Brittany Murphy Dies… Is Hollywood “Clueless” or Just in Denial???

21st December 2009

Brittany Murphy Dies… Is Hollywood “Clueless” or Just in Denial???

posted in Author, Greta, Personal |

I was so busy running around in preparation for Christmas yesterday, that I didn’t even know that actress Brittany Murphy died of “natural causes.” My first reaction is utter shock. For years, tabloids have rumored that the actress has had anorexia, and the fact that she died of a cardiac actress seems to support such rumors. I don’t know if it is because she’s close to my age or if it is because I love her as a comedic actress. In any case, my mentality–which, even in recovery, still vacillates daily between wanting to be unconcerned with weight and wanting to be not-anorexic-but-just-thin-enough (whatever that means)–has just received a huge dose of reality.

Within a few months of moving back to NYC, I accidentally lost quite a bit of weight, because I went from driving everywhere to walking everywhere. It just happened, really. This triggered my anorexic mindset, which has not been present for years. While I like how I look and don’t ever want to look “sick” again, my mind has become obsessed with the possibilities of losing more. What can I say? It takes years in recovery to recover from the ED mindset… at least for me.

My point in mentioning this, and why I am so shocked by Brittany Murphy’s death, is that the ED can kill you (or me) when one least expects it. You’re eating a little less here, exercising a bit more there, and then, oops, you accidentally kill yourself. Honestly, I didn’t mean to send myself into cardiac arrest… I was just trying to fit into my skinny jeans. Now I know, obviously, that there is so much more behind EDs than trying to look good in clothes. But, a notion as innocent as wanting to try to look good in an outfit or feel more comfortable in your own skin can actually be deadly. While my playing around with food is at a manageable or even “normal” degree, if I let it continue, which will eventually shift my behavior to a status of unhealthy and unmanageable, this could potentially happen to me.

Now, we don’t know the specifics of Brittany Murphy’s “death by natural causes”–the ED rumors have not been medically confirmed. We never received confirmation of an ED on rail-thin Michael Jackson either… but that doesn’t mean he, nor Brittany, didn’t have one. I’m not trying to scapegoat Hollywood, but the ridiculous standards that celebrities have to maintain if they want to continue to gain employment is just that–RIDICULOUS. How many more celebs have to die? When is Hollywood, and society, going to learn that public figures and celebrity role models need to start resembling real people, instead of real people trying to fit into these unrealistic and life-threatening ideals? Now, I know that we all make choices; but, at the end of the day, most people want to feel like they fit somewhere in the world. Hollywood anorexic iconography in the human form just doesn’t help and needs to stop.

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1 On December 21st, 2009, Sandy said:

I had this same thought…and I have to say I got infuriated. Mainly because the few movies I had seen her in (I loved her in Uptown Girls) she was really REALLY thin…like no muscle tone…so to me she had an eating disorder. Yet, she died of “natural causes”. However, if someone heavier died of a heart attack, they would have died of obesity. While they may not say, “Joan Doe died of obesity” they would make a point to say, “the 250lb woman died of cardiac arrest”.

I feel sorry for her family and I really enjoyed the few movies I have seen her in…but until people wake up and realize it isn’t all about your weight these things will always happen.

I am waiting to hear the “well at least she wasn’t fat” argument…

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 11:35 am

2 On December 21st, 2009, Sandy said:

Just a news story relating to her weight…

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34503906/

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 11:47 am

3 On December 21st, 2009, Greta said:

Thanks Sandy. I still can’t believe it. Greta

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 11:49 am

4 On December 21st, 2009, Rachel said:

@Greta: I was contemplating posting on this same issue this morning only to see that you beat me to it. Great minds and all…

While it may be a bit premature to speculate on whether or not Brittany’s death was related to what appears to be (according to those who knew her) a very dramatic weight loss, I don’t think it’s at all inappropriate to discuss the dangers that drastic weight loss and/or eating disorders can have on the heart. And you don’t have to be eating disordered for a drastic weight loss to cause heart problems. Remember Samantha Clowe? She was the British woman who went on LighterLife (a liquid starvation diet) and died of a heart attack thought to be brought on by the diet program.

I was morbidly obese when my disorder began, so although I lost 175 pounds in a year, my BMI never dipped below “average” weight standards. Even so, I developed a heart condition called mitral valve prolapse in which the valve between two of the heart’s chambers doesn’t close properly and allows for blood leakage back into the chamber. I was very fortunate — mine is a non-lifethreatening condition and only requires an annual visit to my doctor each year for monitoring — but nonetheless it is a condition I will have for the rest of my life. I was certified as an EMT about 12 years ago, so during my eating disorder I monitored my heart rate and pressure and such. I was constantly amazed by just how very little my heart was beating — at one time, my heart rate was a sluggish 50-something beats per minute. I also remember sitting at my desk at work, clutching my chest, thinking that I was dying because my heart would skip beats and then surge ahead like a racehorse only to then lose count and then struggle to catch back up. Even after I had regained some of the weight and was only semi-eating disordered, I still felt fluttering palpitations to the point where I had to wear a heart monitor for one week. If I had an episode, I pushed a button to record it and then called a special 800 number and played back the loop for the operator to record. A doctor later looked at the readout and then reported his/her findings back to my doctor. I was 26.

We don’t yet know what caused Brittany’s heart attack, but I’m sure being “painfully thin” didn’t help her condition.

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 12:28 pm

5 On December 21st, 2009, Rachel said:

…she was really REALLY thin…like no muscle tone…so to me she had an eating disorder. Yet, she died of “natural causes”. However, if someone heavier died of a heart attack, they would have died of obesity. While they may not say, “Joan Doe died of obesity” they would make a point to say, “the 250lb woman died of cardiac arrest”.

Exactly. And that’s one of the problems with statistics. When I went on the Fox morning show last year, MeMe Roth trotted out the statistic that only 200 people die from anorexia each year while some umpteen thousands die from obesity. Yes, anorexia is statistically rare among women and especially men, but “anorexia” is also never listed as a cause of death on a death certificate. Most with anorexia who die from the condition die from heart attacks — not starvation — and that is what is listed on the death record. Yet people like MeMe Roth look at the statistics and while they extrapolate obesity from those records of fat people who died from heart conditions, they don’t necessarily extrapolate “eating disorder” from those records of thin people who die from heart conditions. The stats are all selective depending on what agenda you’re pushing.

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 12:35 pm

6 On December 21st, 2009, Ashley said:

I know she had weight issues, but I’m not going to insinuate if weight had anything to do with her death. It may have, it may not have. It’s been reported that she had flu-like symptoms for a few days before her death as well. I think we should wait until we hear about the autopsy result before we assume anything.

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 1:55 pm

7 On December 21st, 2009, Samantha said:

“You’re eating a little less here, exercising a bit more there, and then, oops, you accidentally kill yourself. Honestly, I didn’t mean to send myself into cardiac arrest… I was just trying to fit into my skinny jeans.”

Reminds me of a part in Marya Hornbacher’s Wasted:

“The anoretic sets out to lose ten pounds, then says, well maybe fifteen. Loses fifteen & says twenty, loses the twenty, says thirty, loses the thirty, says forty, loses the forty & dies. Oops. She hadn’t really meant to die. She just wanted to see what would happen. Wanted to see how far she could go. And then couldn’t quite bring herself to break the fall.”

Whether or not she died of an eating disorder is in the air for me, it is a definite possiblity.

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 10:20 pm

8 On December 21st, 2009, SJ Reidhead said:

I told my mother they would never admit she had an eating disorder that killed her.

SJR

posted on December 21st, 2009 at 10:33 pm

9 On December 22nd, 2009, Alyssa (The 40 year-old) said:

MeMe Roth has an ED. There’s no way she will EVER admit to it, or change her tune. Unless she has a serious health scare.
She shouldn’t be a spokeperson for ANYTHING, but particularly for a healthy lifestyle!

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 12:34 am

10 On December 22nd, 2009, Carolyn said:

THANK YOU! I am so very glad to read this post.

I found myself more than disturbed by Brittany Murphy’s death. The oddly quite media (did it even make yahoo’s homepage?) and then they started trotting out the “she seemed spacey – it must be DRUGS!” trope. When I told my husband about the whole “spacey behavior” junk the first thing he said was I bet she didn’t eat enough for her brain to even function. At the time we were looking at some movie photos of her on IMDB.com. I felt infuriated that it seemed no one in the media was acknowledging the possibility that an ED could have led to Cardiac arrest. Or that her dramatic weight loss left her immunity compromised, hence the recent reports of her being very ill. She also had type 2 diabetes – can you imagine the headlines if she had been a normal weight or god forbid plus size actress who had type 2 diabetes and died of cardiac arrest?

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 9:06 am

11 On December 22nd, 2009, Ashley said:

I think it’s disrespectful to assume anything before the autopsy. As if her family isn’t going through enough…the media or the public have no right speculating drugs, an ED or anything at this point. The point is, we are not her, and we don’t know her or what happened to her. Just leave it alone for now.

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 10:26 am

12 On December 22nd, 2009, All Women Stalker said:

I didn’t know she was rumored to be anorexic…. Maybe that explains the cardiac arrest.

I can relate to how it is about recovering from an ED. I don’t think that I have totally recovered. Sometimes, the ED thoughts sneak up on me. Lately, it’s been a lot of times. My only defense is to continue to make healthy choices despite what the voices in my mind tell me.

-Denise

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 10:50 am

13 On December 22nd, 2009, Rachel said:

I think it’s disrespectful to assume anything before the autopsy.

It’s speculative, for sure, but I don’t think the more general discussion of the ways in which eating disorders affect health and in particular, cardiac health, is inappropriate given the nature of this forum.

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 12:18 pm

14 On December 22nd, 2009, hollyne said:

I thought the same thing when I heard about here, especially when I heard there was a lot of vomit (though I don’t know if that can happen when you die). I felt so sad because I loved her as a comedic actress!

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 5:33 pm

15 On December 22nd, 2009, Alex said:

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with speculating about her weight being related to her death. 32-year olds don’t just drop dead from a heart attack unless something is going on. This is mysterious and unsettling, and certainly worth discussing, especially on an eating disorder-related forum.

She’s also one of those actresses that’s looked particularly frail and unwell throughout the latter years of her career, not someone who’s always been lithe and small.

And, as Rachel pointed out, it’s more a discussion of Hollywood’s (and society’s) pushing eating disorders and related health concerns under the rug.

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 7:55 pm

16 On December 22nd, 2009, Rachel2 said:

I don’t even know where to begin on this one. Oy.

posted on December 22nd, 2009 at 8:32 pm

17 On December 23rd, 2009, Kristie said:

32-year-olds can and do drop dead of heart attacks. I know the widows of several who did just that, and in many, if not most cases, nothing was going on; no one even knew they were at risk until they died. We think that only the old and infirm or those engaging in what we think are dangerous activities like drugs and hang-gliding die, and it serves our fear of death to believe that, but it’s just not true. Whatever the causes for Ms. Murphy’s death, you may disabuse yourself of the notion that stuff like this never just happens out of the blue. It absolutely does; we just hate to believe it.

posted on December 23rd, 2009 at 1:26 am

18 On December 23rd, 2009, Alex said:

I do believe that 32 year olds randomly die of heart attacks on occasion, but in the case of someone who is drastically underweight and strung out (and wasn’t always that way) it seems overwhelmingly likely that it was not a freak accident.

I think what really bothers me is the media’s reluctancy to address this issue. This is a woman who has clearly struggled with her weight, and her struggle shouldn’t be something shameful or blame-worthy. Eating disorders can and do kill. Whether her disorder directly killed her or not, it certainly had to have been a contributing factor to her untimely death.

posted on December 23rd, 2009 at 12:57 pm

19 On December 23rd, 2009, Melissa said:

Just wanted to say that in terms of 32 year olds dying suddenly of heart attacks, it isn’t common. It happens, but when you compare it to the usual age of people who have heart attacks it’s very low, and is usually not the result of natural causes (although it can be!)
It’s sad that there is the possibility is drugs or eating disorders, but I do think when there is loss and pain people don’t want to see the reality of the situation, or can’t deal with it.
In Hollywood the reality of what Rachel as posted is all too common. We’re not talking about a 32 year old average person who seemed to have no health problems. We’re talking about a 32 year old whose professional environment is filled with all these destructive behaviors!

posted on December 23rd, 2009 at 8:05 pm