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When Famous People Die
This question isn't about specific celebrities who have passed this year, but a general question about deceased famous people...
What is it that makes us sad?
Is it the actual death of someone you admire, or is it the impact that their death has upon us?
Obviously the death of a family member would make us grieve more intensely than someone we know of (but don't know personally), so what is it that make us sad?
This question has been prompted by the recent deaths of Patrick Moore and Gerry Andsrson.
Cards on the table - there are a number of celebrities whose deaths would genuinely upset me - but I suspect my grief would be entirely based on selfish reasons...
What is it that makes us sad?
Is it the actual death of someone you admire, or is it the impact that their death has upon us?
Obviously the death of a family member would make us grieve more intensely than someone we know of (but don't know personally), so what is it that make us sad?
This question has been prompted by the recent deaths of Patrick Moore and Gerry Andsrson.
Cards on the table - there are a number of celebrities whose deaths would genuinely upset me - but I suspect my grief would be entirely based on selfish reasons...
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I don't 'do grief'. (According to the shrinks, I've got a high-functioning form of autism so I have no strong emotions. I've never truly grieved for anyone in my life, including my parents, and I know that I never will). However I feel a [slight] sense of loss when someone who has regularly brightened my life dies. For example I was saddened when Alan Coren passed away as I knew that I'd no longer be able to enjoy his witty participation on Radio 4's 'News Quiz' or his columns in The Times.
I fully accept that such a sense of loss is purely 'selfish' and, as an 'outsider' who doesn't really understand 'grief', I see all grief as purely selfish.
I fully accept that such a sense of loss is purely 'selfish' and, as an 'outsider' who doesn't really understand 'grief', I see all grief as purely selfish.
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sometimes it's a feeling of regret that someone whose work I've enjoyed is no longer around, even if he or she was already 150 at the time of death.
Sometimes it's surprise that someone has died young (Lennon, Harrison). It needn't be someone I liked, but it won't be anyone I didn't like and it won't be suicides either (because I tend to respect their wish to go).
I was shocked at Diana's death - and shocked that I was shocked, as I was never that interested in her. But celeb deaths don't usually move me (by celebs I mean people who haven't actually done anything much, like Jade Goody).
I'm not sure that grief is the word for any of this, though. Grief is what I would feel for close friends and family only.
I don't know if those thoughts answer your (rather good) question.
Sometimes it's surprise that someone has died young (Lennon, Harrison). It needn't be someone I liked, but it won't be anyone I didn't like and it won't be suicides either (because I tend to respect their wish to go).
I was shocked at Diana's death - and shocked that I was shocked, as I was never that interested in her. But celeb deaths don't usually move me (by celebs I mean people who haven't actually done anything much, like Jade Goody).
I'm not sure that grief is the word for any of this, though. Grief is what I would feel for close friends and family only.
I don't know if those thoughts answer your (rather good) question.
-- answer removed --
I am typing this deliberately without scanning the already posted responses (as if it's a brand new post).
For me, when I hear about a famous person dying, I think about how much they figured in my life and how much they mean to me.
When Elvis died, I thought "Om err!" I was aware of his massive cultural impact but he didn't mean much to me and I felt less than guilty about laughing at Frank Zappa's take on it. When John Lennon was murdered, I felt more of a pang of loss. When the queen mother died I thought - "well, she was old" and the swan population will increase. I was sad when Jon Pertwee and Spike Milligan died as they were childhood heroes of mine. I wept when Kirsty MacColl was killed and was very sad when Syd barret and Rick Wright died. Going back, I would say the loss of Frank Zappa had one of the biggest impacts on me because I saw him as a unique talent, a 'shaker and mover' and the loss of someone very special.
Aw fuggitt, it's always sad when someone famous dies to whom you attach an importance ...Patrick Moore and Ravi Shankar were biggies. I could go on (no, please dont!)
For me, when I hear about a famous person dying, I think about how much they figured in my life and how much they mean to me.
When Elvis died, I thought "Om err!" I was aware of his massive cultural impact but he didn't mean much to me and I felt less than guilty about laughing at Frank Zappa's take on it. When John Lennon was murdered, I felt more of a pang of loss. When the queen mother died I thought - "well, she was old" and the swan population will increase. I was sad when Jon Pertwee and Spike Milligan died as they were childhood heroes of mine. I wept when Kirsty MacColl was killed and was very sad when Syd barret and Rick Wright died. Going back, I would say the loss of Frank Zappa had one of the biggest impacts on me because I saw him as a unique talent, a 'shaker and mover' and the loss of someone very special.
Aw fuggitt, it's always sad when someone famous dies to whom you attach an importance ...Patrick Moore and Ravi Shankar were biggies. I could go on (no, please dont!)
I'm not sure 'selfishness' is the right word, but there might certainly be a certain self-centered-ness to it. I didn't feel much about Patrick Moore because while I knew who he was, I wasn't that familiar with him - if that makes sense. Neither if I'm honest did I feel particularly strongly about Michael Jackson,who I felt was something of an over-rated clown.
Leslie Nielsen on the other hand, I was genuinely saddened by. I did enjoy Naked Gun/Airplane when I was younger - but my sadness wasn't because I thought there was going to be no more films like that. Corny as it sounds, I was saddened by Nielsen because I felt like he was something of a little ray of sunshine in the world that wasn't there anymore. He was an unashamedly silly, goofy, deadpan presence in the world who only ever wanted to make people smile (and play golf).
In a very different way, I was saddened (though to a lesser extent) by the death of Christopher Hitchens because I felt like he was one of the few journalists around who was actually capable of turning heads and making an interesting argument. I felt like public discourse was a slightly less interesting place without his input.
Leslie Nielsen on the other hand, I was genuinely saddened by. I did enjoy Naked Gun/Airplane when I was younger - but my sadness wasn't because I thought there was going to be no more films like that. Corny as it sounds, I was saddened by Nielsen because I felt like he was something of a little ray of sunshine in the world that wasn't there anymore. He was an unashamedly silly, goofy, deadpan presence in the world who only ever wanted to make people smile (and play golf).
In a very different way, I was saddened (though to a lesser extent) by the death of Christopher Hitchens because I felt like he was one of the few journalists around who was actually capable of turning heads and making an interesting argument. I felt like public discourse was a slightly less interesting place without his input.
A lot of it is nostalgia IMHO. You might remember someone for a famous song they wrote/sung and the impact it had on you or for an actor who played a role you were particularly fond of.
Take Gerry Anderson. How many on here remembered with fondness the sheer excitement and fantasy conjured by him for us as children?
Some are taken tragically and poignantly too, like Kirsty McColl.
As I said, for me it's usually the nostalgia.
Take Gerry Anderson. How many on here remembered with fondness the sheer excitement and fantasy conjured by him for us as children?
Some are taken tragically and poignantly too, like Kirsty McColl.
As I said, for me it's usually the nostalgia.
There's a couple of celebrities who I personally feel will be a loss to us (as in this country/the world) when they die such as Stephen Fry and David Attenborough, particularly the latter who I think is just an awesome human being. I doubt I'll shed a tear for either of them as I do not grieve for people I don't know, but I will certainly think it's a shame.
A celebrity I remember crying over was Roald Dahl, (he was a celebrity to me!) I think they announced it on a saturday morning tv show. He was my favourite author as a child and I adored his books.
A celebrity I remember crying over was Roald Dahl, (he was a celebrity to me!) I think they announced it on a saturday morning tv show. He was my favourite author as a child and I adored his books.
Man’s great enemy has the power to cause death.
“Death . . . is an integral part of our lives, and the belief that death is normal.
But is death really the natural end of life? Not all researchers. For instance, Calvin Harley, a biologist who studies human aging, said in an interview that he does not believe that humans “have a program to die.
So when considering the condition of the dead, we must remember that our original father, Adam, did not want life (Genesis 2:17)
If this to hard to believe? Consider: What is the condition of a human before coming to life? Where were you before the tiny cells from your parents merged to become the living person that you are? If humans possess an invisible entity that survives death, where does that entity reside before conception? The truth is, you have no prehuman existence to remember. Before you were conceived, you did not exist. It is that simple
“Death . . . is an integral part of our lives, and the belief that death is normal.
But is death really the natural end of life? Not all researchers. For instance, Calvin Harley, a biologist who studies human aging, said in an interview that he does not believe that humans “have a program to die.
So when considering the condition of the dead, we must remember that our original father, Adam, did not want life (Genesis 2:17)
If this to hard to believe? Consider: What is the condition of a human before coming to life? Where were you before the tiny cells from your parents merged to become the living person that you are? If humans possess an invisible entity that survives death, where does that entity reside before conception? The truth is, you have no prehuman existence to remember. Before you were conceived, you did not exist. It is that simple
No,the Bible, however, gives us life’s true meaning. It never degrades man, but dignifies him by letting us know the truth about man, that he is a unique, distinct creation, made in the ‘image and likeness’ of God. (Gen. 1:26-28) This fact should move man to cherish life, his own life as well as the lives of others. Man’s outlook is not cramped, with nothing but death in view, as evolutionists teach, but, according to the Bible, is expansive, with everlasting life
The death of someone famous does not make me sad if the death is because of old age, that is part of life.
John Lenons death made me sad, obviously because of the circumstances. That combined with him being relatively young and the fact that I like his music.
I think most people on here who post on a 'RIP' thread are just showing that they had respect for that person rather than they feel sad because of the death.
(even jimmy saviles death drew them in)
John Lenons death made me sad, obviously because of the circumstances. That combined with him being relatively young and the fact that I like his music.
I think most people on here who post on a 'RIP' thread are just showing that they had respect for that person rather than they feel sad because of the death.
(even jimmy saviles death drew them in)
Now this is very interesting. I can totally see what a lot of you are saying, and I agree with those who say that 'grieve' is not quite the right word (and I don't know what word we should use.
I mentioned 'selfish reasons' in my original question, because when Amy Winehouse died, my first thought was "It's sad that she died so young", which was quickly followed by, "...and I didn't even bloody well get to see her singing live".
Which is pretty selfish.
I mentioned 'selfish reasons' in my original question, because when Amy Winehouse died, my first thought was "It's sad that she died so young", which was quickly followed by, "...and I didn't even bloody well get to see her singing live".
Which is pretty selfish.
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