I don't get this - Celebrity deaths

[JenM]

I was never a big Michael Jackson fan, but I know a ton of people who were just devastated by his death, all for a ton of different reasons.

The way I look at it is this: my favorite singer (since the age of 10) is Bruce Springsteen, who is alive and well, still touring, still writing music. I saw him in concert two weeks ago for the 11th time and he told the funniest story about turning 60 last month. Fingers crossed, I'm sure it wasn't my last Springsteen show.

MJ fans? They don't have that. No more concerts, no new music. He's gone.

I just remember leaving that concert two weeks ago thinking how lucky I was that my favorite singer is still around.

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

I cried watching Diana's funeral procession. What really got me was seeing her boys.

Same here...I didn't cry when she died, but that procession had me torn up.
The only "celebrity" I shed a tear for when they died was Tim Russert. I'm a news junkie and he was such a good, fair person. It was a huge shock. I still miss him. Natasha Richardsons death was a hard one to deal with. But no tears. I do, however, make up for it when someone I know personally dies. I have a really hard time with death. I have shed so many tears for friends, loved ones, even pets. So I'm not cold hearted, but I don't really get the whole celebrity crying thing.
I have a feeling when Michael J Fox dies, I will be heartbroken. I love him so much.

 

[rie'smom]

I always wonder if they have lost someone close to them. Once that happens and people know what real grief is, I don't think they would carry on about someone they didn't know. Seriously, if the celebrities were alive, they wouldn't give a rat's behind about these grieiving people.

 

[christineann]

I don't get it either. I also don't get why some celebrities think their acting abilities make them political experts, but that's another story. When Michael Jackson died, someone posted the following comment after the article in our local paper:

"I'm sorry, I must have missed it - did Michael Jackson cure cancer?"

I have much more respect for a teacher, a fireman, a police officer, an EMT, etc.

 

[Sparx]

i cried like a baby when steve irwin died. i grew up watching every show he put out, and i had always dreamed of going to see him at his zoo. so yes, that one hurt me.

thats the only celebrity that ever has.

 

[PolyndianPrincessJes]

I always wonder if they have lost someone close to them. Once that happens and people know what real grief is, I don't think they would carry on about someone they didn't know. Seriously, if the celebrities were alive, they wouldn't give a rat's behind about these grieiving people.

That's assuming these people have families or are close with them. There are a lot of people who don't have real connections.

As for MJ, he was very important to a lot of people, especially in the sense of breaking racial boundaries. He wasn't just a singer to those people.

Not everyone processes emotions the same way. Maybe their excitement at meeting a celeb overwhelms them and all they can do is cry. Perhaps a certain song pulled someone out of depression, so they cry when that musician passed. And some of these people probably do have "issues."

 

[chisnpeke]

I was pretty gutted when Heath Ledger died. All that talent gone and his poor little girl . I got through it though and was happy he got the recognition he deserved for The Dark Knight. I did cry over him and what he could have accomplished.

Michael Jackson dying didn't make me cry because I essentially felt his career was over. I was shocked though. What really did me in was seeing his daughter speak at his funeral. Heartbreaking.

 

[AmazingGrace]

I don't know. I've lost enough real people in my life that I don't want to go through all that with people I'll likely never even meet, let alone form a relationship with.

 

[Skywalker]

I cried for days when Princess Diana died. I felt like someone had stabbed me in the stomach.

But then, she was only a few years older than I was and since I was going to marry someone with a title (okay, so I didn't but that was the whole insane dream and idea so that I could do good works and support charities, and no I didn't actually know anyone eligible with a title but I was in a major fantasy zone when I was young) I just fawned over her wedding.

I loved her as a fan. I saw her in person at Fergie's Wedding and I have pictures! I loved that she did good works both in front of and behind the cameras.

And I am normal, I swear. I don't have a shrine and I didn't send flowers when she died. My hero died and I felt inconsolable. Luckily, my husband understood my sorrow at the time of her death and let me grieve.

But. I did step up my charity giving (both time and money) and still do to this day. I have sapphires in with my wedding diamonds because of her.

So that explains me and Princess Diana.



But I don't get the whole Michael Jackson thing. Maybe he made others feel like how Diana made me feel? Hard to understand that with all of the issues around him, though.

Wow, see, for me it is totally opposite! I remember Princess Diana dying and I remember thinking "gee, that is sad" and then moving on. Same with any other celebrity death from John Lennon to Heath Ledger to whoever else. But then Michael Jackson died and suddenly I was shocked at the depth of sadness I felt. He is the first celebrity I have cried for, and have felt real sadness about. It doesn't really matter if I knew him or not, it just seemed to hit me in the gut. His death just triggered something in me, resonated with me somehow.

It can be a strange and irrational thing, who and what we might connect with and why...who knows what it is.

But I suspect most people who grieve over celebrities are perfectly fine, normal people who are sad over the loss of someone they admired and respected and, in a way, loved. Seems perfectly natural and, actually, really kind of nice, to me. Not to say that some people might take it to the extreme but then again, if there a person that fills some sort of need in your life and then that person is gone...the hole is felt and the pain is real. It is a tribute to them that they could move so many people.

And yes I am very normal and have grieved for people in my real life, and yes that is on a different level, but to me his death is still sad. Not the biggest tragedy of my life, not my all-encompassing thought, but still dang sad.