Mornin Bitches
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Mornin Bitches
The Dichotomy of Fame: Honoring Matthew Perry's Legacy and Confronting the Struggles of Addiction
Have you ever wondered about the dichotomy of a public figure's life, their sparkling success on screen versus their private struggles? Today's conversation grapples with this paradox as we remember the life and legacy of the late, great Matthew Perry. His comedy genius in the iconic sitcom Friends and his role in Go On left an indelible mark in our hearts, but we also take a hard look at the battles Perry fought off the screen - an unflinching struggle with addiction. In his characters, we saw the reflection of his own life - a blend of resilience and vulnerability, arrogance and self-doubt. We fondly remember the laughter he brought us and the impact he had on our lives.
As we discuss Matthew Perry's unexpected passing, we delve into the findings of the LA County Coroner's Office's investigation. The details of the medical call to Perry's home, the presence of prescription drugs, and the role they might have played in his sudden demise are all explored. In this somber reflection of his life, we also highlight the importance of sobriety, paying tribute to the vital role of Alcoholics Anonymous in the aftermath of Perry's passing. Join us as we navigate the complexities of fame, addiction, and loss, honoring a beloved actor whose life was a testament to the harsh realities of living in the public eye.
MORNIN BITCHES PODCAST
Morning bitches and dolls. Well, it's actually afternoon. If no one told you they love you today, then I love you because you're you. And today's a sad day for me because on Saturday, as I was thumbing through Facebook, I saw an article that said Matthew Perry had died. Of course I didn't believe it. You know, a lot of times on Facebook you see things, you don't believe them. But it turned out to be true and, being a sober person of almost 38 years of sobriety, don't ask me how I done it, because I've stayed sober. I've just done the things that I was told to do by the people who came before me, and I was willing, and willingness was the answer for me. And it also said that he was worth $120 million. So see, money isn't the answer to anything like that sobriety. But I'll read this beautiful article that Mary McNamara wrote in the Los Angeles Times. Matthew Perry's peerless blend of resilience and vulnerability made him a star we could all root for. If only Matthew Perry were here to help us cope with his own death, he would no doubt do it with a joke. You could almost hear the deadpan cadence. See the comically dubious side-eye. I love that side-eye. My cats, petey and Lula Belle. They're always giving me a side-eye.
Speaker 1:A 54-year-old celebrity is found dead at his Los Angeles home in a hot tub. I never liked hot tubs. They're always too hot for me. I can't stand a hot bath and I can't stand hot food. I'm a lukewarm kind of girl. Reportedly, a few hours after playing pickleball what the fuck is pickleball? It's a bowl and a pickle. I don't know what it is. It's everybody's latest thing, except for TikTok puppy. It ain't my thing.
Speaker 1:A year after writing a brutally honest memoir of addiction that opens with hi. My name is Matthew, although you may know me by another name. My friends call me Maddie and I should be dead. Well, anybody in sobriety knows that we all should be dead. How we're still standing here, those of us who have stayed so bright don't have any idea. Okay, only one person could process that kind of ironic tragedy in real time. Only one person could capture the pain and absurdity of it all in a perfectly delivered line or two of Kanye Whitt and now he's gone.
Speaker 1:Comedy may well be tragedy plus time, but Matthew Perry, who died Saturday, was that rare performer who could dispense with the time and convey both simultaneously, which is why he was so easy to love and he was. He became an entertainment icon for his portrayal of Chandler Bing on NBC's Monster Hit Friends. By the way, it's your TikTok bubby's favorite series still Now. The Big Bang Theory came after that, but Friends was my first who, with his perfectly timed peanut gallery commentary let's see where this is. I'm turning the page. Did my husband take the page out? Oh my God. All right, here I found it. Could this be any more awkward? Directly caught in the audience by being both participant and truth teller In an endless series of comedic and at times, emotionally wrenching situations, all the Friends worked through their wacky young adult growing pains, but Perry's performance included an extra level of difficulty.
Speaker 1:It was the deadpan Chandler who regularly acknowledged with vocal subtext the ridiculousness of any given event, his Friends Foybles and his own shortcomings. Until I was 25, I thought the only response to I love you was oh crap. Chandler says at one point I'm not great at advice either. As your TikTok bubby, would you be interested in a sarcastic comedy? Says that another.
Speaker 1:No matter how well it is written, sarcasm is one of the most perilous blades in a performer's toolbox. Without the right level of humanity, it becomes simply ruthless. Without a certain level of ruthlessness, it has no meaning. Perry was the sarcasm ninja, honoring both the bob and the inevitable insecurity that launched it. Few performers can convincingly portray both the arrogance and self-doubt, the resilience and vulnerability that fuels so much of human nature, as well as he did. When I first learned of Perry's death, I thought first no, not of the Friends, but of the short-lived series Go On.
Speaker 1:In 2012 NBC sitcom Perry played Ryan King. I did love that show. A radio sports commentator and recent widower, forced by his force into joining a support group. There goes the siren in the background Another fire in La La Land because of the Santa Rana winds, I bet Okay. King uses humor not as a shield, but as a grappling hook, planting it and replanting it firmly and unintentionally, and denial as he fall into the chasm of loss yawning beyond beneath his dangling feet.
Speaker 1:As he did in Friends, perry managed to build a convincing character out of his opposing forces. His king is quite aware that deflecting pain is not a long-term solution, but it's pain. What thinking person wouldn't want to deflect it? No matter how snarky or self-pitying Perry's character became, it was impossible not to root for them, perhaps because subconsciously, it was Perry we were rooting for.
Speaker 1:The actor had his own excruciatingly personal relationship with pain and deflection. In the 2022 memoir Friends' Love is in the Big, terrible Thing, he wrote unsparingly about his struggles with addiction to alcohol and drug, as well as his need for affirmation and fame. When Friends was at its height, when he was one of the most famous people in the world, earning $1 million in episode, he was either taking huge quantity of opioids or drinking his way through his day, or he was in rehab For years. Any quest of relief inevitably resulted in more pain, physical and emotional. His drug and alcohol abuse led to, among other things, pancreatitis, pneumonia and exploded colon and more than a dozen stomach surgeries. While the book came out, he had been clean and sober for more than a year and had written it in the hopes of helping others who, while seeking external solutions for internal problems, became trapped in cycles of temporary recovery and long-term addiction.
Speaker 1:In 2021, perry made what would be his final television appearance in the much-anticipated Friends' the Reunion. While all of the cast members were obviously old, perry seemed subdued and somehow fragile. The big TV star was barely there. While every star of Friends had been battered to some extent by demands of fame, perry had barely survived it. In the course of conversation at the reunion, he admitted to the constant anxiety he felt while performing on the show, the obsessive need for every joke he told to land, self-loathing and fear he felt when no one did not. His former cast mates, who by all accounts were remarkably supportive and tight-lipped during the years when his addictions became obvious, seemed taken aback, just as they were noticeably moved when he described how, in subsequent years, whenever they would meet each other by chance at a gathering, some time would stop at they sat together to catch up.
Speaker 1:Clips of these moments began circulating on social media after the news of Perry's death broke, and it's impossible not to see how Perry is once again Both a participant in the nostalgic joy of the event and its natural truth teller Greatest time of my life. A shame it almost killed me. This time the sarcasm was all but gone, leaving only the humanity, which was precisely why it was so easy to root for Matthew Perry. He was very talented, deeply funny performer, but more importantly, he was obviously an unapologetically human. Here are the facts, okay, written by Richard Winton.
Speaker 1:Authorities are now at work trying to determine the cause of death for friend star Matthew Perry, who was found dead Saturday at his Pacific Palisades home. He was only 54. Here is what they know about his death. But to know, officials received a medical call from Perry's home, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, around 4 pm Saturday, reporting that the actor was not breathing. The identity of the caller has not been revealed. When paramedics arrived, they found Perry unresponsive in a hot tub. According to enforcement sources, he was pronounced dead at the scene. Do officials have a sense of what happened? No cause of death has been determined. The LA County Coroner's Office has launched an investigation which will probably take months and include toxicology tests. The law enforcement sources said no illicit drugs were found at the home. Well, now they're saying that they found prescription drugs at the home. Los Angeles Police Captain Scott Williams, who leads the robbery homicide division that is investigating Perry's death, said Sunday that the cause of death may not be known for some time, but at this point foul play is not suspected. One law enforcement source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing, said here it is prescription drugs recovered at the home will be part of the review, which is common practice.
Speaker 1:So good night, sweet prince Matthew Perry, you are a human being, you are a love, you are sweet, you are kind, you are funny, but this disease of alcoholism is a killer. And as I come upon my 38th year of sobriety on November 12th, I am grateful, but it's not November 12th yet, so I can't say I'm sober 38 years, but I got sober at 38 years old. In that in 1985, I was 38 years old and about to begin the most incredible journey of my life from having a baby at 36, getting divorced, father dying, grandma dying, mother dying, brother dying, bankruptcies, all sorts of things, success not success, failures not failures, getting married again, married for 20 years. My life has changed immensely and I am so grateful that I have a life today like this. I'm 76 fucking years old, baby, that's right. That's my age and I believe in life and love and I believe in sobriety.
Speaker 1:So if you're struggling to stay sober or to get sober, I hope you'll listen to this, because the only thing I know is life is one day at a time. It doesn't matter how much money you have If you're lonely, not lonely alcoholics, anonymous. For me has been the only way that I have lived and survived for almost 38 years and it's given me a life, they used to say, beyond your wildest dreams and that's the truth. It's been beyond my wildest dreams. And if nobody told you they love you today, your tic-tac-bubby loves you because you're you and I pray you'll love yourself and I pray for all of you.