Knurled
MegaDork
12/28/16 8:02 p.m.
My Favorite News Aggregator gave her story the same headline as Fisher's.
DAMMIT 2016.
T.J.
UltimaDork
12/28/16 8:09 p.m.
Wow. Mrs T.J. just told me yesterday that she figured the mom wouldn't last long now that the daughter has passed. One day?
I'm tired of the 2016 dead celebrity lists omitting Ralph Stanley and if more keep insisting on dying this year, it will only make my problem worse.
STM317
HalfDork
12/29/16 5:38 a.m.
RevRico wrote:
There is now a gofundme to "protect betty white from 2016"... Are people that far out of touch with reality that they can't handle death being a part of life?
Seeing so many people get this worked up over the death of complete strangers makes me wonder how they react when somebody they actually know dies.
T.J. wrote:
I'm tired of the 2016 dead celebrity lists omitting Ralph Stanley and if more keep insisting on dying this year, it will only make my problem worse.
Now you've got his performance of "Oh Death" stuck in my head. He may not have been as famous as some others who passed, but that guy could sing.
Someone on the book of faces posted this music video that has a young Carrie Fisher in it. Never knew this existed till now. The album is one of my favorites, have the LP.
You're sixteen
Type Q
SuperDork
12/29/16 10:57 p.m.
STM317 wrote:
Seeing so many people get this worked up over the death of complete strangers makes me wonder how they react when somebody they actually know dies.
So we are not supposed to feel loss or empathy over death of someone we don't know personally?
STM317
HalfDork
12/30/16 2:06 p.m.
In reply to Type Q:
Empathy that another human being died is totally understandable, and encouraged. But I see tons of people making a huge deal out of the celebrities that have died this year. Our society's obsession with celebrities seems totally unimportant and unhealthy to me. Are we so unhappy with our own existence that we must idolize strangers for simply playing a memorable character, or writing a catchy song? How many people are mourning the death of Carrie Fisher vs mourning the death of the fictional character that she's best known for playing?
I'm not happy that these people have died, but they were all strangers to me. When I hear of their deaths I have the same reaction that I would have hearing about any strangers death. The fact that these people are well known for something doesn't make their deaths any more sad than Joe Schmoe dying. I just don't see what all the fuss is about. Nobody gets out of here alive, so I feel like there are better ways to spend my limited time on Earth than concerning myself or investing emotionally in every aspect of strangers lives or deaths.
Type Q
SuperDork
12/31/16 1:25 a.m.
In reply to STM317:
I understand your frustration with celebrity obsessed culture. It is shared by many here. There is validity in much of your critique. However, in a thread where people are mourning the death of their heroes or someone whose artistry touched them, perhaps it not the best time to bring it up.
GRM is a remarkable oasis of down to earth real people. In the 15+ years I have been hanging out here, there has been remarkably little idle celebrity worship. You are correct that when people are well known for something, it do doesn't make their deaths any more sad than Joe Schmoe dying. However, many of us have a shared experience of a memorable character, or hearing listening to a catchy song. We share a sense of loss when the creators pass on.
I don't think it is what you intended, but it felt like you decided to show up at an impromptu wake, E36 M3 all over the feelings that were being shared and tell us that we are stupid for wanting to talk about a shared loss.
STM317
HalfDork
12/31/16 7:32 a.m.
My intent was not to mock anyone's sense of loss. But I don't fully understand it. Does it not seem a little crazy to have an 'impromptu wake' with strangers on the internet over the death of a person none of us knew? You're not really mourning the death of these people, because we didn't know them. You're mourning the characters they played, or the songs they wrote. The good news, is that the characters that they've played can still be seen. The songs recorded can still be listened to. Your memories that are tied to those characters and songs are no less valid if these people are alive or not. Will you enjoy watching Star Wars less knowing that Carrie Fisher is gone, or will you still be entertained? Is 'Careless Whisper' less catchy because George Michael is dead? The best thing about these people is that their best works remain with us even after their deaths. You can revisit the very thing you're mourning the loss of anytime you want.
I think the real reason that people get upset about these deaths is mostly due to these deaths being a reminder that none of us is here forever. Seeing people that were once young and vital and impactful in our lives die, makes us all aware that we're getting closer to our own demise every second, and a lot of people find that to be scary. I don't understand this fear of death though. There's no reason to fear the inevitable. Do you fear the daily sunrise?
I don't mean to be callous, and I understand that it was a bit of poor form on my part to discuss this here, but where else should it be discussed? Instead of feeling loss and despair, why not try and enjoy the gifts that these people left us with? Go revisit the memories you've tied to Carrie Fisher by watching Star Wars. Dance to some Wham when nobody is around.
I only care about people I know.
I can only speak for myself, but I don't get emotional over celebrity deaths. However, if that person has touched my life in some way through their work, as Carrie did with Star Wars, I do feel some regret that they will no longer be able to do that. Also, someone died. Whether I knew them or not, I have empathy for the family. I'm not going to go light candles and stand outside their house, but I don't think a few words on an internet forum is too out of line.
Beyond that, it's pretty normal when someone dies to kind of review their life and work and talk about how it affected us (or didn't). That's mostly what I see in this thread. I certainly haven't seen anyone expressing a large amount of emotion.
The other thing is the surprise factor. Carrie was 60, not that old, really, and while she certainly led a hard life, I don't think any of us expected her to die right now. Even more so with George Micheal, who was only 53.
It seems pretty obvious to me. Carrie was 19 when she filmed star wars. That movie was a pretty noticeable part of my teenage years. Her death is a very vivid notification of my own impending decent into decreptitude and death, so it inspires a reaction.
I've known since I went to three grandparents, a fathers and a couple of cousins funerals before I was a teen that life ends. I still don't like reminders.
Ransom
PowerDork
12/31/16 3:47 p.m.
STM317 wrote:
My intent was not to mock anyone's sense of loss. But I don't fully understand it. Does it not seem a little crazy to have an 'impromptu wake' with strangers on the internet over the death of a person none of us knew?
This forum isn't "a bunch of strangers", and while only a couple of the celebrities really touched me in any way, 2016 seems to have hit celebrities who were that person to someone here at a substantially higher than normal rate.
For me, Lemmy seemed the embodiment of the soul and direct honesty of rock, and that really did mean something to me. His may be the least surprising death in modern history given the way he lived, but I still thing the world was a more interesting place with him in it, and am sad that there will be no new quotes, no new observations, no new songs. A recording of "Ace of Spades" is not Lemmy.
I think the real reason that people get upset about these deaths is mostly due to these deaths being a reminder that none of us is here forever. Seeing people that were once young and vital and impactful in our lives die, makes us all aware that we're getting closer to our own demise every second, and a lot of people find that to be scary. I don't understand this fear of death though. There's no reason to fear the inevitable. Do you fear the daily sunrise?
Maybe it's not our own mortality that is the most disturbing to us. A fair number of folks have passed on who weren't in the news, and probably aren't being brought up here because that's not a shared experience with this group.
Moreover, do you never feel trepidation about something you know will happen? The sunrise isn't one of my big fears, nor is lunchtime, but there are items in the metaphorical post that I'm not looking forward to. "I'm not afraid of death. Geez, why is anybody?" comes off most charitably as giving folks a hard time over what is understood to be a common fear, logical or not.
I don't mean to be callous, and I understand that it was a bit of poor form on my part to discuss this here, but where else should it be discussed?
Perhaps a philosophical off-topic thread might be more appropriate than the specific thread where people are sharing their feelings of loss.
Moreover, people noting that some of this is a bummer hardly reads like they're crying on their keyboards. It sounds more or less like the folks who've dropped in here to question the goings on are as bothered by the goings on as the participants are by the topic.
Carrie Fisher's Cause of Death Revealed: Actress Died of Sleep Apnea and 'Other Undetermined Factors'
http://www.etonline.com/news/219827_carrie_fisher_cause_of_death_revealed_actress_died_of_sleep_apnea_and_other_undetermined_factors/
Sleep Apnea is a serious condition. As my Doc told me there is a reason there aren't Sleep Apnea stats on older people... they die younger than most, stresses the heart starving for oxygen.
The 'undetermined factors'... drugs, alcohol... who knows.