The Right Message

The late Phillip Seymour Hoffman was widely acclaimed as one of the greatest actors of his generation.  He was also a struggling addict who died of a heroin overdose.  He was a husband and father, as well as an artistic talent.

None of which matters to one David C. Elting of Grandview Heights, whose letter to the editor was published (of course) in today's Columbus Douchepatch.  In Mr. Elting's view, Hoffman was, in the end, "a drug user whose weakness cost him his life," and paying tribute to him "sends the wrong message."

What's the "right message"?  If you have a "weakness", you're a bum whose life should not be celebrated and whose accomplishments should be promptly forgotten.  You deserve condemnation, not tribute.

A la Mr. Elting, a few more "right messages":
Jimi Hendrix -- not a great guitar player, just a druggie
Janis Joplin -- not a great singer, just a druggie
Lenny Bruce & John Belushi -- not great comedians, just druggies
Dylan Thomas -- not a great poet, just a drunk
James Dean -- not a great actor, just a bad driver
Sylvia Plath -- not a great writer and poet, just a crazy woman who stuck her head in the oven
John Candy -- not a great comic actor, just really overweight
Mama Cass Elliot -- not a great singer, just someone who didn't chew her ham sandwich