R.I.P. Natasha Bedingfield 1963-2009

An in-depth look at all of the hoopla following the death of the late actress. These are tough times for fans, friends and family … but we gotta get thru this.

This started out as a simple comment on Lauren’s post about the death of actress Natasha Richardson. It slowly snowballed into a full on analysis of this tragic ordeal – both the causes and effects, chock full of theory and screencap. While some may feel the following content to be inappropriate, too soon and insensitive, consider that Natasha herself joked about her ski fall moments after. I’m sure she’d want us to keep the joke alive. You may be wondering to yourself at this point, “Who is Natasha Richardson?”

Before this week, I myself had never heard of her – and I know everybody. I assumed that a good majority of the public didn’t know her as well. Upon examining her IMDb page, I expected to find a large jump in her popularity due to all the media coverage - what I found was quite the contrary. Her STARmeter percentage had DECLINED 5% this week. WTF? She either must’ve been super duper popular all along or perhaps death is factored into the STARmeter calculations. I won’t dare question the methodologies of IMDb, for it is practically scripture.

Oddly enough the 2002 romantic comedy Maid In Manhattan, which starred Richardson, enjoyed a whopping 25% increase in popularity this week. One can safely assume this is directly linked to the passing of Richardson and not the timeless endurance of a film that ranks in at 4.6 out of 10. This issue raises the question, “Who stands to benefit from the death of a beloved actress?” Past co-stars, DVD merchants, and a slew of other slimey creatures. Could there have been a conspiracy? Some think this to be so.

Conspiracy Theories Abound

There has a been much chatter surrounding the accident itself, the treatment afterwards and the subsequent “death.” Some question the claims of Richardson being brain-dead, and whether she was pulled off life support or died a natural death. Others believe there were malignant tendencies exhibited by the ski resort, for not requiring the use of helmets. Some claims go much further than that, such as the one made by conspiracy theorist Carlo Montagnino. “Not for nothing, I think Liam had her killed,” he says. He questions the possibility of incurring such an injury on a beginner’s slope, with or without a helmet.

While the last theory does have some merit (Neesons STARmeter went up 6%), this author has his own theories, best summed up by the image below. Regardless of what we think happened, the fact remains that a husband has lost his wife, sons have lost their mother, and I lost a bet – that it was Natasha Bedingfield who died. Below you will find reviews of her final performance.

The Critics Have Spoken

• The NY Times calls Natasha Richardsons Death “epidural” and “tragic”
• Vin Forte of LOLRadiohead.com says the role was “deserved”
• “Keep my seat warm Nat, I’ll be there soon” says Patrick Swayze
• The Daily News hails it as “..f…un….ny”
• “..considering making helmets mandatory.” -The Boston Globe

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