Screw Heath Ledger

Damn, its been a while since I was on here last. Busy, busy. So let's get right into this.

Odds are, if I piss anyone off, its going to be with this one simple statement: Fuck Heath Ledger. Why do I say this? Oh, I know what you're thinking. "Oh, but Meatmarket, he was a talented actor! It was stress!"

Nope, not buying it. First off, if you're an actor and "stressed out", odds are you have more than enough money to retire for a bit. Actors like Heath Ledger make millions per role. Specially with shit like Brokeback Mountain getting awards. The income from that movie alone was enough for me and my entire family to retire happily. Letting the "stress" get to you, to the point of taking Xanax, Prozac, sleeping meds, and all that other shit, that is not something an actor HAS to deal with. Those of us with minimum wage jobs can somehow find a way to take a bit of time to ourselves to chill out and regain perspective, I'm rather sure someone with more money than most small businesses can manage.

Do I feel bad he died? I dunno, really. I'm not someone for sympathy to spare. I barely have enough to cover the people I know with problems. I can name the roles the man had that I liked on one hand. In fact, the Joker is the only role I've had any amount of like for him in. Considering that movie isn't even out yet, thats saying a bit.

Yet everyone goes on and on about how sad it is he died. I got news for you all, people die from "accidental" overdoses, every day. Difference is they aren't highly publicized celebrities. Oh, and allow me to burst your bubble a bit: Accidental overdose is a term used when someone ODs, and no evidence of suicide (IE: Suicide note, suicide call, 911 call, etc) can be found. It doesn't mean the OD wasn't suicide, there's just no visible evidence. Easily done, just don't leave a note or call anyone. Pop the pills and lay down. You don't wake up.

Do I think he killed himself? I don't care. Its another actor I don't care about dying and being overpublicized for it. The results of his autopsy somehow interrupted results on the Democratic and Republican primaries. Some actor's cause of death is somehow more important than the possible candidates for the US PRESIDENCY. What the fuckaroonie is that?

Seriously, though. I may hate 90% of the candidates for both parties (especially Mitt Romney. Fucking Hells, I hate that man), but I can honestly say I give LESS of a shit about why some actor died. I want to know which shit sandwich or giant douche I have to choose between. Bonus points if you know where that's from. I'm trying hard not to shift into politics, I'll save that for another time.

The pisser is this happens every time a celebrity dies. Remember when Tammy Faye died? It was all over the damn TV. Not that I have the same cold-hearted attitude with her. She, at least, was a charitable spirit and all-around good person. Her husband was a dick, but she was a great person, more than capable of casting off the stereotypical Christian televangelist mold. Hell, she wasn't even a homophobe! She walked the walk, unlike almost every other damned televangelist out there. The issue I have is that celebrity death often overtakes news that may be more pressing. Hell, any entertainment news. The last Harry Potter book overtook news on the Iraq war.

The only thing worse than the overexposure of Heath Ledger's death was the double homicide/suicide case of Chris Benoit. Every time I turned the TV on, I lost 50 IQ points while idiots yelled "ROID RAGE!" Major league sports have had steroid users for decades, how many of them do you hear about killing their families? And how many were debated over for well over TWO MONTHS?

Then before that, it was Jerry Falwell. Except with him, I was happy to hear it, and missed 90% of the news coverage because I was in line to piss on his grave.

Or worse, Anna Nichole Smith. Seriously, how long was that on TV? I think they stopped talking about it last thursday. I didn't care the day she died. Its no different now.

Now let's look at another side to this deal. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. One of the best comedic writers of all time. When he died, I didn't even see it on the news. I heard through a friend of mine, and was redirected to a tiny article on Yahoo News that gave me little more information on the passing of one of my favorite authors than the jacket of one of his books gave about his life.

Then when Augusto Pinochet died in 2006, I only caught the last 30 seconds of a blurb on TV, and it was seemingly never mentioned again.

So let me finish with this, as its late. Dictators and brilliant authors die, you're hard pressed to see it on the news for a plurality of minutes, but the Crocodile Hunter gets offed in the way EVERYONE had expected for fucking YEARS, and it stays in the headlines, over war and important deaths, until the body is dust.