Why John Belushi Died

To me, the tragic figure in the book is Judy Belushi. A tragedy is when you know not only what was, but what could have been. No matter what she thinks of the Woodward book, for me she comes across in it as a courageous, loving, generous and incredibly patient woman who stood by John as well as she could, who put up with a lot of hell, who did what seemed to be right, and who is not content to have his epitaph read “junkie.”

Yet her behavior toward her husband, as described here, is often an example of “enabling.” Almost all active alcoholics and addicts have “enablers” in their lives — people who make excuses, hold things together, assume the roles of bodyguard, parent, nurse, accountant, and alibier. Enabling is obviously done out of love — usually out of a deep and stubborn love that refuses to admit defeat. But groups such as Al-Anon, the organization for friends and associates of alcoholics, argue that the best thing an enabler can do is stop enabling.

Judy tried that on occasion, threatening John with divorce as a last resort. Unfortunately, her battle was not only against her own enabling but also against the army of enablers that flocked around Belushi in the years of his fame. This was possibly the most enabled man of his generation. The angriest pages in Woodward’s generally dispassionate book are devoted to the friends, fans, agents, producers, employers, groupies and general scum who competed with each other to supply Belushi with drugs.