My Thoughts on Heath Ledger's Untimely Death.

Yesterday, as I was finishing up work, a coworker mentioned to me that Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain, Ten Things I Hate About You, A Knight's Tale) was found dead in his bedroom in his apartment in Manhattan. He was 28. Signs point to an overdose of prescription drugs, however no cause of death has been identified, as of this writing. Many are comparing his death to that of James Dean, who died at a young age, seemingly at the beginning of a promising acting career.

As I watched the news last night, I was amazed at the degree to which the mainstream media has reacted to the death of this person. What has he done? Has he fought for his country? Has he saved countless lives with some amazing invention or by dedicating his life to the service of others? No. He simply has pretended to be other people, and received awards, fame and fortune for doing so. He was a good actor, but I would not call him gifted yet. He had not made that many movies. I can understand the gay community's sadness, as he was the iconic star of a film that they think is brilliant and "speaks to them." The only thing that makes his death remarkable is that he was famous. Yet, so many are mourning him as if they were his friend. For some reason, we as people become emotionally connected to celebrities simply because we watch them on TV or read about them in newspapers and tabloids.

I find it fascinating that when some actor, who has done so little is mourned like a hero, while so many who have done so much for this country, are forgotten about so quickly. Let us all take this time to remember those who have paid the ultimate price so that we all are able to live free in this country. These men and women, who have died in defense of freedom, are the ones who deserve our tears.