Saturday, August 6, 2011

"Funny When You're Dead..."

"...How people start listenin'"  This is part one of a two-part post.  
Comment if you know the song title and artist...because the next post might will spoil it for you.

Note: This is one of the more opinionated and personal posts of mine.  Feel free to disagree, but I feel like this is something I've been holding in for a while.  Sorry if this depresses anyone =[  If so, just focus on trying to guess the artist and song title, that's always fun to do!

I hope this doesn't make me seem like a terrible person, but I don't like the big deal that the public and the media make over celebrities passing away.  This most recently refers to Amy Winehouse.  I'm not saying that they should not be acknowledged, she really did have a great talent and it's sad to see her go, I just have a problem with the idea that somehow her death becomes worldwide news (as if people don't die everyday).

I suppose her death just reminds me of the whole "Son of John Travolta Death" story.  This was a couple years ago so I was still learning how the world works...but I remember thinking "Why is this important?"  I understood that his family would be really sad about his death, but what does this have to do with me?  I don't personally know his family and his son...what am I supposed to make of this?  I have lost someone close to me and I don't see them caring anything about it.  Even if this wasn't about me, parents all over the world are losing their children whether it's due to a disease, murder, or suicide and it's not like we're watching their entire burial process on prime time t.v.

When I heard about Amy Winehouse's death, I couldn't help but feel the same way.  It was unfortunate that she had to die so early in her life with so much talent, but I don't need to know everything about the matter just because she was famous.  I didn't know her personally and I don't really intend to know her now that she's gone.  I guess my big problem is that all types of focus are being put on celebrity deaths while average run of the mill deaths are nothing but expected.  It just makes me angry knowing that everyone feels for her family while my family along with various others' had to go through our losses alone.  Except, I don't wish that the whole world knew about the specifics of our family, it's not like they knew what kind of person the deceased was.  I guess the bottom line would be: the amount of attention the death of celebrities get overshadows that of an average person, and that's something I am ashamed about when it comes to the media.

My take on this problem might disagree with yours, but this really is how I feel.  It'll probably change as I get older, but for right now, this is it.

1 comment:

  1. Love that song :So put on your best, boys, and I'll wear my pearls.
    I think the main reason they get more publicity when they die is because they got more publicity when they were alive.
    Simple as that :)

    ReplyDelete

In the words of John Mayer: "Say what you need to say"