I know I don't usually talk about young hollywood, but...

I logged on to MSN today to check my email, only to have a huge headline scream across my screen, telling me that actor Heath Ledger was found dead.
I am not going to begin to try to pontificate on the reasons why Heath Ledger is dead, even though early reports state that there were " no obvious signs of suicide."
I didn't know him, just as I don't know anybody famous.
What I do know is that there is an insatiable appetite for gossip about anyone in the public eye. The media is constantly inundating us with what they deem as "news," pictures of stars and starlets, taking their kids to school, eating a hamburger, exiting a night club. There is an entire channel dedicated solely to celebrity gossip that airs every weeknight at 10pm, not to mention the scores of entertainment "news" shows and channels that flood the cable networks.
Granted it seems that a lot of these people bring a lot of their problems on themselves, (Paris Hilton,) but I think we need to remember that as exciting as it may be to watch these bigger than life personalities self-destruct before our very eyes (Britney Spears,) these are still real people with real struggles and real lives.
Most of them are kids, raised in a sick and twisted world with little if any guidance or direction from responsible adults.
I have no idea as to why Heath Ledger has passed away, but I know that he has a baby daughter who will now grow up without a daddy. She will grow up in a world where her father will be remembered for his untimely death, instead of for his family and his body of excellent work.
He will be just another name in a long list of hollywood disasters, and I find this very tragic.