Heath Ledger Found Dead

By now I’m sure you’ve heard that Heath Ledger, one of the stars of the movie Brokeback Mountain, was found dead in NYC. While nobody really knows for sure what happened, police have said he was on both antidepressants and ambien, which is a relatively new form of sleeping pill that a few of my friends have taken from time to time for insomnia. Ambien by itself has a relatively good safety record, but when taken in combination with any other agent that has the ability to suppress the central nervous system, it has been fatal before.

Why I’m writing this entry is because the last few entries and news articles on it that I’ve read have been completely distasteful, showing tons of media in front of his place with little or no respect for his friends or family. I find it rather sickening to see there’s a whole industry centered around getting photographs of dead celebrities, or getting a shot of them in a body bag (something that has been published on several news sites — I even saw one that said they were doing everyone a favour by publishing it since it gave some people closure).

My sympathy for his friends, his family, and for the daughter he leaves behind.