With friends like these...

Last week I watched a movie called ‘The Last Ride’ about the last 2 days of the life of Hank Williams.  It’s New Year’s Eve and his caretaker of the moment hires a young mechanic named Silas to drive ‘Mr Wells’ to West Virginia for a show.   At the first of the show it is apparent the kid does not know who his passenger really is and I wasn’t clear if he even knew until the end of the movie.  Early on, the passenger asks Silas to call him Luke. 

It’s pretty apparent that Hank is in bad shape.  He’s tired and sick.  Silas is warned not to let him drink any whiskey or he won’t be paid.  His drinking has affected every part of his life—his reputation, his performances, his marriage.  It appears if there was not money involved, everyone would have left him to his own devices.  But money has a way of attracting ‘friends’.  

Weather and some stops along the road (including a fight at a bar) delay him and he misses his New Year’s Eve share so soon that are rerouted to a New Year’s Day show in Ohio.  Unfortunately he dies in the car on the way to the show.  His cause of death was a heart problem thought his alcoholism contributed and the beating from the night before may have as well.   From what I’ve read and seen,  when they went on stage in Ohio to announce his death, everyone laughed, assuming it was another excuse for missing a show.  Only when the performers on stage started ‘I Saw the Light’ did the crowd stop laughing and sadly sang along in a final tribute.

What a sad man he appeared to be.  Betrayed by his wife, scorned by his handlers, he was painfully alone with a stranger when he died.  If his music reflects his life, he must have hurt badly.  I realize his behavior caused others to be react, and I in general try to find the best of people, but I have to wonder if he had someone to trust, someone who had his back, if his life would have be different.  Like so many celebrities, he had employees and hangers on but I’m not sure he had genuine friends.  Very sad movie.  It starred Henry Thomas from ET fame as Hank.

It makes me really sad sometimes to think of the people who died too young because they had hangers on instead of friends:

Elvis.  Colonel Parker. Priscilla.   Need we say more?

Michael Jackson.  The entire leechy Jackson Family.  If his parents had seen him as a son instead of a commodity to be sold so they’d never have to do an honest day’s work.  If someone had protected the child he possibly would not have been such a screwed up adult.

Whitney Houston.  Such a talent. 

Marilyn Monroe.

Cory Monteith.   He’d been to rehab and seemed on track but he had a demon inside of him.

Keith Whitley.  I remember Lorrie Morgan saying she’d tie herself to him with her robe tie at night so she’d know when he got up because he could not stay out of the liquor cabinet.

Heath Ledger.  I have never seen a more heartbreaking performance in my life that his Ennis in Brokeback Mountain.  Such a talent.

And there are those in the making: Lindsey Lohan, Amanda Bynes, Miley Cyrus.  It would be so good  to have someone take them by the hand and try to show them a life that doesn’t involve drinking, drugs, more money than they need or twerking while sticking out their tongue.