I have to admit that I was utterly shocked when I heard the news yesterday. I couldn't believe it. Britney Spears I could believe, but not Heath Ledger. I wasn't a huge fan of his but I appreciated the fact he seemed to be a normal guy trying to live a normal life all the while doing his job.

What really bothers me about this is the way the media is sensationalizing this whole thing. Having reporters with cameras standing around waiting on his body to be removed from the apartment is just disgusting. I guess I don't understand our society's fascination with this kind of thing. I couldn't watch the video they showed on the news last night because it just felt disrespectful and invasive. It felt tacky.

To me, this is just one more example of the breakdown of American culture. We've gone from honoring and respecting the dead - and their lives - to selling stories about them.

Such tragedy continues to be sensationalized mainly because there are consumers who will watch/buy into it. It's all about supply and demand.

For example, I remember years ago when a lot of people said they were "sick" of hearing about the Monica Lewinsky scandal, yet when the official release regarding the investigation went on sale it disappeared from bookstores like hotcakes. Guess they weren't that "sick of hearing about it" after all.

Although anyone's premature death is tragic (mainly because he/she has an eternal soul and as such an eternal destiny) I honestly don't have as much sympathy for such celebrities who seem to be under the added stress. People who want stardom know that their lives will be scrutinized more and in fact embellish it when it benefits them. They don't seem to complain when the press is on them in a positive manner, only when it's negative. Unfortunately, one cannot have it both ways. There's a cost to being a celebrity, and that person willingly jumped into it.

That's why I would never want to willingly become a celebrity. It has its perks to be sure, but invites too many problems given my personality and temperment.

Sam-I think it's a bit misleading to think that today our culture is more celebrity obsessed. I think it's more likely just the access people have to instantaneous information. For example, I know at the turn of the century, Susan B Anthony almost died of heart failure and reporters camped out at her house all night to see if she lived or died. They couldn't take pictures as easily but they were there.

I can't believe it! I was reading the latest info on the "Dark Knight" movie and heard the news. I at first thought it was some kind of publicity stunt but I soon realized it was sadly true. He was a very talented actor and I hate to see him go like you would expect people with serious problems to (see Britney's Hair cut). What made me feel the worst was my first thought was who will play the joker in the sequel. What does that make me?

I'm so glad I'm not the only that is shocked by this and not other celebrity deaths.
I was kind of surprised by Anna Nicole's, but only because I had the news on all day (it was my first sick day in over 2 years) and it was all over the place after I woke up from a nap in the afternoon.
I actually gasped out loud when I saw the headline yesterday. Rarely do news stories elicit such a response.
Like the author said "Maybe we felt like we knew him because his films have been part of our lives for the past 10 years and he was our peer". I love "10 Things I Hate About You" and "The Patriot".
Being a Christian and knowing he was empty, makes it harder.

My first thought was "No, he can't be dead, he's in an upcoming movie and he's not even 30."

Also, he received an Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain, so calling him a "Brokeback Mountain actor" is hardly an "empty legacy."

Mike Theemling said:
"People who want stardom know that their lives will be scrutinized more and in fact embellish it when it benefits them. They don't seem to complain when the press is on them in a positive manner, only when it's negative."

I understand and largely agree with what you're saying, however, you generalise that all these people 'want stardom'. That is sadly true for a huge number of them for whom acting/singing etc is simply their route to the overall goal of becoming famous), however some choose these professions purely because it's their passion, and while they obviously must realise that success in that profession carries celebrity with it, it's not always something they desire. If someone with real talent wants to be an actor but doesn't want fame, what is he supposed to do? Of course he could keep it as a hobby or refuse any role that might advance his career, but in what other industry would someone be forced to stunt his own success in that way?

I was in tears. It had already been one of those days, where it seems bad news is around every corner. Heath Ledger was, as you say, one my peers - he was only a year older than myself, and I've been watching his films with interest since the beginning. He was a talented actor (it has to be said, his performance in Brokeback Mountain was far above par, even if the subject matter was not), and it's a shame he'll be remembered for just the one role - he was excellent in all of them.

Talent aside, it's just a blow. Our generation's war is not being fought in some distant land, but much more so in our own backyard. And the casualties are mounting.

Ledger's little girl haunts me. This is such a sad, tragic thing.

Andrew R.,

Of course his Oscar nomination is notable from an entertainment and personal achievement perspective. I was referring to a spiritually empty legacy. (Although, I realize only God can judge men's hearts.)

Jo,

It's not that hard to follow your passion and not be a "celebrity".

For example, take acting. If you want to stay out of the limelight, act for Broadway for some other venue that doesn't put you on TV or in movies.

Now, there very well may be those who DO want to act in movies/TV, but again, I truly believe that people like that have a lot of control about how much press coverage they receive. Much more than they let on.

For example, such celebrities could easily turn down product endorsements. Also, isn't it interesting that most celebrities in Hollywood marry other celebrities? For love? Perhaps, but I'm sure there are other ulterior motives as well such as helping their careers.

But I do see that point that in Hollywood anyway, fame and media coverage do tend to translate into dollars because of viewership. My point was though that if acting is your passion, there are ways to pursue it without all the extra baggage. Same goes for just about any other hobby/profession.

Mike, a little compassion...

There are movie stars and tv stars that actually do an admirable job of staying out of the lime light. I don't hear about Heath Ledger, for instance, nearly as much as I hear about Brad Pitt. Morgan Freeman, Mel Gibson, and Christina Aguilera come to mind...

As the article pointed out, he was a young man with leading-role good looks who always took the hardest, most challenging, support roles. If you want to be the movie star you refer to, you don't settle consistently for support roles - you go for the leading role - "I want to be the star".

Its obvious he liked the challenge of the roles he was assigned - I'm sure he was anticipating the Joker to be a very difficult role to play and was looking forward to succeeding like Jack Nicholson (who also tends to stay out of the limelight).

I'm saddened about hearing about it as well...I didn't know much about him, though I greatly enjoyed the Patriot (and I believe i had a crush on him when i first saw that movie)...It makes me wish there was something I could have done or could do to make it easier...but there's nothing I can do except pray. And that I do...I'll pray for his daughter, and I'll pray for other celebrities, too.

RIP Heath

I work a few blocks away from where he passed away in SOHO. The neighborhood is generally quiet which allows even the most recognizable celebrity to walk in peace.

I was cringing at the thought of how many gawkers would be coming to fulfill a morbid fascination.

Whatever the reason for his passing, I really do hope he is in a better place.

I attended a memorial service for a dear, saintly, elderly, woman prior to hearing about Heath Ledger's death; and I'm glad I did. You see, I walked away from the service, still grieving - in fact, I was a mess; the tears were flowing - but I was filled with great hope, only the hope that comes from Christ, and that can be witnessed from a life well lived.

I mourn for Heath Ledger and his family, and pray that through this tragedy, some bold follower of Christ will speak His hope into their lives.

Sharon

Thanks for this post, Suzanne. What a heartbreaking event.

While this type of tragedy occurs in Hollywood on a pretty regular basis, there are, for some weird reason, certain people who seem almost "invinvible." Heath Ledger was one of those people for me. So was Steve Irwin (the Crocodile Hunter.) Their unexpected deaths are harsh reminders of the fragility of life and the importance of making each moment count.

I am praying for his family, especially his daughter, and hope that he made his peace with God

So, Heath Ledger "hadn't yet discovered peace and hope and joy."?
Suzanne, since these are your words, I wasn't aware that you were a close personal confidante of Mr. Ledger. In fact, I was under the impression that you didn't know him nor had you ever met him -- and, therefore, couldn't possibly know what he had felt in his 28 years of life, or even felt at his death (the cause of which is still undetermined). Which makes your declaration a rather off-putting bit of presumptious speculation.

I actually remember Heath for "10 Things I Hate About You". Also, my understanding re: his joker character was that he wasn't so much "tormented" by his "psychopathic" character- but that it did bother him enough to cause him problems sleeping- which then of course accidentally lead to the sleeping pill overdose.

Another random question comes to mind... why is it Boundless reports on American deaths like Heath Ledger (actually, he was Australian, so that makes me happy) but we didn't hear anything from you on Steve Irwin's death? :P He actually left behind a good legacy ;)

Mike- have you ever acted? Stage is very different from television and movies. Some people enjoy screen acting more than theatre. Don't criticise them for "wanting to be a celebrity" when you don't know that for sure. This article is not about Heath's celebrity, and I think you shouldn't criticise that. We are not horrified that a celebrity might die, we are horrified that somebody we are familiar with has died. How horrible to lump Heath Ledger together with those who go looking for fame and then complaining about it. He's done no such thing- he is DEAD.

Yes, the media sensationalises these things. Yes, they do it because people are interested. But I don't blame people for being interested. It is someone they are familiar with who has died. Of course they will be interested.

Not to mention, Heath worked hard for his position. I would have much less compassion for the death of someone like Paris Hilton or Nicole Ritchie. They purposely flaunt themselves in the limelight and have not worked terribly hard to get where they are at.

I too gasped when I heard. The thing that got me was not "Oh my goodness how could a celebrity possibly be dead", it was "how could Heath Ledger be dead". He was not someone constantly afflicted by illness or pain or drugs or custody/domestic disputes. When I first heard he was dead I automatically thought "suicide" (because he hadn't been sick or injured and wasn't old), but when I heard the accidental way he died, that makes it all the more horrifying. He didn't plan to die. I know that can be said for most people, but most of the time it's out of our control. This time it was within his control and he accidentally killed himself. That's what I find is most saddening.

I'm not an actor, and definitely not a celebrity, but in defense of the working people in the performing arts, here are some points to ponder:

Acting on stage and acting in cinema aren't the same things. Each requires a different set of skills, and not all actors are cut out for both. Acting, like all the other performing arts, is a tough business; once in a while actors can find a project that's exactly what they want, sometimes they have to take what they get in order to reach a place where they have the asking power to choose what they do. Beginning actors are at the mercy of the agent, and the trend set up in the beginning of their careers can be hard to fight later on.

Actors have to promote "their" work because it's not just theirs -the success of projects is important to the producers and everyone else involved in production, too. (This is not to applaud stupid personal stunts.)

Celebrities marry other celebrities because they work with and meet others like them. Non-celebrities meet, marry, and sometimes mess up with the people they meet in their own social circles, too.

I've never met Mr. Ledger, but the occasional article on him I read in the past showed him to be a down-to-earth person. I've never heard him pull stunts like other desperate celebrities seeking fame for fame's sake. He's an actor who's known through and for his acting. Whatever might have been publicized about his private life seems to have been fueled by the public's demand.

Thank you for this post. I was truly saddened when I saw the news of Heath's death. The phenomenon of grieving over a movie star with whom we've developed a false sense of intimacy still prevails.

Heath's death is so tragic because it not only crystalizes the ubiquitous emptiness that pervades Hollywood, but is also widely circulated to be an accident.

An accidental death is always something I struggle with when thinking about life and God. I always wonder whether a person on drugs, potentially unconscious or incognizant of what is going on around them, can experience one last spiritual renewal in their slide towards death.

Although it is between him and God, I do think about Suzanne's mention of Heath's "empty spiritual legacy" and pray that in his final moments, there was hope of a happy ending.

Blimey, how many people died the same day, besides the rich famous dysfunctional guy that everyone can't live without? o_O

It's always upsetting to hear about the death of someone so young, regardless of celebrity status.

I was in high school when John Belushi died and I still remember hearing about his death on the car radio while my parents and I were driving home from my grandparents' home.

And speaking of the car radio, I heard a report that Fred Phelps and Co. are planning to picket Mr. Ledger's funeral because he played a gay man in "Brokeback Mountain."

Considering how little we know from the autopsy, whether it was accidental, what caused him to die, and the fact that because he was not in the tabloids much, we (the general public) don't know the extent of his drug use and personal demons -- I think a lot of the talk here is fairly presumptuous.

What we know is Heath Ledger is dead. He seemed depressed to his friends. He had drug problems and tried rehab.

Lots of people -- younger than 28, even -- die every day, but we don't cry for them because we don't know they exist.

Though I don't want to come off as abrasive as "Stanhope" did in his comment, I'm merely pointing out a few things about how we really don't know the ins and outs of this case.

I'm curious: did we have any Brad Renfro posts when he died? He wasn't as famous, but..

Saying that we'd have less compassion on Hilton or Ritchie because "they deserved" is an indicator that we think some people deserve the price of their sin and failings, while others do not.

We all deserve it, frankly, but not all of us seem to have to pay that price. So thank God for his grace in giving us another day.

Heath Ledger did not get another day, whether "by accident" or "on purpose." That's the main story, here.

Thank you for posting on this Suzanne, I too had the same thoughts. He had such a promising future, and I wonder where he could have gone had he not played those dark roles. I feel for his ex-wife and young daughter.

Mike Theemling said: "It's not that hard to follow your passion and not be a "celebrity"."

No, not if your passion is to be a social worker or an IT technician or a lawyer. If your passion is in the entertainment industry, success usually means fame. The two are interchangeable. Others have commented on this so I won't reiterate, I agree with what they've all said.

I tend to be very cynical about those who chase fame, especially those whose actual talents are dubious at best. I really think it's a different story for people who genuinely love their art, and as others have mentioned, Heath Ledger didn't strike me as someone who was courting celebrity. I also think, having studied it a little, that the pressures of fame (especially unwanted/unprovoked fame) can be extremely difficult to deal with and it's all too easy to dismiss them as trivial.

Stanhope said: "So, Heath Ledger "hadn't yet discovered peace and hope and joy."?
Suzanne, since these are your words, I wasn't aware that you were a close personal confidante of Mr. Ledger. In fact, I was under the impression that you didn't know him nor had you ever met him -- and, therefore, couldn't possibly know what he had felt in his 28 years of life, or even felt at his death (the cause of which is still undetermined). Which makes your declaration a rather off-putting bit of presumptious speculation."

Well actually, as a Perth girl (Heath Ledger was a local boy), I know many of his cousins and I know that he wasn't a Christian. I assume that Suzanne is talking about peace, hope and joy in Christ.

Kathryn- I respect the fact you probably have more knowledge on this aspect than anybody else on this blog, but I believe that even you cannot unequivocally say that Heath was not a Christian. You can tell us that all the evidence points to that, but I don't believe you can say, 100%, that he is not a Christian. Like Stanhope said about Suzanne, unless you yourself were a close personal confidante of Heath Ledger, you can't really know his heart.

The only substantive observations in any comments are those about the spiritual condition of those who are still alive. Mr. Ledger's present state cannot be discerned by anyone but God, but the living still need Christ. They are our present concern.

Kathryn writes: "Well actually, as a Perth girl (Heath Ledger was a local boy), I know many of his cousins and I know that he wasn't a Christian."

You'll notice that my comments weren't about his Christianity; they were about (Suzanne's declaration that Ledger hadn't discovered) peace, hope, and joy. It's my guess -- note that this is a guess, not a flat declaration -- that a guy who won an Oscar and had an adorable 2-year-old daughter that, by all accounts, he loved and doted on ... well, I'm guessing that that guy knows a bit more about joy than someone who repeatedly bemoans her unmarried state. But, again, that's just a guess.

Kathryn: "I assume that Suzanne is talking about peace, hope and joy in Christ."

That may have been what she meant, but we can only go by what she wrote.

Leah, you're right and I was thinking much along those lines a bit after I wrote that. I'm sorry that I allowed my pride to prevent me from acknowledging what God is powerful enough to do. Thank you for pulling me up on it :)

Don't be snarky, Stanhope. People who are in the process of (quite literally) destroying their lives usually don't have peace and hope and joy. Suzanne wasn't really positing a ridiculous idea.

Stanhope,

It's been a while since I've read/heard such loud and clear contempt like you have against Suzanne. If you are a Christian you should be ashamed of yourself for sinning against your sister. Suzanne is a chosen child of the Living God Most High. Only the evil one and his children hold contempt for the children of God. You bear witness to the spirit who guides you by how you live. Are you a Christian or not?

PS: Take note that this example of me not knowing you personally, but observing your actions, has led me to make an assumption about your salvation. Have you not heard that you will know the tree by its fruit?