I’d rather not cut and paste a gazillion quotes, but just offer another personal opinion.
Lots of names got mentioned so far. John Lennon, Princess Diana, Mother Theresa, Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt.
All public figures with whom some of us deeply connected. For whatever reason, the mechanism of mourning makes us need to mourn with others. Hence the blizzards of flowers and mass gatherings, many simply spontaneous, for Princess Di, Mr. Earnhardt, etc.
Instead of getting into a pissing match about which public figure was more deserving of adulation and extremely overt and public mourning, how about if we agree that, as is the case with many other things in the USA ( and most other democracies world-wide), as long as you’re not harming someone else, do what feels right.
It’s an emotional response to death. Me, I was a wreck for days when the Challenger blew up. Not because they were some mythic heroes, but because human imprecision and other factors cost lives, when it mightn’t have. I don’t have an immense tattoo of the “Challenger” on my chest, however. ( Let’s not get into the “Solid Rocket Booster” imagery a few inches farther down ).
But, ya know? Big fuckin’ deal if other people wish to gather, tattoo, WHATEVER. Deal with the minor inconvenience on Main Street, and maybe have a little respect for their grief. After all, this particular death may be of little emotional consequence to some ( including me, I’m not a fan but I still feel for his family and fans ), but everyone’s got their heros. Who’s yours? How will you feel when they die, and you get ridiculed for mourning?
After all, all of our time will come when we’ll badly need that respect to be returned in kind.
Cartooniverse