his jetset life and his relationships with various women. Did no one - photographer, writer, editor, or reader - stop to think "wait a minute, what's wrong with this picture? Did this man get the help he requires? Is his head-first dive back into the life of celebrity going to lead him back to a dangerous position? Should we be photographing his sucking face, giving him space, or encouraging him to seek help?"

We can see it plainly enough in characters such as Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse, who are clearly on a warpath to self-destruction and disparately need psychiatric help. And yet all we give them is even more cameras in their faces and a whole lot of money to newspapers and magazines who only profit from such cries for help. The saddest part is those who suffer in silence, such as Heath Ledger who always seemed to have a smile for his fans. Although then again, we'll never understand the plans and purpose we each have for our lives, and so what can any of us do but to try to help and better ourselves, of not for ourselves, at least for the benefit of others.