Facing Up to the Death of River Phoenix

The death of River Phoenix was a tragedy. Not because he was, to quote The Times, “one of Hollywood’s rising young stars” but simply because he was a much too young human being to depart.

I cannot presume to know the pain of losing a child, but I understand Mrs. Arlyn (Heart) Phoenix wanting to write the letter that The Times published Nov. 24 (“A Mother’s Note on Her Son’s Life and Death”). I believe her when she explains that her son “was a soul filled with passion and a sense of service for others,” and she should be very proud of that, just as we, who admired his talent, are proud of his work on the screen.

However I disagree with her blaming the polluted air, toxic earth and food, undrinkable water, destroyed forests, depleted ozone layer and AIDS for the problems of today’s youth. Her letter is all about the ills of today’s society. Yes, they exist, and they should be corrected by all of us who love this planet and hope to leave it to our children and grandchildren. But isn’t it time to stop blaming others, or circumstances, or Halloween, or a nightclub, or the earth, or the world for the mistakes we make?

River was not a 5-year-old child but 23. He had a choice, and, unfortunately for him and the ones who loved him, he chose wrong. It is very, very sad, but please, Mrs. Phoenix, don’t blame all of us for his death.

ISABELLE BELMONTE

Hollywood

While I am sympathetic to a mother’s grief, it is difficult to stand silently by while Phoenix’s mother abuses the occasion to propagandize for every liberal cause under the sun.

If Phoenix was not a “regular” drug user, as his mother claims, I’d be interested to know her definition of “regular.” She excuses his “recreational” drug use, and, instead of blaming massive doses of cocaine, morphine and Valium--any one of which, according to the toxicologist’s report, was enough to be fatal--she shifts the blame to pollution, deforestation, ozone loss and AIDS.

But why didn’t the toxicologist’s report find a deadly lack of ozone in Phoenix’s bloodstream? Or an overdose of polluted air in his lungs? Or, at the very least, the remains of hormone-fed beef in his stomach? And AIDS? Nobody has claimed Phoenix had AIDS.

She claims that “drug abuse is a symptom of an unfeeling, materialistic, success-oriented world where the feelings and creativity of young people are not seen as important.” Now, if Phoenix had been an unappreciated artist who had starved to death in the proverbial garret, this assertion might hold water; if he were one of the tragic runaways pursuing a dream of stardom who end up prostituting themselves, I might shed a tear for a waif lost in an uncaring world.

But Phoenix was celebrated for his “creativity” across the world beyond the dreams of the most starry-eyed naif and rewarded with more fame, adulation and money than he, sadly, apparently had sense--or morality--to know what to do with.

And can we have done with the claims for Phoenix’s pure lifestyle? The next time I hear of the death of somebody who refuses to eat meat from massive doses of substances my 6-year-old daughter knows are deadly, I’m going to die myself. Die laughing.

MICHAEL McINTYRE

Los Angeles