I know i repeat myself so often, but i have to add my two cents here too. I think Michelle, his family, friends and colleagues felt, despite the pain they were in, the need to pay tribute to him. Gossip rags are still full of mostly false stories about Heath and paying tribute, saying what a great and talented guy Heath was is a wonderful counterpart and everyone who loved and respected him wanted the public to know the positive stuff too. I really don't think it was harder for Jake to pay tribute than it was for his family and the mother of Heath's child. And maybe i agree with atz that i'm rather baffled than disappointed because of the lack of tribute, gesture to a friend and co-star.
And herein lies the gist of some folks' disappointment. We don't know why Jake has remained silent on the subject and when push comes to shove, he doesn't owe anyone anything. But-and it's a big butt (not unlike my own) Jake lives in the public eye, by choice, and employs people to manage his public persona. It is absolutely true that his fan base grew tremendously as a result of Brokeback Mountain, a fact that he was very clear in acknowledging, and that fan base has some cranked out people in it. To issue a statement, and I'm not talking tearful interviews on Oprah, seems to me to be little to do by "his people".
As for his fans, to suggest that his "true fans" aren't judging his actions is showing a lack of understanding of how profoundly some people have been disappointed. I know some people who loved him hard and are pretty broken hearted about this. And whether they (we) knew him or not doesn't minimize or invalidate
their grief.
I don't see this even remotely as an issue of how people handle their grief. Unlike most of us, people in the public eye have staff that manage their PR and are capable dealing with these types of issues. And not to compare his sadness to anyone else that had a relationship with Heath, as MilAn stated others were able to say, or have said, some little word about it. It seems obvious, at least to me, that he deliberately chose not to do this and must have a good reason for it. He has never appeared to be a jerk so I have to give him the benefit of the doubt regarding his actions. I do, however, see it as a blunder in the sense that perhaps his PR people did not anticipate the backlash that would result.
As for why this discussion continues-well, Jake's supporters will continue to feel the need to defend him against perceived attacks to his character and motivation. And that is how it should be.
