Philip Seymour Hoffman - a talent needlessly lost

Valentino, the Italian fashion brand have been heavily criticised for using the funeral of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman as a PR stunt to promote one of their handbags. This is a sad reflection on the world of fashion and celebrity where product placement is more important than giving dignity and respect to a world class actor. Hoffman died aged forty six, of a drugs overdose. According to the Telegraph newspaper Hoffman's alleged drug dealer has said the actor injected twice as much heroin a day as a typical addict. Seventy three packets of heroin were found near his dead body. What a tragedy and waste of a hugely talented man.

Hoffman was one of the best character actors on the planet, he was a master at being somebody else. Was he a master at being someone else because he was so at odds with his true self? On screen he made us believe he really was that person, whether Hamlet or a drag queen. In an interview he said ""I think deep down inside, people understand how flawed they are. I think the more benign you make somebody, the less truthful it is." He clearly knew about the dark side of life despite his success. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the 2005 biographical film Capote, was nominated three times for Best Supporting Actor and also received three Tony Award nominations for his work in theater.

In many of his films he chose to play characters with troubled pasts (creeps and freaks), or deep character flaws like the lead role in Owning Mahowny where he plays a bank employee who embezzles money to feed his gambling addiction, or as unscrupulous arms dealer, Owen Davian, in Mission Impossible 3. Each of these characters came to life on screen as Hoffman seemed to embrace and expose the destructive side of human nature. Clearly he was tapping into deep and dark experiences of his own. How could someone so gifted, successful and admired be drawn into the black hole of drug addiction? Despite having supposedly everything the world could offer including a long term relationship of 15 years with Mimi O'Donnell and two daughters and a son (all less than 10 years old) he still managed to fall into hell on earth, chasing heroin highs on a daily habit (trying to stay clean then falling back into addiction). What drives someone to live there despite fame, acclaim, wealth and a loving family? What demons did he wrestle that needed heroin to dull the ache in his soul? Where were the angels when the demons seemed so strong?

Russel Brand himself a recovering addict insightfully comments "in spite of all the loving friends and family, there is a predominant voice in the mind of an addict that supersedes all reason and that voice wants you dead. This voice is the unrelenting echo of an unfulfillable void." This for me sums up why Jesus is the most important person who ever lived, he came to earth to meet people in their place of unfillable void. That black hole is a spirit in need of a saviour that no drug, money, fame or even family can fill. It is a spiritual vacuum that can only be filled fully (fulfilled) by a spiritual solution.

In the Message translation of the bible it says in Colossians "You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything." Brian Welch, also a former heroin addict and lead guitarist of Korn maps out his own journey through hell but his story ends differently. He accepts his emptiness and addiction and accepts Jesus as the spiritual solution. Welch like Hoffman lived on the wild side, danced with the devil and courted death. Why did one survive and the other die? I dont know? But this I do know, if you place your trust in Christ, the emptiness of the universe is removed, His power extends as far as our own inner world, as dark as that may be, and brings light, powerful enough to remove every demon or addiction. The stories of Hoffman, Brand and Welch all speak the same message, the allure of wealth, sex, beauty, fame, drugs and celebrity is an empty one. They are short lived and under deliver on their promises. Dont be fooled, listen to those who have gone before you and revealed the lie. Instead let truth set you free!