Sure, I can see sheading a few tears over the death of a singer you really liked. But I keep reading these posts all over the net of people who spent hours or days sobbing and saying things like “I felt so close to her”.
Hello?! I have loved music my whole life. But it’s just that, music. It is not a relationship with the person who writes it. I was surprised (not stunned) and bummed (not depressed) when Kurt Cobain killed himself. But I’m honest enough to know that what bothered me the most was - ‘no more new Nirvana albums’.
I know that sounds cynical, but since Nirvana’s music is the thing that mattered to me in terms of Cobain’s life, it’s what mattered to me in terms of his death.
I’m not saying your ‘Nurse Betty’ crazy, but I am saying that becoming seriously, physically emotion over the death of someone you had no tangible relasionship with is not normal. I cried like a baby for a week after my cat of 14 years died. But not for any celebrity.
Well, if you were crying for a week, and really sobbing, moping about and really taking it personally, then that would be a sign, I think, of depression and signal a need for therapy, perhaps.
But I can see people being very depressed about the assassination of King and Ghandi, and feeling very upset for a while-because their lives had such a tremendous impact on society.
I still don’t know who A-chick is, despite the hype. I’ve never heard a note she sung, so far as I know. Saw a photo of her on news site, but I probably couldn’t pick it out with out a name. Means about as much to me as the death of NYC cabbie or Floridian accountant.
When Di died my mother in law called at 6:00 AM with the news rather hysterical. “Who cares?” I said and went back to sleep. The only thing shocking about her death was the massive overreaction from the public over the accidental death of a woman who did essentially nothing. The death of Sir George Solti the same week was a far greater loss, IMHO. Nothing to get weepy about, just a regret a the passing of a great musical talent. (But that is a different loop, I suppose.)
Despite the fact that I’m a woman :), you can put me in the “I don’t really get it” category. Tears when you initially hear the news, sure, but I never understood the hysteria at the deaths of JFK Jr., John Lennon, Princess Diana, et al. I can I remember being 13 or 14 and having to comfort a friend who was inconsolable over Kurt Cobain’s death. I thought it was interesting that she wasn’t the only one so upset.
Put it this way; I love the song “One”, by Metallica. It’s more than a love, actually. It expresses how I’ve felt at my most depressed, most trying times. It was exhilarating to hear a song and think, “Holy shit, that’s exactly how I feel!”. From that day forward, I was a fan. Hell, I even wrote a letter to James Hetfield after he had an accident, consoling him (I was 14, okay?)and sending my good wishes. I have never sent, or thought to send, another fan letter in my life.
Was I bummed when I found out that Jason Newsted is no longer with the band? Yeah, man. Will it hit me when one of the guys dies? Absolutely. Will I shed a tear? Quite possibly. Will I be inconsolable? I really do doubt it.
I can better understand hysterical sadness at the deaths of people like MLK Jr. or M. Ghandi, the fathers of huge civil rights movements that helped millions. I can understand a week’s mourning over JFK. Not only did the boomers see him as “theirs” and as the one of the leaders of a new…movement, I guess, but he was the leader of the freaking country! I imagine that having the leader of one’s country die, especially violently, would break someone up for a few days.
By the way, I don’t think that people who cry for days/weeks/etc. over a famous person are necessarily sick/weird/stupid…I just don’t understand it. Maybe I’m the weird one.
This is the only problem I have with all the grief for Aaliyah - where are all the mourners for the other 8 people who also died? Are they somehow less important because they weren’t famous? I just find it ironic that the same people who are claiming to be so shocked and saddened by the death of someone they never met didn’t even react to the thought that another 8 people also were killed.
But, because they weren’t young and beautiful and famous, they don’t matter. Go figure.
this is kinda off the point, but its something i really feel the need to spout:
i would really recommend famous artists/celebritys to stay away from small charter planes. they seem to be the kiss of death for these type of people. stick to the major airlines, they dont seem to kill you as often. i would have to take my pants and shoes off to count the number of celebs killed in small airplanes/helicopters. cant recommend the bus, either, for that matter.
i was pretty bummed out when SRV was killed. i wish i could have warned him first. i really think he had some contributions yet to offer.