Philip Seymour Hoffman And His Somber Last Role - Chris 'Preach' Smith
Photo Credit: Raindance.org
This past Sunday afternoon, New York City and the world were
rocked with the news that highly acclaimed actor Philip Seymour
Hoffman was found dead in his West Village apartment. He was
only 46 years old. It is all the more tragic that he succumbed to
an overdose of heroin. The aftermath has left many with varied
emotions as a famous figure’s untimely end tends to do. It has
also ilustrated a couple of things that are unfortunate elements
of our society that we can’t seem to shake. This piece isn’t so
much a memorial as a commentary.
The shock over Hoffman’s death has mostly subsided as the
week moved on. It took newspapers here in New York City one
or two days to focus on the seedy aspects. The Daily News’
cover depicting exactly how much heroin the actor had in his
apartment in bold colors and font was, in a word, tasteless.
But it’s to be expected; there still is a bit of the William Randolph
Hearst ethic of ‘yellow journalism’ that lies in the traditional
media. Stuff like that gets spurred on by outlets like TMZ and
even that block of shows at 7 P.M. on television that focuses
on everything Hollywood on a couple of channels. There’s even
been a few unstable individuals trying to link this to politics,
blaming ‘liberalism’ in frothing comments left under uber-right
wing patriotic nicknames. Take my word for it. You even had
the National Enquirer, supermarket tabloid rag supreme, claim
that the man that found his body, David Katz, was his lover.
(Of course, a lawsuit has been filed against the paper.) And
the NYPD has struck a bad nerve with people in conducting a
manhunt for the dealers that sold him the drugs. Couple that
with the thin veneer of moralism for the sake of stroking egos
in the name of ‘traditional’ values and thinking about drugs
and drug use and it seems as if Hoffman is now the principal
in a drama that is repeated worldwide on a daily basis on a
scale that is unbearable to comprehend. But it happens.
The NYPD investigation rankles many because the first thought
is, where’s the full-blown effort for other victims of drug use?
There’s some that feel that once you get below 110th Street
in Manhattan, the police pay more attention to the dealers
than the victims and low-level distributors. Does color play a
part? Unfortunately it does. Think about heroin. Heroin has
affected all ethnicities for decades. My father used to be a doctor
in a drug treatment clinic way back. In NYC, Eighth Avenue
uptown was referred to as ‘the heroin capital of the world’
back in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Then the 1980’s hit, and it
was surpassed by crack as the prevailing drug in the land.
Combine that with Reaganomics and deep cuts to federal
resources designed to combat these ills and the addiction
rate soared. Fast forward to now, and heroin use has been
on the rise, reserved again mainly as an exclusive drug. Hoffman
was observed using a deli’s battered ATM to make repeated
withdrawals of $200. The investigation has garnered four
suspects in NoHo. And all any arrests will do is stem the tide
in a miniscule way. It won’t directly address the real issues drugs
and addiciton present. It’s another example of how whenever ‘war’
is declared on something in this nation, there is a failure. On
the surface, because in the words of General Smedley Butler,
‘war is a racket’. It’s all about who loses, and who profits.
Of course, this leads to some expressing frustration with
the system, and rightfully so. But there is a problem when
some in a lefthanded way go, ‘but he was just an actor’ or
seek to satisfy their ego in down-talking others for simply
commenting on his passing in the role of sticking up for
those regular people struggling with addicition in all of its
forms everyday. Cynicism and fighting for liberation are
never compatible dancing partners. Plus, a shrill message
without nuance to that effect never gets the desired effect.
Especially on social media. I thought about this seeing one
of my dear friends go this route. It also puts Hoffman in
another one-dimensional box because if anything, PSH
was just a regular New Yorker. Sure he lived a little higher
on the hog because of his profession. But he had no airs
about him. He’d often be out in the streets of Greeniwch
Village with his kids or by himself going about his business.
There’s quite a few pictures of him, rumpled with stubble.
I mean, the man rocked Carhartt on the regular in photos.
Quite different than some celeb New Yorkers with car
elevators in their penthouse high-rise buildings. He also
was someone who fought addiction since he was 22, all
kinds of substances. He fell off the wagon last year, and was
vocal about it. And yet, his demons claimed him. Hoffman
wasn’t your usual addict, and yet he was by all accounts.
Addiction is like that. I’ve seen a few friends grapple with
addiction, and it amazes me how they cultivate their strength
to fight. It also makes me pause whenever they confess
that they know all it takes is one time to fall.
Photo credit: Guardian-Las Vegas
The point is, his passing in combination with all the other
lives lost to addiction is more a condemnation of the things
society at large has been led to focus on, including outdated
and nonsensical drug laws and methods of treatment. There
has been an appalling lack of focus on mental health in this
country. Substance abuse and its rise is one glaring example.
It’s been reported that heroin use alone has doubled in the
past few years. And again, certain piggish individuals in our
government have cut funding for treatment centers, clinics,
and hospitals at the expense of more people falling to these
ills. Perpetuating a system that simply doesn’t work. That’s
not to say that there haven’t been changes, what with
marijuana legalization the hot topic these days along with
mandatory drug sentencing laws and convictions being struck
down. More has to be done. And it can’t be done in a mood
of hysterical moralism. We’ve seen it before with Len Bias’
death due a cocaine overdose back in 1984. All that will do
is give police forces more reason to be militaristic, and the
prison industrial complex more lives to ingest. We need to
be more mindful of the lives affected by addiction. Lend more
support whenever we can. Talk to the children honestly and
openly about it, as well as adults. Be wary of the glamourous
sheen put on substance abuse, even in dramatic depictions
on TV and film and passing trends of clothing. Keep after elected
officials about their unwillingness to do more in this regard. Pay no
mind to the manipulation by the negative elements of media.
In this light, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final role should be a
mix of the cautionary tale about addiction and its ills, but also of
what one can truly accomplish despite them and after confronting
them. It is something that befits an outstanding actor, and also
a complex, fragile human being. Just like everyone else.
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