Stars Fade

Not sure why I still get rattled by the death of a Hollywood star, but it always seems shocking to me that someone at the top of their field, being paid boatloads of money, suffers the same sort of fate that the working class slobs do.

I guess in hindsight the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman isn't all that shocking. He was a fine actor, to be sure, but brilliance in a single phase certainly doesn't grant you power over things such as addiction.

To die on the bathroom floor, in your underwear, with a needle sticking out of your arm sort of takes away from the shine of the brilliance, however.

Yet isolation comes in many forms, and to people in all walks of life.

It killed Elvis.

And Michael Jackson.

And Whitney Houston.

And Heath Ledger.

And Marilyn Monroe.

And on and on and on.

Yet those of us who watch from afar think all sorts of things like:

"Dude had it made! Why would he piss it all away?"

'Cause it ain't any different for any of us.

Hoffman had a whole bunch of great interviews and like a lot of other people it's sort of time to read them back and look for clues. I'm not sure why there is such a fascination to do so, but in the context of how he spent his last day, they are telling.

Hoffman spoke in one interview about self-love and why that is such a struggle for so many people. He let on that he felt it was a huge struggle that consumed much of his time.

And it killed him.

His longtime girlfriend spoke of the fact that he was painfully shy and that was what isolated him to not speak of his internal demons and struggles.

She thinks that killed him.

Yet Hollywood has been producing stars and watching them die for a lot of years now.

The next one will be shocking as well.

I suppose there's finally peace for Hoffman now.

Tough way to find it.