Matthew Perry: one of the greatest comedians of all time who couldn't lose his sadness, abandoning his struggle with God and converting. A prayer request for this poor soul
In today's post we will report the testimony of a (possible) conversion: that of Matthew Perry, recently deceased actor from the comedy series called “ Friends” . Produced 25 years ago and on display to this day, it has received criticism from the "new generations" for being a sexist series, without black actors, fatphobic, etc. There are, additionally, some issues in the series that clash with Christian concepts (related to marriage, characters' habit of using pornographic materials, promiscuity, inappropriate language, among other issues).
This disconnect between comedy series (and films) and Christian teachings is frequent. Its authors claim to want to portray the reality of society as it is and in a comical way. Ok. But should a true Christian watch these contents? No. It's that simple.
In the comedy series, called “Two And a Half Men”, the child actor named Angus T. Jones (playing Jake) who acted in it grew up during the seasons and discovered Christian paths in his church, until he realized his serious mistake before God in participating in this series and asked to leave the recordings (giving up US$ 300,000.00 for the recording of each episode). In his church he said in front of the pulpit: “turn off the television, don't watch this type of series” - generating a repercussion at the time. And the young man concludes in another interview:
“If I'm doing something wrong, I don't want to be here. I don't want to contribute to the enemy's plan... You can't be a truly God-fearing person and be on a television show like that. I know I can't (...). I’m not okay with what I’m learning, what the Bible says and being on that television show.”
Something similar happened in the series “My Wife and Kids”. Close to the second year of recording, Jazz Raycole's mother, who played the child named Claire, removed her from the series as she considered it inappropriate for her age. They put a teenager in her place and kept the contents.
Here, then, we come to the reason for this post: the recently deceased actor Matthew Perry, who played the character “Chandler Bing”. The actor has always struggled with alcohol dependence since he was a teenager and during filming it got worse, in addition to becoming addicted to anesthetics as a result of other physical problems he had. He even reported that he didn't remember recording an entire year of Friends due to memory loss resulting from his dependency.
The famous actor George Cloney, his friend from his youth, heard his friend say at the age of 18: “If I get into a comedy series, I will be the happiest man in the world”. He ended up getting the biggest comedy role in history, but he only sank into his sadness and found no peace, concluded his friend. As he is also a great actor, he reinforces: "success and money do not bring happiness"
Finally, at a certain point, already a millionaire and ultra-famous, Matthew Perry reached rock bottom and there was only one person left to whom he could still turn and get real help, no one else: God . And so he did, crying out to God in an uncontrollable cry, in the midst of shaking (reported in his biography):
“God, please help me. Show me that you are here (...) I started to cry (...) I was crying because for the first time in my life, I felt good. I felt safe, taken care of. Decades of fighting with God, and fighting with life and sadness, everything was being washed away, like a river of pain that fell into oblivion.”
The actor states that at this moment he felt the presence of God, He was there.
Subsequently, he reached a critical life-threatening situation, with a ruptured colon, giving him only a 2% chance of survival. He survived, crediting God: “I have a very close relationship with Him, which helped me a lot”, he concludes. But how much did he actually convert? We have no way of knowing. Were they just brief moments of intense reconciliation with God? We also have no way of knowing. We can only hope for his profound conversion on these occasions, maintaining a solid faith afterwards.
In a certain interview, the actor reports that he would not like to be remembered only for the comedy series in the future, but because he helped people free themselves from their addictions, he would work for that. There wasn't enough time. With this in mind, after his death, they created the Matthew Perry Foundation to help addicts.
This is where our Christian attitude comes in: pray for this poor soul, because this man was great in the eyes of the world, but acting in a series with affronts to Christian precepts (and to whom much has been given, much will be demanded – Luke 12:48) . If he was saved through a sincere conversion and Divine Mercy, we need to pray for the alleviation of his sentences in purgatory. His situation right now could be very serious. Many may have laughed in the past at his performances, but today he may be crying bitterly over Chandler's portrayal... It will be a great Christian thing for us to pray for him.
If everyone who reads this message prays an Our Father and a Hail Mary to Matthew Perry, he will be grateful for all eternity to each one (and who knows, maybe he will make us laugh with jokes truly appropriate to Christian brothers throughout God's millennia and forever and ever!).
Later on, we will report other testimonies from great world names who sought their conversion after their lives went downhill before their eyes, leaving them also to seek, finally, the author of life: Jesus Christ. Follow along.
References: Observador (a), Observador (b), FoxNews, Drop Cultura, Adoro Cinema, SKPop, Música e Cinema, miscellaneous news.