Celebrity Deaths
- Thread starter coolerifyoudid
- Start date
While I'm a sports fanatic I also find very little personal attachment to athletes specifically. It sucks for any industry to lose a prominent figure that represents excellence in that area. A death of such a figure is just one of those pivotal moments that marks a point in time in our collective memories, and for that reason the death of Kobe is powerful. Celebrity or not, sending my wishes of healing for the loss of a child for several parents and the loss of a parent for so many young children yesterday.
I guess a celebrity death that did move the emotional meter for me would have to be Adam Yauch/MCA. Beastie Boys have been an everyday part of my life since about the age of 9 when Check Your Head was one of the first albums I "purchased" - as part of my introductory set of Compact Discs from Columbia House record club.
I know when and where i was for each new album they dropped, and a Beasties artwork has donned my bedroom or office walls ever since I discovered the band. Yauch's artistic endeavors (art, music, video production) is the largest influence that brought me into a design degree from ISU, and a career in digital media. Away from the mic he was an incredible, charitable figure for human rights and just lived by example to strive for excellence in all that you do. An awesome role model through and through.
Robin Williams is close second for many the same reasons.
Also, once again: f$ck cancer, f$ck mental illness.
I guess a celebrity death that did move the emotional meter for me would have to be Adam Yauch/MCA. Beastie Boys have been an everyday part of my life since about the age of 9 when Check Your Head was one of the first albums I "purchased" - as part of my introductory set of Compact Discs from Columbia House record club.
I know when and where i was for each new album they dropped, and a Beasties artwork has donned my bedroom or office walls ever since I discovered the band. Yauch's artistic endeavors (art, music, video production) is the largest influence that brought me into a design degree from ISU, and a career in digital media. Away from the mic he was an incredible, charitable figure for human rights and just lived by example to strive for excellence in all that you do. An awesome role model through and through.
Robin Williams is close second for many the same reasons.
Also, once again: f$ck cancer, f$ck mental illness.
I'm an enormous fan of Beasties, and have been a fan in some degree since I was young and "Licensed to Ill" came out. Yauch was always my favorite. I had the same type of cancer as MCA twice (which is incredibly, incredibly rare), and so his death was more personal to me than most celebrity deaths.
Even remember going to the memorial at Hilton when some of the members of the cross country team were killed in a plane crash.
Whenever I heard Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown" I always thought of Robin. He could make everyone laugh....and yet inside he fought so many demons.
Most of my heroes were sports figures, and the deaths that hit me the hardest were guys like Bart Starr. I was lucky enough to meet him personally when I was in junior high, and I remember he made an indelible impression on me as a gentleman, and someone who was not only a great famous athlete, but approachable.
These types of people, who are role models in the truest sense, are those whose death impact me the most.
These types of people, who are role models in the truest sense, are those whose death impact me the most.
to me figures who get murdered are the most shocking/lingering
John Lennon
Marvin Gaye
Princess Dianna (kind of killed by reckless actions of others)
John Lennon
Marvin Gaye
Princess Dianna (kind of killed by reckless actions of others)
I guess I am more shocked when a celebrity dies than I am when I read about a "normal" person dying...but no more sad. We're all just people.
here's what I do know...what's important to me isn't to you, etc...so I'm respectful of those who may have been touched by a celebrity...I don't know your journey and if Kobe's words or actions lifted you up at a time, that's your thing...I respect that. Not everyone has what I've been fortunate to have and maybe has had to look elsewhere for inspiration or a role model.
here's what I do know...what's important to me isn't to you, etc...so I'm respectful of those who may have been touched by a celebrity...I don't know your journey and if Kobe's words or actions lifted you up at a time, that's your thing...I respect that. Not everyone has what I've been fortunate to have and maybe has had to look elsewhere for inspiration or a role model.
Couldn't care less...
Now when friends and co-workers have a family member die - be it aging parents or children taken too early - I'm super emotional even if I don't know the deceased.
I did just remember one that shook me to the core when I was younger. We were watching the game when Hank Gathers collapsed on the court. I was at that age where I was cocky and invincible, and seeing him collapse stopped my world for awhile. I legit cried when I watched Bo Kimble shoot that left-handed free throw honoring him.
I never understood how people feel legit sadness when a celebrity would die when they have no real connection to that person.
I do understand it a bit more as yesterday definitely bummed me out with hearing the news about Kobe. I think that was the one celebrity death that has stuck the longest. Usually it’s just a “well that sucks” feeling, but I watched probably 4-5 hours of coverage on it yesterday and listened to people talk for a few more as well so it was definitely different.
I’m not big into music/movie scene so that would explain why I hadn’t felt sadness with many other celebrity deaths before. The only movie star death that garnered a more than a that sucks reaction would probably be Paul Walker. I had seen his whole Fast and the Furious series and a few of his other movies, so it hit me.
I do understand it a bit more as yesterday definitely bummed me out with hearing the news about Kobe. I think that was the one celebrity death that has stuck the longest. Usually it’s just a “well that sucks” feeling, but I watched probably 4-5 hours of coverage on it yesterday and listened to people talk for a few more as well so it was definitely different.
I’m not big into music/movie scene so that would explain why I hadn’t felt sadness with many other celebrity deaths before. The only movie star death that garnered a more than a that sucks reaction would probably be Paul Walker. I had seen his whole Fast and the Furious series and a few of his other movies, so it hit me.
I literally don't care more than other deaths. Kobe's remaining family is suffering the same as the families of the other victims of the crash. It sucks all around. When a young person dies, like Kobe's daughter, it affects me more than a famous adult.
I will say that when people nearly my exact same age die it will shake me up. That's just a morality facing reaction. Especially if they are "healthy" and then they are gone.
These types of things are how I can understand being emotional about a celebrity death. Maybe it's something you and your dad or you and your kid used to bond over, and it's one more reminder that your kids are growing, parents are getting old, etc.
I don't understand people having this massive emotional reaction simply because they loved Kobe as a player, they loved an actor, musician, etc. I just really don't get it. Seeing these people on TV that are completely devastated and overwhelmingly saddened by the death of someone they do not know personally makes me wonder how they can possibly cope with the death of a person that is close to them.
Sometimes it comes in phases. I saw Uncle Buck this weekend and for whatever reason, realized I still miss John Candy even though there's actually no reason to miss him.
Buddy Holly's death was over two decades before I was even born, but there's something still really eerie about how he went, and wondering what even the mere final seconds were like for him and the other musicians hits deeper than other even similar situations. Perhaps it's how it happened so late at night that nobody really knew what happened, or how the next day the scene was so gray and dreary from the Iowa winter and it looked like it was only fitting, or the timing of that being on the cusp of so many changes in our society over the following decade (60's).
Buddy Holly's death was over two decades before I was even born, but there's something still really eerie about how he went, and wondering what even the mere final seconds were like for him and the other musicians hits deeper than other even similar situations. Perhaps it's how it happened so late at night that nobody really knew what happened, or how the next day the scene was so gray and dreary from the Iowa winter and it looked like it was only fitting, or the timing of that being on the cusp of so many changes in our society over the following decade (60's).
My view is that death is undefeated, it's going to happen. I've also been accused of being a cold hearted ******* so there's that. I feel a sense of shock when a celebrity passes young, but usually only remember where I'm at when I hear the news. If I personally know a person, friend or family, it depends on the circumstances of their death on how I feel. Cancer, no fault accident, etc, I'm a wreck. Personal choices like drug overdose or suicide, I'll have a little sadness for those close to them, but ultimately it doesn't usually register on my emotion meter.
I think the kicker on Kobe was the family aspect. I can't imagine the grief of going on with life having lost not only your partner but one of your children. I also think it's just cause to consider mortality and think about your own life. The stupid petty stuff that seems important in the moment but is so unimportant in the grand scheme of things.
So when Kobe died, or any other celebrity, I'm not grief stricken. It's not some kind of debilitating thing as it would be if it were a friend or family member. But it causes some sadness and introspection.
So when Kobe died, or any other celebrity, I'm not grief stricken. It's not some kind of debilitating thing as it would be if it were a friend or family member. But it causes some sadness and introspection.
Didn’t want to start a new thread but wanted to share this and echo it. Let’s give some of our guys this honor while they are still around to receive it.
This one with kobe and his daughter is affecting me for some reason. Just keep thinking about it. Normally when celebrities die, I read it and say to myself that is too bad, but this is just much different. Probably bc I saw kobe from his start in the NBA to the good person he has become after basketball.
For me it's simple - if I am a fan of theirs it makes it harder. For example Dale Earnhardt and Chris Cornell. As a race fan Dale was my guy and I was watching the 500 when he crashed, that one hurt a lot. Chris Cornell, I loved his music and had just seen Sound Garden play live in Council Bluffs a few days before his death. As for Kobe, I was a fan he was prominent in my time and I loved that he went from High School to the NBA (I was also a Garnett fan) so it hurts too.
Then add in the sudden unexpectedness of the examples and it amplifies it. Had Dale, Chris or Kobe grown old and died of old age it wouldn't have hurt me because it's what is expected and happens.
Then add in the sudden unexpectedness of the examples and it amplifies it. Had Dale, Chris or Kobe grown old and died of old age it wouldn't have hurt me because it's what is expected and happens.