What Philip Seymour Hoffman, as Lester Bangs in Almost Famous, taught us about the world (and the true currency of being uncool)

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzY2pWrXB_0&w=600&h=315]

The death of Philip Seymour Hoffman is certainly tragic, but it shouldn't necessarily be called shocking -- he was in rehab fairly recently. Clearly this was a struggle for him, and the struggle defeated him; it's happened to many others who excelled at their art over time as well. (I'm not…