Twenty four seven coverage every time a celebrity dies is just so amazing. What is it that attracts us to other peoples experience in loss? What about sharing in their grief? As I been watching and for the most part, unwillingly watch the drama of the Whitney Huston coverage, I began to ponder what this means to me and others.
Am I experiencing loss? I don’t believe so or at least not at the death of Whitney. Well, a loss of watching what I want to, without being hit with all the tributes, the speculations, the ‘over-coverage’ of her, yes, young-untimely death. Don’t get me wrong, having someone die is a loss and I pray that the family is able to deal with their loss. How are others feeling and how profound is their loss? Celebrity loss has not really been something that I really take into me at this point. Not saying someone out there will not hit me but just not yet. I did a search of famous people who died in 2011. I had to do the search because off the top of my head, I could not recall any. Given enough time, some of these I would have and should have recalled. Some of these famous people were not celebrities but people who while living had a significant impact upon us all while living and upon their death there was and is a significant impact.
Here is a list of only a few and in no particular order:
Václav Havel
Am I experiencing loss? I don’t believe so or at least not at the death of Whitney. Well, a loss of watching what I want to, without being hit with all the tributes, the speculations, the ‘over-coverage’ of her, yes, young-untimely death. Don’t get me wrong, having someone die is a loss and I pray that the family is able to deal with their loss. How are others feeling and how profound is their loss? Celebrity loss has not really been something that I really take into me at this point. Not saying someone out there will not hit me but just not yet. I did a search of famous people who died in 2011. I had to do the search because off the top of my head, I could not recall any. Given enough time, some of these I would have and should have recalled. Some of these famous people were not celebrities but people who while living had a significant impact upon us all while living and upon their death there was and is a significant impact.
Here is a list of only a few and in no particular order:
Václav Havel
Harry Morgan
Joe Frazier
Andy Rooney
Steve Jobs
Andy Whitfield
Bubba Smith
Betty Ford
Jack Kevorkian
Anne Francis
Jack LaLanne
The list can go on and on. This is what one web site had for a list but who is famous and who is not, that is another debate. Just like the loss of one of these people may cause significant grief for some while for others the loss does not seem to invoke anything at all.
Did you know all these people I listed? Some of them? Any of their deaths significant to you?
I obtained the list from www.ranker.com. Although the Whitney Huston death has not had a significant impact on me personally at her loss as a famous person or a celebrity, her death is a loss and each of us experience the loss in our own ways.
There is no right or wrong way to feel, but I guess I just don't understand the feeling of loss over a celebrity. I can appreciate their contributions and I get it that we will never again be able to hear them sing or watch them perform. But I don't feel a loss personally. I was much more hit by the loss of life on 9/11, even though I did not personally know anyone who died in that disaster. Here were ordinary people whose lives were suddenly ended. I was struck by the thought of the hurt that was inflicted on their families. Even with the passage of time, it still affects me when I see pictures of the Twin Towers.