Headline du jour. Apparently murder is an occupational risk of being an actress.

CNN has this story up on their front page, a Santa Monica cold case involving a young would-be actress found murdered in March 2008. Fair enough, hope they catch the murderer, but the headline reads "Slain actress found dark side of Hollywood dream". Really? First of all, how many young women who come to Hollywood to be a star actually end up being murdered, Black Dahlia style? I'm guessing very few, especially if you don't count those who end up in the seedier acting venues and/or prostitution (of course, I presume not all that many fall into that category either).

Second of all, I'd wager than being murdered in your own home is pretty much the 'dark side' of any situation. And really, if she had been an auto mechanic who was murdered in her shop, would the headline read 'slain auto mechanic found dark side of car repair'? Or how about 'slain college co-ed found dark side of educational pursuits'? Oh, here's one... 'lost Challenger astronauts found dark side of interplanetary space travel'. I could do this all day, but I think I'll quit while I'm ahead. Yeesh.

Scott Mendelson