Unless you live under a rock, you could not avoid being blitzed by the media over the death of Phil Hartman. In the media's defense, take note here reader- I won't do this often, Phil's death was shockingly unexpected and bizarre in its circumstances. That makes big news, good and bad. We live with it.
But in all the hoopla and fanfare for Phil, all the reports on Brynn's alcohol and drug use, and the lack of any reports on the surviving children's welfare, I found one subject disturbingly missing. The possible psychological reasons behind Brynn's decision to kill her husband and then herself.
There were hints of those reasons from the many celebrity friends and soon-to-be celebrity neighbors, but as usual, no reason behind the reason coverage. There is plenty of piety being dished out over the age-old evils of drug use and alcohol abuse but nothing as to why a person might be using these chemicals so heavily and why she felt this was the choice she had to make in the end.
Like most big news, this story hit the airwaves early with few fragmented facts and lots of baited rumors and as time progressed, evolved into an even stranger story. As of this writing, it still evolves so.
The first report I heard had the police responding to a possible scene of gunfire and finding a man dead, who was possibly Phil Hartman, shot by an interupted burgler. The next report, police found two men dead, one probably Phil Hartman, the other unidentified in what was being called "a possible murder/suicide." Then a report of the Hartman children's rescue during the murder, prompting, what would later be referred to as "another case of police negligence", the suicide of Brynn Hartman.
Now, after time and plenty of "candid" interviews, we know that Brynn had first shot her husband, definately identified as Phil Hartman, then drove over to a long-time friend's, telling him what she had done. She had seemed to him- "dazed or drunk"- but returned to her house with her after seeing a gun in her handbag. There, he found Phil dead and called the police. With the arrival of the police, Brynn Hartman shot herself as they carried the Hartman children from the house. The police found Brynn's body on the bed next to the husband she'd shot in his sleep. Officials await toxicology reports on Brynn Hartman.
From interviews, we know that Brynn Hartman had a drinking problem. We know she had been through recovery programs for both drug and alcohol abuse. We also know that she had a temper and that the Hartman's were having marital problems. Phil Hartman is decribed as having been insular and a man who kept his feelings to himself.
These interviews also tell of heated arguements and nightly pleadings on Brynn's part for her husband to talk with her. These arguements were supposedly seldomly resolved and Phil would often go to bed leaving his wife angry and frustrated. In the end, she felt she had found her solution, one she had to make all by herself.
It is hard for me to believe that Phil Hartman, who seemed possessed of the high intelligence and excellent observations of people that are required of good comedians, could have missed the warning signs. And there were warning signs. That's what repeated drug and alcohol abuse are. That's what frequent arguements are. That's what turbulent, sometimes public, flashes of temper are. That's what any probable number of unguessed at private events in the Hartman home are.
So questions are begged, why weren't these and possibly other warning signs heeded? Why, if so many other people outside of the relationship knew of these warning signs- and people with plenty of resources, by the way- , wasn't Brynn given the help she obviously needed? What happened to Brynn Hartman?
It is discouraging to me that in a society in which the Hartman's lived with the enormous number of resources at their discretion, that this kind of tragedy should occur. What does this say for the rest of us without these advantages? Hopefully, that we are, at least, a little more in touch with those we have relationships, no matter how casual, and that no matter the obstacles that may present themselves, we will find the aid and comfort that must have been so desperately needed by Brynn Hartman.
I am Raze Kainne and this is my opinion.
June 04,1998
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