Dear The Media,

You are lucky that I respect the members of RPGD too much to subject them to the exact words I would use to your face. I understand it is your job to report the news. I understand it is your job to entertain. But who is honestly entertained with endless speculation on how or why Heath Ledger died? Intriguing as it may be, perhaps you might want to wait until the toxicology reports come back before you go alleging the man was a hardcore druggie, that he was suicidal.

Would you be as insensitive as to walk into the home of a grieving family, and tell them their beloved lost one was a dirty whore with a drug problem? I highly doubt it. Do you have any concern for the poor family living in Perth, devastated at the loss of a son, a brother...? To not even have the common courtesy to wait for confirmed results before feeding the rumour mill is nothing but insensitive, a spin of idle talk to keep the ratings up.

Heath Ledger was a talented actor. It does not mean he's perfect. I couldn't care less if he killed himself or was on drugs, so why are we subjecting the family to worldwide gossip? The poor man hasn't even been buried yet.

Have some respect for the family, if not the deceased. And shut the hell up at least until you know what you're talking about.

Sincerely,
Mousie.

Yes, that's right. Freaking morons.

There should be a second letter to the religious f*%kers who think it's their mission in life to decide who lead a pure and blameless life.

It was reported that protests of Health's memorial were being planned by some of these fanatic nuts (upset about Brokeback Mountain). I read about signs being held in NY that read 'Health's in Hell'. Well, you know what, I would like to squeeze the throat of the ass holding that sign and send him straight to his destiny.

I hate fanatics. I hate these absolute idiots who weild religion like some personal weapon they were give to set the world straight ( in every sense of that word). I am sure that Christianity is about making sure you make a grieving family's healing process as absolutlely painful as possible. Yes, I am sure there is a bible story about that, right? And there must be one about how you are absolutely justified in your judgememnts against others....or was it the story about casting the first stone that I am confusing this with??? How did that end? Yeah, they stoned the poor woman to death with Jesus egging them on!

I am sure if their Jesus dropped down for a visit this week, the first thing he'd do is take up sign and protest Heath Ledger.

Let's try not to bring religion into an already ugly situation, shall we? Religion is a beautiful thing, though there are those who ruin it for the rest of us.

But it all seems rather pointless to me. Why protest a memorial? He's dead, he's gone - are there not beliefs against disrespecting the deceased? I'm not religious, I couldn't think of anything more disgusting than blatantly blackening the name of a man who was just a little less than perfect. He was human! If Heath truly is in hell, well - that's for him to know. Not for idiots to carry signs about.

I just can't believe that people would run about saying these sorts of things before he's even buried. I mean, I know it happens to most famous people - but I was just watching the news, and the look on the faces of the family is horrific! Is it not enough they're dealing with that loss? Heck, I got upset and all he is to me is an actor and fellow countryman.

Oh, and you know what makes it worse? Heath Ledger movies have only jumped right out of the sale racks and back above the original regular retail price. Corporations are cashing in on the death of the guy, knowing people will rush out to buy his movies. It's not exactly as if the DVDs can't be reproduced because he's dead - they're not in short supply. So why the high prices?

Nothing is sacred in this world anymore. Even death. And that makes me really, really sad.

I didn't bring religion into the situation- the religious fanatics did. I have no gripe with people who follow religions until they cross lines like these and make themselves judge and jury. Then I have a big gripe and I will bring it up because it's vaild

Why should I tiptoe around, afraid I might insult them?. Screw that. They can have opinions about Heath's death, but I can't have opinions about their behavior.

No. I do have an opinion and these groups brought religion to the table by their actions.

It might make you uncomfortable, Mousie, but it's the reality.

Those "religious protesters" is Fred Phelps's Westboro Baptist Church, which is infamous even among some of the most conservative of the religious right for being completely batty nutbar. Mousie is right in that bringing religion into it is incorrect, because the WBC (comprised entirely of Phelps and his extended family) isn't about religion, it's about omg crazy hate.

RyanA, you're a very passionate writer, and for that I salute you -- but please, please please, do some background checking before your righteous indignation gets to be too much for you. :)

it's what i've never understood about society. those actors and musicians that we all know and love are just regular people. they're just a little more popular than us and have more money. so what? i mean, it's part of why i don't even keep up on current events, anymore. why bother when it's all a pack of lies and half truths delivered in poor, unprofessional journalistic style?

all you hear about is how this celebrity did this or that or the other. ok, good for them. he was just a guy, get over it. if he had been poor or unpopular, no one would have even known about his death except for his friends and family. so he MIGHT have had a drug problem, a lot of people do - especially in his line of work. all that money and all of that stress + time? yeah, you'd find something like that, too.

now, don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that he was. no, in fact, even if there was a 'final report' i wouldn't say it because i didn't know him personally and so i won't believe anything i hear about him but i'm just saying, those IFS are big things to people who have no life.

i expect a lot of people will be going to see his final two movies just because he's dead and it, as disgusting as it is, doesn't surprise me that his films are going up in their prices.

i'm from virginia, usa. i live about two hours from the school with the shooting last year. it hurt me and i was greatly upset because i had friends there, i knew people. don't even get me started on my issues with what a certain country leader had to say about guns RIGHT after the incident in his speech about the shooting and how saddened he was to hear about it but, the point is, after that EVERYONE was wearing VTECH attire and having the bumper stickers on their cars or flying the flags and what not. people who didn't even live in virginia were wearing the stuff, buying it online and wearing it in different states...

i understand that they want to support the fallen, i do, i just don't understand why they couldn't care less until they're gone and then want to be like 'hey, look at me, i support them!' it's just the same as with heath ledger. people who looked at some of his films and were like 'eh, not so much' are probably buying three or four copies of each one at this very moment.

why?

I see your point, Cal. But regardless of what sort of religious fanatic Phelps is, he is still based on super radical religious ideas. You can't remove the religion from it because some groups disagree with it's level of extremeness. Religion is all about levels of degrees of one thing or another. It's all about levels of interpretation.

And you can't tell me there are not a lot of fundamentalist Christians out there who likely think WBC is right, even if they are extreme. Ledger supported the homosexual cause and that would be enough to get him condemned by a lot of groups.

WBC might be nuts. There are a lot of churches that are nuts. Still, they are based on "religion" however that might be interpreted.

The Bahamas Christian Council banned the playing of Brokeback Mountain.

The American Family Association (AFA), a Fundamentalist Christian group, wanted the film boycotted.

Smaller local Christian groups all over went a little loopy in trying to ban the film.

This list goes on.

I am passionate because I grew up around a lot of these fundamentalist sorts--and I know the harm they can do. WBC might be the extreme, but hate is hate. And they are a religion. They might not be your religion, or your level of religion, but they are still a religious group basing their ideas on their version of Christianity.

No, WBC is not a religion -- it is a single-family hate group that happens to call itself a church. They are not a religious group any more than Landover Baptist is.

You're also making a similar mistake here -- playing a role or being a movie is not at all the same as supporting whatever the movie is about. That's like saying that Marlon Brando believed in romanticizing the Mafia or that Bela Lugosi fought for monster's rights. Be careful of the slippery slope there. :)

Oh god I heard about that guy on The Chaser... but why is he protesting something that is already long gone. It's not like he's going to stop anyone buying that movie, and even if he did most people that wanted it have already bought it. Protest the movie when it's controversial and your protests might mean something, not to hurt a grieving family. Just a bit of respect in this modern society would be nice.

I've never seen any of his movies, but he seemed like a good seed in a forest of... less good stars. I really feel sorry for his family now, but the media is the media.

Hollywood has a lot of stress, regardless of the media. A lot of the stars that are never reported on by the media still have a drug problem. But the media doesn't exactly help. But they report on him because people care about him, because they feel as if they know him regardless of whether they've met them. They'll keep reporting on subjects the public care about. What are those? Global warming, war or various environmental issues? Nope. Celebrity gossip. So, as long as you keep watching they're going to keep reporting about it. They want to make money, and to get money you need people to watch your show. For that to happen, they need to be interested in what you show.

I believe you can remove the religion from it, RyanA, because humans would hate whether we had religion or not. Racists do not always base themselves on religion (though they probably twist it to give them a safe backing), sexism is not religious, nor is any other form of hatred which does not deal directly with a religion. Those who hate may claim to have 'God' behind them, but I could say that the NZ government allowed me to kill people who smack their children. It would be wrong - it would be forbidden by the government and people wouldn't believe me - but I could still say it.

I'm (bleugh) religious and I believe that behaviour is utterly reprehensible and one of the worst things anybody could do. Hiding behind 'religion' is no reason to bash that religion, nor to give them an excuse. Just in the thread we are having about big boards there are people saying 'don't judge all by that one experience you had' and I don't see why that can't be put into use for everything. Just because those people are intolerant, hateful people who (according to my God) are going to hell, that doesn't mean every Christian or even every Christian with very strong, close-minded beliefs is going to hell.

Anyway...this is turning into a religious discussion when it shouldn't be. I discipline us all for being off-topic. It's so sad the way that people can't just leave well alone. The way human beings can be so horrible is depressing.

Amen to that!

Don't go spitting in a dead man's face before he's even buried. Not only is it rude, but it is disgusting to spit in anyone's face whether dead or alive.

Thank you and good day.