Hollywood, Hoffman and Fantasy Heroism

Jessica Burtch
Thu, 06 Feb 2014 19:39:22 -0800
Lifestyle

"If one of us dies of an overdose, probably 10 people who were about to won't."

Said Philip Seymour Hoffman to writer Aaron Sorkin, who posted about the actor's overdose on Time.com with equal parts brevity and naivete.

Sounds a bit self-congratulatory, doesn't it? Casting themselves, one or the other, in the role of hero? No mention of the broken hearts that would go on beating — in Hoffman's case, three children, a woman who loved him, friends, fellow actors, creative collaborators, students, mentors, what looks like a world full of fans. No mention of the true power of addiction, which doesn't quiver in the face of mortality or concern itself with fragility.
Updated: Fri Feb 07, 2014

"If one of us dies of an overdose, probably 10 people who were about to won't."

Said Philip Seymour Hoffman to writer Aaron Sorkin, who posted about the actor's overdose on Time.com with equal parts brevity and naivete.

Sounds a bit self-congratulatory, doesn't it? Casting themselves, one or the other, in the role of hero? No mention of the broken hearts that would go on beating — in Hoffman's case, three children, a woman who loved him, friends, fellow actors, creative collaborators, students, mentors, what looks like a world full of fans. No mention of the true power of addiction, which doesn't quiver in the face of mortality or concern itself with fragility.

Sorkin writes of Hoffman:

"He'll have his well-earned legacy — his Willy Loman that belongs on the same shelf with Lee J. Cobb's and Dustin Hoffman's, his Jamie Tyrone, his Truman Capote and his Academy Award. Let's add to that 10 people who were about to die who won't now."

Lives saved. Hoffman's a hero. That's a wrap.

Much like Sorkin's writing for the political utopia that was "The West Wing," this plays well and feels good but is in no way reflective of reality.

During an appearance on CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," former undercover DEA agent Michael Levine offered a different version of what happens in the wake of a high-profile overdose.

"I bought heroin from one particular man I arrested who ran a cutting place. And he became an informant. And one of the things he told me that rang true for the rest of my career was that he intentionally had filled bags with super-doses, hoping someone would OD and die. My bet is that right now the Ace of Spades brand that allegedly — I say allegedly — killed Mr. Hoffman is now hot. On the street, everyone is looking for that brand."

When it comes to heroin, death begets demand, not a Hollywood moment.

I know nothing about the internal experience of addiction, but I've known addicts and their wrath: crashed cars, wrecked marriages, abandoned kids, lost homes, jobs, savings and hope. One spent two weeks in the ICU because his lungs collapsed during a heroin overdose. Another wasn't so lucky. Some are in and out of rehab; others have kicked. Hallelujah.

I don't judge drug addicts for their Achilles. I did drugs when I was younger and was just lucky they weren't mine. I wish them a lightening of their load, an unburdening of their shame, access to treatment and the fortitude to stick with it.

I'm also a fan of film and art and, yes, of Hoffman's work. "Capote" was, in a word, chilling. But he was not without his failures as an actor and as a man. And he is in no way a hero — not this week, at least.

Truman Capote said, "Life is a moderately good play with a badly written third act." As Hoffman did with Capote's character, so he did with his words: took them to new heights.