Heath Ledger dead :(

[Alex+R 0]

Oh oh. Ambien's been linked to a number of deaths, hasn't it?

Oh oh, be careful with the negative posts. I got suspended from this forum for offending people with my opinions about the cause of his death. People can get pretty emotional about their movie stars.

This post is offensive, too. I know you want to make it look like people who have a sense of compassion and common decency are just star-crazy or something, but many of the people in this thread didn't even know who he was. It doesn't mask the fact that you said some wildly inappropriate things.

[Jenn! 918]

Why is this worthy of the coverage it has received? He died. It happens all the time.

I just don't get all of the obsession with movie stars. His death is no more important than that of every person listed in today's obituaries.

I dunno, I've never heard of any of the people in today's obituaries.

If that is what drives this need to mourn actors, I am at a disconnect with a large portion of the human race.

So since it is impossible to mourn everybody, better to mourn nobody?

And why the need to criticize everyone here? Don't care about Heath Ledger? Congratulations! Don't know why you would care enough to click on the thread then.

VJ sheesh.

[garya505 2]

Why is this worthy of the coverage it has received? He died. It happens all the time.

I just don't get all of the obsession with movie stars. His death is no more important than that of every person listed in today's obituaries.

Ya, my wife always laughs at me when I see more news about Britney Spears on TV and I'm shouting "I don't care about Britney Spears!" at the TV!

[garya505 2]

Oh oh. Ambien's been linked to a number of deaths, hasn't it?

Oh oh, be careful with the negative posts. I got suspended from this forum for offending people with my opinions about the cause of his death. People can get pretty emotional about their movie stars.

This post is offensive, too. I know you want to make it look like people who have a sense of compassion and common decency are just star-crazy or something, but many of the people in this thread didn't even know who he was. It doesn't mask the fact that you said some wildly inappropriate things.

You just can't resist me, can you? The feeling is mutual!

[Krikit 1,164]

I know that I took ambien for a few days when I was a teenager after my brother passed away because I couldn't sleep and I slept really well the first few nights and then one night I took it and didn't go to sleep right away and I was hallucinating. I was seeing purple hands coming out of the walls and stuff. I never took it again.

OMG, that must have been terrifying!

[Miranda&James 8]

Why is this worthy of the coverage it has received? He died. It happens all the time.

I just don't get all of the obsession with movie stars. His death is no more important than that of every person listed in today's obituaries.

He was famous - of course it is going to get coverage. He was well known, he was young, there isn't an apparent reason for his death so people wonder what happened. Despite rumors of drugs, etc etc, there is nothing blatantly obvious at this point to explain his death like there was with say, Anna Nicole Smith, so people are curious. People have seen him out with his child, knew he loved his child, and feel sadness for the loss. Perhaps the level of coverage may end up to be excessive but it has only been a few days. If we are still covering it all over the news in a couple months then that is another thing (once again, like Anna Nicole). I don't think many would say he was more important than anyone else who died but the fact remains that he was well known so therefore his death will be talked about and felt by more people. The obsession with movie stars is what it is - national media+internet+cameras on every single electronic device=a lot of information. Good or bad, it is the current state of society and I don't see it changing any time soon.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

So since it is impossible to mourn everybody, better to mourn nobody?

By mourning him over others you are giving his life more meaning than others, which is a shame.

[Miranda&James 8]

I know that I took ambien for a few days when I was a teenager after my brother passed away because I couldn't sleep and I slept really well the first few nights and then one night I took it and didn't go to sleep right away and I was hallucinating. I was seeing purple hands coming out of the walls and stuff. I never took it again.

BTW TMZ is reporting that the $20 bill that they thought might have had drugs on it tested clean.

O dear that is terrifying!! I've taken Dramamine before to help me sleep (works like a charm, Ambien or other prescription aids didn't do jack for me) and while normally I just fall asleep, on a couple occasions I've been laying in bed and sworn I saw something hanging in mid-air above me. One night I was so convinced of it I woke James up and asked him if he saw it too! Obviously he didn't but I would have sworn it was really there!

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Why is this worthy of the coverage it has received? He died. It happens all the time.

I just don't get all of the obsession with movie stars. His death is no more important than that of every person listed in today's obituaries.

He was famous - of course it is going to get coverage. He was well known, he was young, there isn't an apparent reason for his death so people wonder what happened. Despite rumors of drugs, etc etc, there is nothing blatantly obvious at this point to explain his death like there was with say, Anna Nicole Smith, so people are curious. People have seen him out with his child, knew he loved his child, and feel sadness for the loss. Perhaps the level of coverage may end up to be excessive but it has only been a few days. If we are still covering it all over the news in a couple months then that is another thing (once again, like Anna Nicole). I don't think many would say he was more important than anyone else who died but the fact remains that he was well known so therefore his death will be talked about and felt by more people. The obsession with movie stars is what it is - national media+internet+cameras on every single electronic device=a lot of information. Good or bad, it is the current state of society and I don't see it changing any time soon.

Given the lack of coverage and discussion of the genocides in Africa, more than one day of coverage and discussion of his death is offensive.

[Krikit 1,164]

So since it is impossible to mourn everybody, better to mourn nobody?

By mourning him over others you are giving his life more meaning than others, which is a shame.

People tend to mourn those they have a connection to. I mourned my husband's death but it doesn't mean I gave his life more meaning than others. Every life is valuable.

BTW, I have no idea who Heath Ledger is so I'm not mourning him. I'm joining in a conversation.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

True but it stands to reason that people are more likely to feel some sort of empathy towards a person that they've heard of, rather than someone they weren't familiar with at all.

That said the news coverage does go OTT as they wring every bit of mileage out of the story that they can - but I'm not sure we're seeing here the same kind of freakishness that surrounded the death of Princess Di.

[Miranda&James 8]

So since it is impossible to mourn everybody, better to mourn nobody?

By mourning him over others you are giving his life more meaning than others, which is a shame.

No you aren't. It is not possible to mourn every single person that lives on this earth and it is a fact that people tend to mourn people they know personally or were well aware of (celebrity, died in a publicized catastrophe, etc). This doesn't lessen the impact of others deaths in any way, it is simple the state of things. Are you saying that people should grieve everyone listed in their local obituary, or simply keep their mourning solely to individuals they personally know?

[Jenn! 918]

So since it is impossible to mourn everybody, better to mourn nobody?

By mourning him over others you are giving his life more meaning than others, which is a shame.

That's what it means to be a celebrity.

Yes, he has more meaning to me then Gertrude Smith, the 82-year-old stenographer from Southie in today's newspaper obituaries.

Do you really expect people to not make a distinction between a celebrity's passing and a stranger's?

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

People tend to mourn those they have a connection to. I mourned my husband's death but it doesn't mean I gave his life more meaning than others. Every life is valuable.

Your husband is different in that the two of you had a direct emotional bond. What I'm talking about is mourning one total stranger but not another.

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Do you really expect people to not make a distinction between a celebrity's passing and a stranger's?

I didn't say that. A distinction is one thing. Holding the life of a celebrity that you know little about above that of a person you know nothing about is foolish to me.

Are you saying that people should grieve everyone listed in their local obituary, or simply keep their mourning solely to individuals they personally know?

I think people should not cheapen mourning.