Monday, January 28

Once again, speaking out of my Ass.



I totally stole this from Bulletproof Bracelets. Montel Williams fought the good fight. Has Daniel Day Lewis struck anyone else as a little odd? Because I think Heath Ledger's death is a damned shame, and a tradgedy beyond measure for his family, but is this just my cold hearted cynical nature getting the best of me? DDL dedicated his SAG award to Ledger? I get expressing shock, horror, and sadness upon learning of his death--it was obviously news to him when he appeared on Oprah. Days later, to still be bringing it up seems wrong to me. I think I would feel differently if they had known each other--then dedicating a win would seem a little more natural.

Perhaps I just don't have the patience required for the artistic temperment. I identify a lot more with what Montel had to say than with any bizarre tributes to Heath Ledger from a man who admits they never even met.

5 comments:

SQT said...

I get what Montel is saying, and totally agree, but there is one difference between Heath Ledger and the troops; we know Heath's face. If one soldier in Iraq had been in a starring role in a movie or on TV, we'd be all over it.

Actually, there is one soldier's story that is comparable in a way. Pat Tillman's death got a lot of headlines, both because he was somewhat famous before he died and because his death was controversial-- though mostly because he was a little famous.

Anyone famous who dies get ridiculous press coverage (Anna Nicole anyone?) but Ledger's death was surprising-- no one saw this coming. He was a super talented guy and seemed fairly normal, and didn't seem to be in harms way (the way our soldiers are) so it was a bit jarring-- though the media doesn't need it to be shocking to run with the story. (Anna Nicole again...)

Bunny said...

I still think Montel has a point. People are crying and wailing in the streets over an actor. Aadorable and talented, but an actor nonetheless. sqt is also right that his was a familiar face to most people, so it feels a little more like someone we know, but it is still being overblown. I feel awful for his poor little daughter, but I don't need updates every newscast telling me that they don't know any more than they knew the previous newscast about Heath. Sheez.

Jennfactor 10 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jennfactor 10 said...

I agree that the impact is greater because we know Heath's face, and he has been in our living rooms (in a manner of speaking). I'm definitely not claiming any moral high ground when it comes to the magpie nature of the media--I emailed my Best Jen as soon as I heard.
But Bunny fleshed out my other thought, which is that the media ought to cover the story once they have a story, not every five minute updates "nothing new."
Fox News' coverage OF the coverage was ridiculous. I liked that Montel didn't downplay the tradgedy of Ledger's death, just reminded them that there are other tradgedies they should be covering, too.

(and I don't see DDL as a media whore, or the calibre of actor who needs anyone's coat tails, but it's just odd to me.)

SQT said...

DDl's tribute to Heath was bizarre.

There's no doubt the media is a whore. I worked in the industry years ago and nothing but ratings matter and stuff like a celebrity death generates ratings. But like anything else, they go too far with it. Even the public appetite only goes so far.