Published: June 10, 2010
Op-Ed Contributor
The Tragic Life And Humiliating Death Of Gary Coleman
By Robert Paul Reyes
"The final photo of Gary Coleman before his death was snatched up by supermarket tabloid, The Globe. The photo (purposely blurred at left) appears on the cover of this morning's issue, and shows Coleman in his hospital bed, with tubes coming out of his nose and his head heavily bandaged. Ex-wife Shannon Price leans in close to Coleman's still body, looking far from a mourning partner, with no tears are in her eyes. Instead Price looks like someone sneaking a photo they know isn't quite appropriate." Read More
Gary Coleman never had a chance to live a normal life, the odds were stacked against him from the beginning. He suffered from a congenital kidney disease which halted his growth at an early age, and left him with a childlike appearance. A child with an angelic chubby face gets his cheeks squeezed, a 30-something with a child-like face is treated like a freak.
The diminutive actor was cast in the role of Arnold Jackson in the sitcom Diff'rent Srokes. The child actor was the breakout star of the show, earning more than $100,000 per episode. The bedeviled actor should have been financially set for life, but his parents and business adviser robbed him blind, leaving him penniless.
During the run of Diff'rent Strokes from 1978 to 1986 Coleman was on top of the world, but he spent the rest of his miserable existence trying to escape the legacy of Arnold Jackson. Everywhere Coleman went people would laugh and yell at him "What choo talkin' 'bout Willis"? The poor fellow was afraid to leave his shabby apartment, and run his errands.
Coleman is a universally known archetype of the loser, when the Broadway musical Avenue Q was looking for a character to represent a loser they choose Gary Coleman. A female character who represents Coleman sings a song called "It Sucks To Be Gary Coleman" in the musical.
Coleman never experienced romantic love, in the last years of his cursed life he was married to a woman who couldn't stand him. And on his last day on Earth, this wretched witch took photographs of him on his death bed.
In Coleman's world there wasn't a loving god, not even an indifferent universe, the universe or god (take your pick) was on a mission to make Gary Coleman's life a living hell.
As he lay dying Coleman wasn't hoping to enter paradise, he was desperately waiting to be engulfed by sweet nothingness.
Coleman died without finding out what Willis was talking about, and without figuring out why life can be such a nightmare.
Coleman is dead, and there is nothing we can do for him. But there's a lot of Gary Colemans in this cruel world, let's do a good deed for the Colemans that we know.
Follow Robert Paul Reyes on Twitter: http://twitter.com/robertpaulreyes
Robert Paul Reyes is a NewsBlaze writer on Politics, Pop Culture and Pointless Pontificating. Contact him by writing to NewsBlaze.
* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze
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