Sage Stallone's death: The Fallen Angels of showbiz!

Sage Stallone`s death is another awakening jolt - the constantly rising drug-related deaths.

Ananya Bhattacharya

Acute work and societal pressures, the constant stress to appear good and groomed, the perpetual strained personal lives – have led and is still leading many to seek refuge in the dark recesses of drugs. The swivelling downward spiral of drugs has claimed many lives in the world of showbiz – both in India and abroad. While in India the menace is still thankfully in its juvenile stage, in the West, numerous talented people have succumbed untimely to the fatal jaws of drugs. Going by the way Hollywood has been robbed off its many talented people in the last few years; the menace of drugs has already crossed alarming levels. The world of showbiz has fallen prey to that many-fanged reality. Drug overdose has become a threat in high pressure jobs like that of actors and musicians. Right from Jimi Hendrix, the person considered by far the best guitarist in the world, to Marilyn Monroe, the woman who redefined the word called ‘glamour’; from Jim Morrison, who stunned the world with his music to Heath Ledger, who stole everyone’s hearts and sleep with that iconic role of The Joker – drugs have claimed many lives in Hollywood. The web of this sickening malaise permeates almost all lives that are unable to cope with the pressure that their schedules subject them to. In the last three years itself, many stalwarts of music and cinema have laid down their lives at the altar of drugs. Michael Jackson, who was administered an overdose of drugs by his physician is a case where the death wasn’t accidental or self-inflicted. Amy Winehouse’s is a case which left people dumbstruck at the sheer starkness of it. At a young age of 27, the trendsetting singer embraced death – thanks to a drug overdose. Her iconic song ‘They tried to make me go to rehab...’ played over and over again in people’s minds and reminded them the irony of the entire scenario. Whitney Houston, the voice behind many hit numbers during the 90s, too, left the world – surrounded by an abundance of drugs and a lack of friends. The year 2012 has already seen a considerable number of drug-related deaths – and we’ve only crossed just half of the year. Time alone knows how many more we’ll lose to that chamber of death, to that sickness called drug addiction. As recently as just a few days back, the world was shaken out of its stupor by the death of another actor-director. Sage Stallone, son of the veteran Hollywood actor Sylvester Stallone and himself quite a famous actor, this too, is thought to be another case of death due to drug overdose. All at the young age of 36, Stallone bade goodbye to the world – thanks to, probably, an overdose of prescription drugs. Investigations are yet to unearth the reason behind the actor’s death, but the most probable conclusion that has been inferred from the evidences thus far, point towards drugs. In the past, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, Brittany Murphy, John Bonham and numerous more have added their names to drug-related death list. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The list, as by now it has been discovered, is endless. And every year, numerous names just keep adding themselves to that list. No one knows when the deadly fist of drugs will unlatch itself from the lives of the people related to showbiz. Whether it is the utter pressure – both personal and professional – or the so-called ‘vogue’ to pass off as ‘modern’ that pushes these talented people to the abyss of drugs will perhaps never be excavated. All that remains once drugs have caught another victim unawares are just memories and prayers. Let the souls rest in peace in a world that is not ravaged by the reason they left this one.