i was going to write something about getting things in proportion over the death of heath ledger and what is happening in the rest of the world. something along the lines of …. as sad as it is that a young man with such potential is dead, at such a young age, there are so many tragedies happening around the world to other people, many who were younger than he was, who just happened not to be famous…
but… today i read about how people are laughing about his death because he played a gay person in a movie (because gay people deserve to die… good fu@*ing grief)
and this disgusting but all too common gay-bashing ignoramus giving us ten reasons why he deserved to die
and when i realised that some people’s lives were changed for the better by brokeback mountain
and that hollywood needs more people who are willing to tackle “difficult” subjects (in hollywood terms) not less…
i decided that this latest celebrity death should be commented on here.
i do want to add, that while the issues arising from his death are important. as overwhelmingly sad as it is for his family and friends, it is also important to put it in perspective.
in the mainstream media, the big subjects…
the ongoing genocide in darfur is barely mentioned
the crisis in kenya barely gets a look in
gaza is in turmoil and people are desperate but they get a few minutes of airtime
and these are only a few that i have at my fingertips. there are many many more out there
there is also something strange and unfathomable that i want to talk about here. i visit many, many blogs. some personal, some political, all well-written, informative and interesting. on probably 95% of blogs i visit, there are buttons and widgets for charities, humanitarian issues, human rights and other concerns.
yet…
the msm would have us believe that people only want to read about celebrities and gossip.
this is lie.
they are trying to sedate us with that stuff but we are seeing through it. most of us intelligent people can wade through the soundbites and logos and bs, and see the real issues behind the “real” news.
although i find each and every death of anybody sad, i am not going to be sucked into the circus of speculation and gossip. what matters to me is that heath ledger died and that his death is being used to sell papers and news stations and to fuel right-wing anti-gay propaganda.
and that are many thousands of other people dying every day for preventable reasons who are being ignored, disregarded and devalued.