Some recent studies suggest that Trump Derangement is taking on the characteristics of mental illness. That shouldn’t surprise anyone who isn’t suffering from it, and this latest example should go into the research files.
Anne Schedeen was one of those moderately successful, fungible and forgettable actresses who can most charitably described as a “working professional.” When a sitcom role that has you starring as a puppet’s protector—Alf was an illegal alien from outer space who had crash-landed in a family’s garage, and Schedeen played the mother in the family that helped keep him secret from government authorities—-is your most famous credit, you will not get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But upon her death at 77, Schedeen’s family thought it appropriate to virtue-signal to their fellow Trump Haters by issuing this tribute:
“She leaves behind an extraordinary legacy of creative energy, whip smart humor, delight in her family, adoration for little dogs, burning hatred for Trump, passion for second-hand thrifting, and love for a good story. We are bereft without her. We loved her so so much, as did all who met her.”
That, my friends, is insane. Variety, meanwhile, the so-called bible of the entertainment trade, didn’t have to put that feature in the statement in its headline, but did. None of the other outlets reporting the death thought that weird section was any more worthy of highlighting than Anne’s “passion for second-hand thrifting,” because it isn’t. Variety’s typical reader, however, is just as insane as Anne Schedeen.
I cannot imagine any previous President being used in this manner. Being noted for hatred of anything as a life highlight is hardly impressive; to me, that headline demonstrates what a wan career Schedeen had. No, she was never in a successful movie, never had a big role, never was nominated for an Oscar or Emmy, BUT she did hate the President of the United States, so there’s that.
The family might as well have pointed out that she won an award in the fourth grade for an essay about her goldfish. Having one’s family hurl your hatred at a President from beyond the grave is hardly as impressive as Ahab screaming at Moby Dick right before the Whaie Whale drags him down, “Thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee!” Ahab was nuts, but at least he wasn’t mad at Moby for mean tweets and enforcing immigration laws.
The family and Variety using the death of a minor actress to spit at the President, however, is a sad, foolish madness.
Ethics Alarms 
Her family is cringe as hell.
“The family might as well have pointed out that she won an award in the fourth grade for an essay about her goldfish.”
Spot on.
The saying is, “Never speak ill of the dead”. Makes sense. They can’t defend themselves. There’s a thing known as decorum. There are exceptions: I will speak ill of Hitler, Vlad the Impaler and Charlie Manson til my own dying day.
But can the dead speak ill of the living? EA has handled political messaging in obituaries , dishonest obituaries and obituaries used by survivors to attack other family members. I really think the Variety headline is a new low in death announcements.
By all accounts, the shooting of “ALF” was a pain in the neck and Schedeen appears to have taken the role without believing that a stupid show about an alien puppet would last. Full disclosure: I watched “ALF” when it aired. I loved it. I was also a kid.
Nevertheless, sometimes a part an actor underestimates ends up becoming the tomato that hits the wall and sticks. Schedeen never had a starring role in another series after “ALF” and the show is what she’s best remembered for.
A 77-year life reduced to one four-year role and her hatred of the President of the United States who has been in elected office for less than 1/8th of her existence. I understand that her most prominent role would be included. That’s par for the course for celebrities. I think this is the first time a death notice has headlined a decedent’s hatred of a politician, though. Defining someone’s life, in any part, by who that person hated is a particular kind of pettiness. An unhealthy vindictiveness that cannot be seen by any sane person as reasonable. How sad that someone spent the last ten years of her life with a burning hatred of anything.
Who do we blame for this?
We don’t know if Ms. Schedeen herself requested her family’s statement include it. She might have. It seems to me, though, that this is just information the family wanted the world to know. They must have known, if they have any experience with the media and the entertainment industry, that her hatred of Trump would be prominently noted. Is it ethical to include in death statements information that you know will subsume the person who’s died?
The news media is certainly to blame for taking one blip in a family statement and using it to bash the President. Could not they have titled the headline, “’ALF’ Star Anne Schedeen Dies at 77: Family Remembers Her Love of Little Dogs”? Of course, they could have. But her burning hatred of Trump was just too irresistible to omit!
Essentially, the headlines make her life (and death) about Trump. They could not have done that without a family statement that made sure to mention him. The Left loves pretending that Trump is fixated on this person or that person, but the truth is that so many on their end let him live rent-free in their heads. Trump Derangement takes many forms. There is virtually no article online about any topic in which someone in the comments doesn’t toss shade at Trump.
Is this what we have to look forward to? When Mr. De Niro dies, will we see headlines that give Trump Foe equal billing with Oscar Winner? Long after Mr. Trump leaves office, these headlines will still be here. I wonder what future Americans, looking back on this time, will think about people who hated the President so much that their families made sure the world knew it when they died? How bizarre are the times in which we live.
By no means do I believe in ghosts, but I think I will make sure my family knows that, if any announcement of my death includes the word hatred in any capacity, I will haunt the guilty party in perpetuum.