Author Topic: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction  (Read 1299 times)

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Offline DCPatriot

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Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« on: February 03, 2014, 09:38:14 pm »
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction



Why did nobody care about Philip Seymour Hoffman's drug problem until it killed him? Kaleem Aftab reports



Kaleem Aftab

It says everything about the prevalence of drug culture in the entertainment industry that when Philip Seymour Hoffman admitted to going into rehab early last summer, it barely caused a ripple in British newspapers.

Hoffman said last May that he checked himself into a detox facility for 10 days as he desperately wanted to nip a drug problem in the bud. Hoffman stated that for a year he had been relying on prescription drugs in a bid to kick his resurfacing heroin habit, an addiction he believed he had kicked 23 years previously.

In a 2006 interview in the run-up to his receiving a best actor Academy Award for his brilliant portrayal of Truman Capote in Capote he admitted that after graduating from New York University's Tisch School, he checked himself into rehab as he would consume "anything I could get my hands on. I liked it all."

He said: "I went [to rehab]. I got sober when I was 22 years old. You get panicked... And I got panicked for my life."

more at:  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/philip-seymour-hoffman-and-hollywoods-drug-addiction-9105298.html

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Offline DCPatriot

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #1 on: February 03, 2014, 09:42:42 pm »


No matter what role he played, he typically stole scene after scene.

I wonder if he felt that the experiences in his different moods attained in the throes of drugs actually was responsible for his success on the screen?
« Last Edit: February 03, 2014, 09:43:00 pm by DCPatriot »
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

rangerrebew

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #2 on: February 03, 2014, 10:30:20 pm »
I feel as badly for him as I did Whitney Houston. :whistle:

Offline musiclady

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #3 on: February 03, 2014, 10:53:22 pm »
Who's going to play Plutarch in the final Hunger Games movie?

They're still filming it, and I haven't heard anyone say how they're going to handle his loss.

No matter what you think of him, or of Hollywood, the fact that they routinely ruin (or, as in his case, end) their own lives is sad.
Character still matters.  It always matters.

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Offline happyg

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #4 on: February 03, 2014, 11:03:00 pm »
I feel bad for him and everyone who gets caught up in drugs. These people are no more special than those we find on the streets or lying dead in an alley. The ones who are to blame are the ones who initially got someone to try it, 'just once'. Those are the big time drug dealers, or those already on drugs, looking to find customers to support their habits. It's the worst kind of pyramid.

I have watched people go through rehab, and saw the agony that lasted for days. They want to be clean, and are for a coupe weeks, and think they can try it one more time. There is no one more time. Each time someone comes clean and goes back, it becomes harder to stop. I have spent many sleepless nights, shed many tears over someone I care about. Now, I can only hope this time he will make it. If not, he will be another statistic.

Offline raml

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #5 on: February 03, 2014, 11:25:09 pm »
I really am tired of these actors who died of overdoses being honored the way they are these days. These are addicts and fawning over them in death makes me sick of news agencies. Writing about them in the news does nothing to stop this from happening instead gives a bit of glamor to dying this way. There is nothing great about them they have no morals or character as far as I'm concerned.

Offline DCPatriot

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #6 on: February 03, 2014, 11:30:57 pm »
My point was that he literally became whatever character he was portraying.

You never caught yourself saying, "that's PSH".

'Normal' everyday leading actors/actresses don't do that to you...Meryl Streep excepted.

Was he in the process of filming anything dark?  I understand most of the scenes for the 3rd installment of Hunger Games with him are already in the can.

The reason I'm asking is that Heath Ledger also died of an accidental overdose, didn't he?  And he was playing that insane villain in Batman at the time.

It's like they had tapped into a secret to give them bigger success...but the ultimate cost is your life...and at the height of your popularity.

It's a shame.
"It aint what you don't know that kills you.  It's what you know that aint so!" ...Theodore Sturgeon

"Journalism is about covering the news.  With a pillow.  Until it stops moving."    - David Burge (Iowahawk)

"It was only a sunny smile, and little it cost in the giving, but like morning light it scattered the night and made the day worth living" F. Scott Fitzgerald

Offline truth_seeker

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #7 on: February 03, 2014, 11:47:18 pm »
President George W. Bush admits to having had a problem with alcohol.

In my case, I didn't have to go to drug dealers for my drug of choice--alcohol.

Trust me when I say there is a whole lot more to recovery, than a few days in "detox" or in "rehab."

One quality common among people that have recovered is empathy for others in the same plight.

Entertainers with over 20 years sober include Sir Anthony Hopkins, Craig Ferguson, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Bonnie Raitt, John Williams (singer-songwriter), Bill Ward (drummer, Black Sabbath), and many more.
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Offline Lipstick on a Hillary

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #8 on: February 04, 2014, 12:39:53 am »
I feel as badly for him as I did Whitney Houston. :whistle:

Chris Christie ordered flags at half mast for Houston.  I wonder if Cuomo will do the same for Hoffman? 

Offline PzLdr

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #9 on: February 04, 2014, 12:41:01 am »
I feel as badly for him as I did Whitney Houston. :whistle:

Wonder if Il Douche will order the Flag flown at half-mast for him?
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Offline Atomic Cow

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #10 on: February 04, 2014, 01:07:50 am »
As Reiko Aylesworth (Michelle Desller on "24") said during an event I attended, the entire Hollywood culture is "poison" and will destroy anyone who allows themselves to fall prey to it.

This is why she refused to ever live in Los Angeles and would only go there if it was for work, and then get out as soon as possible.
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Offline raml

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #11 on: February 04, 2014, 01:12:59 am »
Sorry but I am sick of people making excuses for addicts. They are not great they are not even mediocre they are people who are dangerous and can hurt others way more than they ever hurt themselves. They get in cars and drive causing accidents and death, they go to work and do half ass work or none at all costing companies time and money and co workers big head aches. They tear their families apart and hurt their children beyond repair also giving them terrible role models. You can go on admiring these people I will not I am damn tired of all of them. Keep them out of the headlines please.

Offline truth_seeker

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #12 on: February 04, 2014, 02:17:03 am »
Sorry but I am sick of people making excuses for addicts. They are not great they are not even mediocre they are people who are dangerous and can hurt others way more than they ever hurt themselves. They get in cars and drive causing accidents and death, they go to work and do half ass work or none at all costing companies time and money and co workers big head aches. They tear their families apart and hurt their children beyond repair also giving them terrible role models. You can go on admiring these people I will not I am damn tired of all of them. Keep them out of the headlines please.
Who is "admiring" them? First off, they come in 2 types: Those still using, and those who have stopped and stayed stopped.

As to the first type, they need help.  As to the second type, they usually offer to help the first type.

I admire people doing the thankless and very difficult work of trying to help addicts, alcoholics, etc.

There are a lot of the non-famous that lend a lot of time, to helping others. I can tick off a list of the churches that provide meeting space for AA. There are several churches in my area, with emphasis on recovery and recovery ministries. There is the Salvation Army. There is a mens' detox facility run entirely by alumni, continuously since the early 1950s. That is called giving it back.

Walking the walk.

 
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Offline aligncare

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #13 on: February 04, 2014, 04:42:04 am »
Thanks, truth_seeker, for reminding us about hope, and about compassion. Overcoming chemical dependency is hard and nearly impossible alone. Extending a hand to someone trapped in a downward spiral is an act of grace and shows a charity of Spirit. To be human is to be imperfect. We all need redemption.

Offline truth_seeker

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #14 on: February 04, 2014, 10:15:02 pm »
Thanks, truth_seeker, for reminding us about hope, and about compassion. Overcoming chemical dependency is hard and nearly impossible alone. Extending a hand to someone trapped in a downward spiral is an act of grace and shows a charity of Spirit. To be human is to be imperfect. We all need redemption.
Seymour's relapse, after 20 years clean should drive home the seriousness of the addicts condition.

I don't know from the NA standpoint, but from the AA side we don't drink and we don't do recreational drugs either. They are both about using mind altering substances to feel different.

Mel Gibson relapsed after long term sobriety. I'll say this: Hoffmann needed more than a 10 day detox, and he should have cancelled all professional commitments for a year before acting again.

That is a theory of mine, that solid recovery needs to be almost a full time job for about a year in the beginning. Solid foundation. Reorder life's priorities, etc.

My sponsor became a recovery professional and has a saying "separate the subject from the substance" as the purpose of detox, sober living, rehab etc.

Ten days is insufficient. Thirty days in a hospital or rehab. Then the remainder of the first year in sober living.

I did not do it that way, but had my rear in an AA meeting every single day.
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Offline EC

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #15 on: February 04, 2014, 10:20:04 pm »
Only 10 days? Missed that titbit. No where near enough time.

That is just long enough for the cravings to hit unbearable levels.
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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #16 on: February 04, 2014, 10:50:52 pm »
Thanks, truth_seeker, for reminding us about hope, and about compassion. Overcoming chemical dependency is hard and nearly impossible alone. Extending a hand to someone trapped in a downward spiral is an act of grace and shows a charity of Spirit. To be human is to be imperfect. We all need redemption.

Having been in rehab and not having a drink in 10 years, I see things, perhaps, a bit differently.  I saw people in rehab who honestly wanted to quit and saw those who said they wanted to quit.  Usually they were there to get the court off their backs.  It is great that people reach out to help but they can't relieve the addicted person's responsibility to reach back.  People with addicted personality will lie, cheat, steal, do anything they can to maintain a habit, sometimes replacing one habit with another but still haven't solved the addictive urge.  Anyone who has been in rehab knows the counselors are not going to baby someone, coddle them, protect them.  It is very confrontational and designed to make the addicted person see he/she is responsible for the position in which they find themselves and to let them know no one else is going to assume the units of concern.

Offline Carling

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #17 on: February 05, 2014, 12:55:13 am »


Entertainers with over 20 years sober include Sir Anthony Hopkins, Craig Ferguson, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Bonnie Raitt, John Williams (singer-songwriter), Bill Ward (drummer, Black Sabbath), and many more.

Hoffman was 23 years sober, and he went public last May when he relapsed.  I don't think you can say he just had a few days in rehab, because he was living a sober life, and something must have triggered his relapse. 

EDIT - I misunderstood your post.  I agree with you.  I've seen addiction destroy lives of people very close to me.  I was able to get away from it, literally, by moving 1000 miles away from those influences. 
« Last Edit: February 05, 2014, 12:58:56 am by Carling »
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Offline Fishrrman

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #18 on: February 05, 2014, 03:07:52 am »
I had never heard of "Philip Seymour Hoffman" until the reports of his death were published.

But then, I haven't entered a movie theater since 1993...

When I think of "actors", I think of Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, etc. ...  :)

Offline happyg

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #19 on: February 05, 2014, 03:14:45 am »
I had never heard of "Philip Seymour Hoffman" until the reports of his death were published.

But then, I haven't entered a movie theater since 1993...

When I think of "actors", I think of Jimmy Stewart, John Wayne, etc. ...  :)

Ditto! I prefer TMC over today's movies.

Offline Rapunzel

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Re: Philip Seymour Hoffman and Hollywood's drug addiction
« Reply #20 on: February 05, 2014, 03:17:20 am »
He had a regular pharmacy in his apartment in addition to the drugs. 
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