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Besides the obvious, why would the average person be saddened when a celebrity dies at an old age? PIck someone like Andy Griffith or Doris Roberts. Many times, these are actors whom we haven't seen for decades, yet as soon as they pass away, we are saddened. It isn't like they are a part of our daily life. We don't know them at all. Is it just that their death is a reminder that many people we "grew up" with are dying so we are going soon? I don't think there a mechanism inside of us that feels bad if any anonymous person dies because I rarely am saddened when I pass a funeral home with people hanging around outside. I do feel bad for the survivors but not for the unknown deceased person. However, many are sad for the deceased actor.
Has anyone else ever even thought of this or am I thinking too much?
Whenever I hear about a celebrity that I like dies I feel like it's a shame but I'm not particularly sad. I may be a bit wistful but that's about the extent of it.
When I see people on TV crying their eyes out over celebrity deaths (like Prince) who never even met him--that completely perplexes me. That level of grief should only be reserved for loved ones in my opinion and I don't know why someone would make themselves upset over a celebrity who never even knew they existed. Perhaps it's all about the drama.
Besides the obvious, why would the average person be saddened when a celebrity dies at an old age? PIck someone like Andy Griffith or Doris Roberts. Many times, these are actors whom we haven't seen for decades, yet as soon as they pass away, we are saddened. It isn't like they are a part of our daily life. We don't know them at all. Is it just that their death is a reminder that many people we "grew up" with are dying so we are going soon? I don't think there a mechanism inside of us that feels bad if any anonymous person dies because I rarely am saddened when I pass a funeral home with people hanging around outside. I do feel bad for the survivors but not for the unknown deceased person. However, many are sad for the deceased actor.
Has anyone else ever even thought of this or am I thinking too much?
Here's a theory...
Advertisers have gotten so adept at making us think certain things and feel certain ways that we do feel like we know a celebrity after they pass, especially if we were fans of any of their shows. It's sad that those emotions can't focus on where they belong. Like the lady with too many cats, dogs, or dolphins, perhaps America has become a nation of very lonely emotionally bankrupt people, or perhaps at least enough of us are like that at some point that the death of a favorite celebrity feels a little like the death of a close friend.
The solution to this in this day and age would be complicated, because advertisers have to create real emotional connections through artificial means to get us to buy products. Maybe if the U.S. companies had another way of funding themselves that didn't depend on commercialism and the consumer, we would have a bit of luck escaping these false connections, but, as it stands, fandom is instilled into us as children. In my opinion, though, these messages can have a lasting effect on our self-esteem, and we certainly should not internalize them. Unfortunately, though, since many children and adults use television as an escape from reality and something to curb loneliness, the actors on television often are our first and most enduring friends, friends who tell women they are too fat, friends who hate the "weird lonely kid," and friends who encourage us to try new and, sometimes dangerous, things. These are the kinds of people we are taught to emulate and forced to trust, all while being conditioned that the real people in our lives are "boring," "old-fashioned," "lame," "not current," and "unfriendly."
Besides the obvious, why would the average person be saddened when a celebrity dies at an old age? PIck someone like Andy Griffith or Doris Roberts. Many times, these are actors whom we haven't seen for decades, yet as soon as they pass away, we are saddened. It isn't like they are a part of our daily life. We don't know them at all. Is it just that their death is a reminder that many people we "grew up" with are dying so we are going soon?
I am not all that saddened when someone I watched on a television show for a number of years passes away, even those that I liked more than most of their contemporaries. If the particular person had a flair for comedy and provided many laughs like Doris did for her fans, I am grateful for the memories and think about the episodes that really made me smile.
On a more realistic note, it also serves as a reminder (and not in a depressing way), that mortality is the inevitable end result of the life cycle. Therefore, we should enjoy all that we have and not take anything for granted.
The irony of it all is, though, that advertisers usually don't give us good things or expose us to good emotions. Think about it. In the 90s, they taught us it was okay to bully, with shows that glorified female aggression. In the early 2000s, they turned blood sport television into something normal with the inaptly titled "reality show." I'm interested to see how the children who were born during the YouTube era turn out. It at least feels like the messages being transmitted aren't as damaging there, because many of the people are at least willing to get real with their audiences. Unfortunately, for YouTube bloggers, it seems to have evolved into a contest of who can collect the most reps for silly statements, and kids have different tastes in what is popular than adults; that is for sure. With the power to post anything on the internet comes an increased risk of cyber-bullying and internet abuse, but as long as all parties involved are responsible; it's better, I think, than what we had in the past when advertisers had full control of most media.
Because they, or what they represented via their acting or singing or whatever, were part of our own experiences. They may have been part of our growing up period, or carry with their songs/acting memories of when we went to college, or met our spouse, or used to play SPUD until dark in the summers out in the street.
We're mourning an overall loss of our own pasts when we mourn celebrities (i.e. people we didn't actually "know" as people - when we do actually know the person, obviously, we mourn that person).
When people say "it's the end of an era" following the death of a celebrity that is exactly what they mean. The passage of time is daunting enough and the death of an icon can really drive that home for some of us. That person has "always been there" or else was there for a significant amount of time, and now s/he's gone...it's sobering.
And finally, if it was a truly talented individual, we observe and understand that a person exactly like that person will probably never come again. Similar maybe. Or perhaps even better. But exactly like? Philosophically we tend to believe that all people have at least SOME differences. So that's sobering too. And yes, of course it's a little sad.
If the celebrity is someone I followed at a crucial time in my life, then I do feel a shock of sadness, but I have to admit, I don't linger over the feeling. I am "sad" whenever I hear that anyone has died.
Many of us can remember our youth or other pivotal times in our lives when we were quite aware of certain prominent entertainers. Losing them is a sort of reminder that we ourselves have grown older and are no longer young.
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