R.I.P. Jang Ja-Yeon (장자연)

Another suicide in what seems to be a continuing wave of Korean celebrities taking their own lives.

Jang Ja-Yeon (장자연, sometimes spelled Jang Ja-Yun) was born on December 8, 1982. She's six months younger than me, and I am nowhere near ready to die.

























She is most famous for the TV role that she was in during the time of her death, the hugely popular "Boys Over Flowers" (꽃보다 남자).

Jang Ja-Yeon hanged herself in her house on March 7, to be discovered by her sister (some reports say she was discovered by a friend) just a few hours later.

She was apparently depressed because of various aspects of her job and all the harrassment that comes with sudden stardom. Her parents were killed in a car accident about 10 years ago, which probably led to all sorts of problems (she was 16, an impressionable age). She and her sister and brother had all reportedly been living together since their parents' untimely death.

It has to have been a terrible blow to her siblings. The three of them only had each other. They were the only ones that could empathize with one another. To suddenly lose one more member of their family...

How much of these celebrity suicides can be blamed on the culture? How much more blame can be placed on the media? The critical netizens? The crushing pressure to conform?

It's horrible to feel that death is the only option when there is counseling to be had, alcohol to drink, songs to be sung, family to fight with, anti-depressants to try.
























The life of a celebrity doesn't seem like it's worth living lately. I wish people would prove me wrong.