Heath Ledger's recent death, like that of River Phoenix, was handled with great care by the press. Anna Nicole Smith's not so much.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
I had good care going. I had Meredith and the family. And I didn't want to become the object of some kind of pity, most of all. I didn't want to show up on the Internet, 'Tom Brokaw has cancer.'
Maggie Smith is an amazing woman, and not as serious in real life.
It is very sad about Michael Jackson, much as in the tragic cases of Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole and other celebrities who have died are a result of drugs. It is always sad when such a bright light goes out.
What I do know is that with a celebrity's death comes an avalanche of media, and in that media is most often another death - it takes a life that is filled with complicated talent, hope, success and drive and reduces it to the 'story.'
My mom was truly an iconic figure, a great journalist and a pioneering woman who died at 54 of cancer without ever having revealed to viewers that she was ill.
If screenwriters have to kill off a female character, they love to give her cancer. We've seen so many great actresses go down to the Big C: Ali MacGraw, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Debra Winger, Susan Sarandon.
Oh my God, Nicole is killed? Oh my God, she is dead?
I've never figured out who 'Heath Ledger' is on film: 'This is what you expect when you hire me, and it will be recognizable.'
I found out about Jonathan Winters' death a day after it happened. That seems wrong. A talent like his should be more revered. The world knew about Kim Kardashian's divorce before she did.
Let's not kid ourselves. You pick up 'The Washington Post' and find O.J. Simpson on the front page; 'serious journalists' covered Anna Nicole Smith.