I'm really interested to know - and I do mean seriously, so no holds barred, okay? Cool.

A few days ago, Jiggy asked a question in one of his posts, but no one as of yet has taken a bite. So now I ask again for the first time ...

Why is no one horrified about the untimely death of Chris Farley, but more interested in the untimely death of River Phoenix? There are very much one in the same. They were both raised in what could be considered an abusive lifestyle. They both worked hard to make it infamously in Hollywood. They both allowed the Hollyuwod razzle dazzle to effect them physically and emotionally enough to find themselves addicted to speedballs, valiums, meth, pot, and whatever other drug was available to get them high. They both went out on a partying binge in plain public view. They both died of massive drug overdoses, and all the gore that goes with their last moments of life cracked out on dope. Farley's photo was taken by a lady friend as he lay dieing on the floor, and someone snaps a photo of River in his casket.

Just with the above comparrisons, it sounds to me like these guys lived a lifestyle that was one in the same. But why does no one even bother to mention Farley and his untimely death?

Would it be because River being so handsome has remained an unfulfilled, unattainable fantasy after all of these years - and that Farley was the fat guy butt of all jokes?

Let's be careful how we toss around that word shallow from time to time. Tanky.

ICU, that's exactly the reason, but no one wants to admit it.

They are the same group of teenaged girls who drove Titanic to be the top box-office grossing film of all time. It has been reported that Titanic was only able to gross its total because there were so many repeat viewers. A movie will only gross about 200-300 million (US dollars) if an above average number of movie-goers see the movie. But for a movie to gross well over 600 mill we now know that it must be viewed multiple times by the same viewer. Surveys were conducted shortly after Titanic's run and the results showed that the movie was indeed viewed numerous times by the same viewer (some even saw it more than a dozen times). What demographic do you think they determined was the repeat offender? Yep, teenaged girls.

Let's look at some commonalities between Titanic and this fascination with River. Young, attractive hunky guy (even similar in facial features) who dies. It's that dreamy, fascination of the beautiful man who is unattainable. That prince charming to come and sweep me away. But of course there is no real Prince Charming, so when his likeness passes on, his legend grows.

Similarities run with the Princess Di marriage way back when. There was a worldwide fascination amongst young teen girls (especially with you Yanks) with the princess getting married to Charles. The only difference being that Charles was far from hunky.

yeah the chris farley case is a pretty big deal in terms of celebrity drug culture, it crosses the boundaries of celebrity and fan with reference to the john belushi case.

it sounds cold but he kinda wanted to end up that way, if the horrific deaths of john belushi and river phoenix didn't deter him nothing would. it is made all the more worrying when you consider that in a bizzare way he wanted to be belushi. emulating ones idols is one thing, but to emulate the destruction of an idol suggests some form of mental instability.

by the way guys does anyone actually know if the photo of farley was one taken by the woman present at the time he collapsed or by the police when he was found? either way its release could be questionable.

its a shame there is no link to a forum on chris farley. i reckon you are right jiggy jam, its the shallow vanity issue in play here.

I dont think we view, or should view, Rivers death more tragic than Chris'. The photo of Chris is terrible as well, it is just not talked about here as this is not a Chris discussion forum. If it was, I for one would defend hom too.

Hey Ana!

I haven't looked at the Chris Farley photos in ages. But I know for the record that a lady friend snapped his pic on the way out. As for the more gruesome close-ups, those looked more like crime scene photos, post mortem, due to an "unnatural death".

DISCLAIMER BY ICU:

*Giving anyone with even the slightest bit of curiosity - DO NOT look these photos up if you cannot handle death. They are nothing nice. Warnings are everywhere about them, just like Rivers pic, but I sh*t you not ...they are not even close. I'm not throwing out a bait - I am being dead serious.*

well i can assure you i wont be tempted by curiosity.

Hey Jiggy!

HA! Well, I can't speak for all us Yanks of course , but for bookworms like myself who have our noses consantly stuck in research periodicles and books of the old world? Now THOSE are the things that legends and history are made of . In America, we have structures that might be close to 300 years old or so - unless you want to count the Dino sludge on the gulf coast. But Europe has structures and bluebloods that date back a multitude of centuries. It's a fascinating history - thus my reasons for watching the Royal Wedding when Diana and Charles tied the knot. It was really magnificent to watch. Watched it with my mom. History in the making. Cool. Not to mention it was my first "all-niter". Evah.

Oh! And c'moooon! Admit it! Even YOU Jiggy must have gotten a sense of pride when Prince William was born ! Even I was able to watch that on the news. Looked like every Brit was out on the street to celebrate . Good for you guys!

ANYWAAAAAY .... back to my question though. Where are our young fans? They have posted everywhere else but here. Sigh.

they probably saw that it was a chris farley thread and buggered off. why should they waste thier time discussing the death of a not very attractive fat man when they canponder the death of a guy who was rather cute(!)?
shallow shallow shallow.

Yep, they're avoiding it like the plague! They're suffering from selective sympathy syndrome.

Ana - you rock. Word to my sister across the pond.

I guess if I were so "off topic" with my question, I would have gotten a warning from the mod by now? But as of this moment - it's still open for discussion. Thanks for your responses .

Farley and Phoenix are one in the same when you look at the BIG picture - not the little picture hanging on the walls from a teen bop magazine.

While there are hardly any reponses from our regulars on this thread - it truly speaks VOLUMES.

there is no way a "true river fan" would admit that though.
fat guy with drug problem that ended up dead from overdose and corpse photos plastered over the web/ cute guy with drug problem that ended up dead from overdose and corpse photos plastered over the web.
oh no, not the same thing at all(!).

I also agree with the cute guy/fat guy thing, but throwing my 2 cents in...

1. I have seen movies, interviews, etc. by both Chris and River. River has far more talent that Chris. I wonderful talent who destroyed himself with drugs vs. a medocre talent who did the same thing. Sorry, medocre talent is not as tragic.

2. Chris never made any bones about being a junkie. This is a case of we-all-know-where-this-will-end-up. River hid his drug use from the public and his fans. He portrayed himself as a clean living individual, so his overdose was more surprising. Basically, River's death had the shock-value that Chris' didn't.

Just my opinion!

hey pug2, thanks for joining this long forgotten thread. you may just have a point about the "medocre talent" issue, but in the same way that we will never know river's full potential as an actor, we will never see chris'. as everyone knows he was to be the original voice of shrek, and he was getting some straight acting roles as well. he was in the frame to play the lead in a biopic about the life of roscoe "fatty" arbuckle (a comedic genius of the silent era accused of rape and murder, for those who might not know). so where his comedy had become somewhat predictable, this possible movie role could have taken his career to new levels.

(oh yeah, and just in case you are interested the fatty arbuckle film was also offered to john belushi and john candy. it's sice been kinda scrapped, due to the tendancy of its leading men to ... er... die.)

i also agree with your notion that river's death was more shocking due to the fact that his drug use was hidden. chris' blatant addiction can be attributed once again to his "being john belushi" mentality. the sick tragedy in chris' case is he wanted to be his idol and ended up emulating him in a very destructive way. that should be more troublesome than cute boy hides his addiction as it is a commentary on how the public reacts to celebrity culture; the lasted fashion, the latest hair style, the latest drug habit.

Ana - you make some valid points. I had no idea about the Fatty Arbuckle movie (and gee, that's one I would have like to have seen). That may very well have turned CF's movie career around. I may have spoken out of turn, due to the fact that I was not a John Belushi or Chris Farley fan, so the only CF movies I can attest to are the VERY few that I have seen (and those were not my idea).

I do know that when anyone OD's, I have to stop and ask myself, "why". Drug addiction is a very senseless and useless thing to me, but most additions are.

Maybe it's the idea that Chris Farley always attempted to be funny, whereas River (in both movies and pictures) always seems to have a sad way about him. He made you want to take care of him. However, he proved that no one could take care of him, including himself.

Thanks for your feedback!

Due to the continued success of his brother Leaf Phoenix (PARENTHOOD, SIGHNS and LADDER 49) it is hard to forget River Phoenix. It is as if River lives threw his acting. You can see the dedication in Leaf which, will have you wonder how much his skills affected Leaf.

Ok, Leaf is a fantastic and dedicated actor, and i respect Leaf as much as I respesct River and the rest of his family, including RP!

VERY SWEET GIRLS! My cousin has not gone by "Leif" for a very long time though,

OOPS, I had a typo, LOL. "Leaf"