GARY COLEMAN PASSES AWAY

I'm a child of the eighties so I grew up watching Different Strokes and Gary Coleman. I also got to watch as his star faded and he became the target of ridicule and the punch line of jokes. That's what we do as a society, we suck the balls of people on top and then stomp those same nuts when they're flat of their back. Coleman suffered a lot of humiliation between Different Strokes and his passing from a head injury. Granted some of his behavior was bizarre and he had a problem laughing at himself but with everybody clamoring to take shots it's easy to see why.

I loved Different Strokes as a kid and really liked Gary Coleman. I saw the movies he did during his time on top including Scouts Honor where he played a dedicated boy scout, On The Right Track where he played a street kid with a knack for picking winning horses (I dug the whole idea of living in a locker at that age) and the Playing With Fire movie about being a fire bug. What can I say, I thought Coleman was funny and he had the adventures I wanted to have as kid.

Coleman's problems with the law and most of his behavior can be traced back to how fucked he was once Different Strokes ended. I know a little something about having fame ripped from you and how fucked up and awful people you thought cared about you can be. I had about a zillionth the public eye tenor that Coleman had and I found the post-fame road seriously harsh to walk down. I can't imagine Coleman's life having to swim those waters from his parents fucking him over to the pot shots he had to stand.

When I couldn't get a job post MTV I ended up working for Whole Foods. Part of my job was to work behind the deli counter and every so often I had to deal with the snickers and comments from somebody who recognized me. It was all I could do not to kill them or myself and like I said that's nothing compared to what Coleman had to sit through. It doesn't seem like Coleman ever got past the loss of his career and that's sad because it means he spent the last twenty years or more hating life. I was lucky I had a few friends that stayed close and a mom who was always there, I kinda wish Coleman had been able to have that.

Now we get to watch the sycophantic scum in Hollywood pretend they cared and pretend how shocked they were that Coleman died. That's pretty fucking disgusting but it's typical for the society we live in. I hope now Gary Coleman has the peace the so eluded him in this life.