Corey Haim: One of the 'Lost Boys' we always rooted for
March 10, 2010 is a sad day in Hollywood.
No doubt.
Lately it seems we've been losing far too many stars that we first came to know as kids.
The passing of 32-year-old Brittany Murphy around the holidays and of "Growing Pains" actor Andrew Koenig, just 38, a couple weeks back was sad for many reasons. But it's really no mystery why the untimely death of celebrities such as these can cut many of us who never even met them in person.
The work they did makes us feel as though we grew up with them.
Corey Haim is no exception.
In 1986's "Lucas," we fell in love with a nerdy and awkward yet hopeful young character. He was someone we wanted to protect, whom we could root for, hurt alongside and celebrate small victories with.
In 1987's "Lost Boys," he was the innocent and adorable kid brother to Jason Patric's already corrupted almost-vampire. He provided much of the comic relief in this darker flick and half the teenage audience totally wanted to jump into that bathtub with him.
By 1988, Haim had graduated to full-fledged heartthrob with "License To Drive," a John Hughes-esque film in which he was the lead, a less cool version of Ferris Beuller, whom we once again could root for.
We rooted for Corey in real life too.
I mean, eight-year-old me -- and I know I'm not alone here -- was going to meet him, start dating and eventually marry the dude, so of course 20-something me was sorry to see the baby-faced boy we once adored desperately struggling with drug addiction and depression.
Who wouldn't have been happy to witness a clean and sober Corey Haim working toward a legitimate comeback?
I think we all secretly hoped for it. Especially when he and his former on and offscreen best friend Corey Feldman hit A&E with their 2007 reality series, "The Two Coreys."
Sadly, that day was never to come.
But that doesn't change how we feel about our Corey Haim.
We just prefer to remember him like this...
Our prayers and thoughts are with Corey's friends and family, especially his dear mother.
Rest peacefully, friend.
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Related:
Corey Feldman: Corey Haim 'will always be my brother'
'The Lost Boys': Corey Haim's finest film moment
Corey Haim dies of apparent accidental overdose
Alyssa Milano, Kevin Smith, other celebs react to Corey Haim's death on Twitter
'The Lost Boys': Corey Haim's finest film moment
Corey Haim dies of apparent accidental overdose
Alyssa Milano, Kevin Smith, other celebs react to Corey Haim's death on Twitter
Photo credit: Twentieth Century Fox
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Well said.
It's heartbreaking.
Couldn't have said it any better Korbi. Thanks
So perfectly well said, Korbi. This is the piece I will link to when people don't understand why I am so devastated.
great article i agree
Beautifully stated. To people my age who grew up watching him in the 80s, this feels like the death of an extended family member. And it's also a sobering reminder of our own fragility and mortality as human beings. Very sad. I hope he's now enjoying the peace he couldn't seem to find in life.
It saddend me more than the death of a celebrity when I see write ups like this gloryfying these people.
Sure, they were celebrities who we watched growing up. We liked, and perhaps identified with the roles they played.
But they were never more than the roles they played for us. We didn't know them personally, and I bet if we had---surely many of us would have been quite dis-illusioned within 10 minutes of knowing them, and most likely want to run the other way. Fast.
Brittany Murphy, Heath Ledger, Corey Haim, Michael Jackson...heck, let's go way back to Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, Janis Joplin....Elvis...the list is never ending...and is going to continue to keep growing, because these people just never, ever learn.
These were all very sad, sick individuals who died at the hand of their addictions.
Instead of looking at them through irresponsible, rose colored write ups like this--take off the glasses and write for once what they really were.
It doesn't necessarily have to be derrogatory---just write up the truth---that these are NOT people we should look back on with fondness, and all misty eyed.
We should look at them for what they actually are---a very frightening cautionary tale of what NOT to become as human beings in life.
Something to NOT strive for, place upon a pedestal, glorify or look up to. EVER.
These were all SICK people and I believe our collective society is equally sick for how we're choosing to remember them.
Dare I say it's now almost 'trendy' for a celeb to drop dead at the hands of an addiction.
The ultimate career booster that guarantees Hollywood immortality forever. How nice.
And we revel in it like squealing pigs in mud. That's probably the saddest part of it all.
One needn't condone the bad choices a person made in his or her life in order to express sympathy over their passing. If you think it's as simple as "shame on you, it's your own fault you did drugs," then you have a hell of a lot to learn about the world around you, my friend.
People don't wake up one day and say to themselves, "Gee, this is a good day to begin the destruction of my life." Addiction is a complex, insidious, and resilient creature that is not cured with the wave of a magic wand. If it were something easily beat, do you think thousands of promising lives would succumb to it every year? Celebrities only make up the tiniest fraction of fatal drug cases--they just happen to be the ones you hear about.
I really hope you take a good long look at this issue and realize it's far from black and white. It's not a casual thing. It's a matter of absolute survival. And trust me, it won't lessen you as a person to generate a little sympathy and compassion for your fellow human beings. It's called having humanity. Try it on.
You seem to have totally missed my entire point Rich.
Perhaps it's you that should "take a good long look" instead.
no Moo to you, it's YOU that misses the point. a human being is a human being. we're not glorifying their mistakes, we're simply paying tribute to the work they did that we felt connected to. when someone passes, you talk about the good things they did in their life. that's what this is, no more, no less. i thought it was a very sweet and well-worded tribute.