by Diana Timmermans |
When someone dies, those who knew him or her well will mourn their lost friend or relative. But when a celebrity dies, everything about the late celebrity is amplified to maximum capacity and is displayed on the national stage for weeks on end.
When I am checking out at my grocery store and see the latest celebrity death on the cover of magazines with pictures of mourners, I can’t comprehend why fans are crying over one person. Yes, their music, movies, and/or career have had an influence on your own life. But let’s take a step back from the emotion of the situation to think with a level head and clear mind. Have you met this person? Chances are you have not. So, why are you treating them like you have spent every day of your life with your favorite celebrity? It is not like every part of their being is wiped off the face of the planet. No one will frown upon you if you listen to your favorite late singer’s song. Old movies aren’t banned from existence because the main actor passed away. The movie posters on your wall won’t fade.
Once a celebrity dies, every media station researches everything they can about the late star. They call them interest pieces, but I am not interested in dirty laundry. If it were my favorite celebrity, I wouldn’t want to know all of their scandals. The star’s family also gets intertwined with these scandals and don’t get to mourn their loved one’s death like normal people. Since celebrity death airtime drags on so long, we get to hear about all the little mistakes they made years back. Really? Celebrities are people, just like you and me.
Celebrities should not be idolized for who they are, but what they have done. Everyone has high times in their lives and low times in their lives, but what you do and the decisions they make, define the type of person they are and their character. Lindsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, or Charlie Sheen’s train wrecks of lives are fun to watch sometimes but I would not let my child look up to them or even touch them.
Instead of celebrating people who lack morals, which is many in Hollywood, we should look up to the men and women in uniform, the people who are selfless and give their own lives to make the world a better place. The celebrity deaths from 2001 to 2012 compared to US casualties in the War on Terror are no comparison. The difference is staggering. Our casualties, including American civilians, are the roughly estimated at 54,000 people dead or wounded. You don’t see these heroes’ lives celebrated on television nightly.
