RIP Cory Monteith

It's been pointed out by others but Hollywood - especially when you've got plenty of money - isn't really the best place for avoiding drugs.

I like Glee - for all it's... well... Gleeness - but I can't see this not casting a pall over how many seasons the show has left. But at least the last episode he was in wrapped up his character's arc, going fron student to a teacher in training.

 

I just think I could handle fame, wealth and youth a bit better.
Why is a working-class guy who might drink or do drugs because of the pressure of having to provide for a wife and four kids, despite being laid off for a year, labeled a drunk or a bum or a meth-head, but rich Hollywood types "have demons?"

 

Same reason the jocks and cheerleaders in high school never got called out for the stuff that regular guys and gals would have. It's called a double standard - get used to it and get over it, because it ain't going away in your lifetime or in mine.

As far as whether or not you could handle fame, wealth and youth a bit better, that may well be true, but it's not the point. Monteith's demons or problems or whatever you want to call them go back well into his childhood, long before he had any fame or wealth. Addiction doesn't discriminate. He may well have ended up dead regardless of any success he achieved.

 

All Xan said was that drug demons are the worst. Considering his life and what he's shared, I'd consider him qualified to make that statement.

HOW someone got into drugs doesn't matter. The point is that once drugs have a hold of you, they have a lifetime hold on you. It's why people go to rehab. It's why the rate of relapses is so high.

Besides, when Cory Monteith first went to rehab, he was 19. He wasn't young, rich Hollywood. He was just a kid who got into some bad stuff, and it killed him at the age of 31.

 

Once it's in your blood you chase it the rest of your life.

I had a great career, 23 years all over the country with awards, raises, titles, a little prestige and yet I threw it away because I couldn't stop chasing the high. Wouldn't stop chasing the high. Oh sure, I worked my 12- 13- 14- 15-hour days -- no one put in more time -- but I also went on 96-hour benders and that's not even the half of it. Surprised I've made it to 41.

Anyway, when I read Monteith died in a hotel room, I knew exactly.

The day the company's top bosses called me to offer me a better title and 5-figure raise I was in the seediest of seedy hotel rooms in Capital City. They called for hours. They called people at the paper who tried calling me. They were ready to put out an APB. Every time they called I let the phone ring out then took a hit. Next day I called and said hey, it was a day off and I was out of reach and deal with it. We set up another phone chat a few days later and those bosses gave me the title and hefty raise.

To celebrate I went on another bender at the same motel. Things only got worse, then I got fired for lying on my timecards to pay for my habit.

So if it makes Hondo feel better I'll recalibrate the original sentiment:

Demons? Nah. I'm just an addict, a junkie, a loser.

Maybe one day I won't be those things.

 

Always a treat to be flipping through the channels and come across an episode of Hondo Knows Best. A True classic.

 

Congratulations on kicking it. I mean that sincerely.
But I stand by my assertion. The Hollywood and entertainment elite become addicted to whatever, and if they're lucky enough to live, they get oceanside rehab centers, a People cover and the talk-show circuit. If Montieth had demons before he became wealthy and famous, he might have considered the fact that he later had the means and the money to kick it for good and start enjoying life.
If you're working stiffs like Songbird, you're pretty much on your own (outside of your family), can't afford much in the way of Betty Ford Centers, and you get fired. Which makes Songbird's recovery all the more impressive.

 

Wow. Now I'm dying to know who you are...

Glad you kicked it. I hope everything is good.

 

There are plenty of drug rehab centers (not enough, but they are available) to non-Hollywood stars, that aren't located in a desirable location, don't have spas etc. But the truth is - that stuff doesn't matter. What matters is the desire of the patient, their ability to stay away from "triggers" be they behaviors or friends and a structured after-treatment program. I'm sure a lot of people wish a spa or an ocean view was all it took to kick drugs.
I've always thought the problem with a drug problem is the "reality" you are trying to "escape" seems that much worse when you come back down. And a lot of people weren't even looking to "escape" when they first tried drugs or alcohol.

 

Always a smart combination.

 

Just read the Westboro Baptist buffoons are going to picket Monteith's funeral. (The link from the source I picked out isn't working.)