Papabear - I’ll give it my half-assed attempt in trying to explain the JFK Jr and Princess Diana coverage compared to the deaths of unknowns.
Using an example on a much smaller scale, I will give a situation in my own life to make my point.
My mother worked with a woman named Helen for many years. I had never met Helen but I I had heard stories about her sense of humor and the pranks she used to pull on co-workers. I heard about the time her son wrecked her truck so my mother had to take her to work during the week it was in the shop. I saw a photo of her daughter in the marriage section of the newspaper.
One day, while driving home from visiting her daughter, she was hit in a head on collision and died instantly.
Death #2 - One of the guys I carpool with drove his truck last week. He said that his wife needed the car to attend a funeral of a co-worker.
I never met Helen and had no emotional bond with her, but I feel a deep sadness for her and her family. It affected me to the point that I shed a few tears when I was told of the accident.
Although I am certain that the other woman’s death was just as tragic and her family and friends are just as saddened as Helen’s, it meant nothing to me. I don’t know her name, age, or even cause of death.
Maybe nationwide mourning has nothing to do with looks or money or media coverage, but simply the familiarity. I think it also makes us aware of our own mortality when the young, beautiful people featured in the full-gloss photographs of public life, die. Like it or not, these people are seen by society as being larger than life and the untimely death of an untouchable, young, golden child just makes us that more aware that death isn’t choosy. For some, that is a hard realization.
I would venture a guess that most of the people you saw crying on TV were from Mass. The Kennedy family has always been a big part of Massachusettes. Many people there either do know him (probably not very well) or have seen, read and heard so much about his family that they feel he is almost part of their immediate life. Why should they care more about 5 servicemen from El Paso and 2 Columbians than about JFK, Jr.? People die all the time and you care more about the people you feel close to. People feel close to celebrities b/c they see them on TV or in the movies living a life. It may not be their life but b/c people see it they begin to think of that person as closer than people who they have never seen. If, for example Drew Carey died people would feel sad b/c they feel they have a connection to him. It’s not that he’s attractive or famous because of his family, it’s because people see him weekly and watch his life(TV-life) unfold.
An update on this story in case you’re not from El Paso, and don’t read the fine print stories. NB:To find it on AOL, you must follow the following path:
News
U.S. & World
More Stories
The World (click on countries link)
Bosnia through Cuba
Colombia
“Colombia hunts last 3 bodies in US plane crash”.
The bodies of 4 US soldiers have been recovered. Remains of the 5th US soldier & the 2 Colombian officers have not been found. Unconfirmed reports state that the bodies may have been incinerated in the crash, but all reports are in agreement that there is no hope for anyone having survived.
The #1 story (as ranked by “viewers”) on MSNBC is the text of the eulogy given by Ted Kennedy.
I think the death of JFK Jr. is interesting. Every bit as interesting as the death of King Hassan of Morocco. They both reached their position through accident of birth, and were equally well known in most of the world. veg
Very interesting posts. If I may, some additional thoughts:
JFK (the late president) was an expert at promoting himself to the people. His whole life was propagandized by some very slick Madison Ave, guys , and because of this, his historical reputation is a lot higher than the facts warrant. In the case of his son, the same applies. The American people wanted a hero, and could find mothing about the loathsome Clinton (adulterer, proven liar, shameless cad) or his family to bond to. On the other hand, JFK Jr. was handsome, idealistic, and as yet, untouched by scandal. In this sense, he replaced the president as “American Royalty”. Granted, there are probably tons of people out there who could’nt care less about the JFK image, nevertheless, the tragic accident was of sufficient interest to be newsworthy.