Many people have experienced deaths of someone close to them.
Be it a friend in elementary/high school who had cancer. A family member of old age. Or many other options.
Others have never experienced it.
And then Cory Monteith died.
Sure, Cory was 31 years old, and died of a drug/alcohol overdose, but to many teenagers, this was their first idol, who they had an attachment to, to die.
Yes, many other stars have died at young ages, regardless the cause, but I think this one is the first that affects the American youth as a whole.
Whilst Amy Winehouse was 27, her major fan base in America was people in their 20s. The same for Heath Ledger, and Brittany Murphy, all with slightly older fan bases.
Even Aaliyah, who was 22 at the time she died, didn't have the same impact on teenagers in America.
The fact that this happened when schools were out, may be a blessing, since the next time these kids think about it will be late September, when Glee returns for 3 episodes (the third of which will be a Cory/Finn tribute), before going on an indefinite hiatus.
If they had been in school, they would've talked about it a lot more amongst each other, possibly needing some people on hand, to help them though the "difficult times".
The way I see it, by September, most of them won't remember it as strongly, and when Glee returns, they will help remember him for who he was, and help the teenagers of today, move on with them.
Not to sound insensitive, but he was some rich famous actor I can't relate to and never met nor knew. When ever these actors die everyone makes a big deal, but really, who cares? I have a friend a few years younger than me who passed away a couple of years ago, that affected me, but this? It seems silly.
ReplyDeleteTry imagining it like this: You are 17, but watch the things you watch now...and Matt Smith dies.
DeleteFirst off, I was watching Doctor Who then, and second, yeah, it sucks, but they'll just get a new actor for The Doctor. I never knew the man. Why should it bother me?
DeleteIn that show, you are used to the changing of the main character.
DeleteHere, he is the main character, and they may not replace him, or even keep the show going.
When the actress who played Sarah Jane in The Sarah Jane Adventures died, I was more annoyed the show was canceled than I was sad that she died. I didn't know her, and thus don't have an emotional connection to her and don't really care all that much. All I knew was a character who she played.
DeleteAt the time, did you know her real name (before she died)?
DeleteAnd maybe you just don't get invested in your shows like other people do...
Yes.
DeleteAnd I do get invested in my shows, perhaps more than most people. I get invested in the characters though, not the actor. I'd care more if Dexter died than if Michael C. Hall died, because I know Dex, and don't know Michael.
And that's where Twitter comes into play...
DeleteIdk if a TV star's death can really be counted as "experiencing death" ('to someone close to them'). Even if you've become really attached to his character to the extent that you're following him on twitter, he's still just a guy who played in a show you became attached to. You didn't know him personally. He wasn't in your life like a friend, relative, or even acquaintance is. Not to minimize his death at all, because all life is meaningful, but it just isn't "experiencing death." I also think that for these teenagers it's a lesson about mixing substances.
ReplyDeleteWhile I had no such attachment to him, I can only compare it to a few of my friends (male and female), and how they felt when Amy Winehouse died.
DeleteTo them it was a serious loss in their lives.
And that's one of the comparisons I was using as a basis for this post.
I'm sorry, but if someone they never met and don't know died and to them it was a serious loss in their life, well that's pretty pathetic, and they're pretty lucky they don't know what real loss is.
DeleteThe logic there doesn't work, because people have relatives they've never met and don't know...
DeleteHeath Ledger was gorgeous and didn't deserve to die. And Cory Monteith's death affected me. Even though I don't watch Glee religiously and I'm not a 'Gleek', it left me wondering, what will happen to the show now? I didn't know much about Cory the person, but I liked Finn the actor, and ya it will not be the same without him now.
ReplyDeleteYes, because someone being gorgeous means they don't deserve to die :P
Delete(Not saying he deserved to die, just saying that him being gorgeous or not is irrelevant and makes your comment sound tweenage-girl level silly, like those kids who insisted the Boston marathon bomber was too cute to be guilty.)
Unfortunately, people do notice beauty, and it does impact how we see people. In my psychology class we learned that most people inherently believe/assume that 'what is beautiful is good', which is why we give so much power to beautiful famous people. If they are hot on the outside they must have it all going for them inside too.
DeleteSilly or not, he was pretty, and G-d seems to love taking the pretty ones.
You want to talk tween? You love Taylor Swift.
That's idiotic. And God takes ugly people all the time. Its just that people like you don't give a $#!* about them so you don't notice. Beauty has nothing to do with the value of ones life.
DeleteWhat's your point? I enjoy the music. I don't think like someone who values beauty over being a mass murderer.
What does "people like me" mean?
DeleteI don't even think he is good looking.
beauty had everything to do with it. do you care when homeless bums die?
It is because of, like you said, the "halo effect" that many people attach meaningless value where there is only popularity and/or external beauty. However, that being said, people care less when a homeless bum dies, not because he might be ugly and unpopular (a "nobody" by virtue of the fact that he hasn't made much of an impression on anyone), but because he hasn't done much with his life and we don't see what the world is missing with him gone.
DeleteAlso, our generation is just messed up. Everything has become about externals, the glitz and glamour. If someone has a cute face even if he's a sociopathic homicidal murderer, many would rather not believe he's antisocial (as in the personality disorder). If many had a choice between two people, many would pick the better looking one than the one that's more qualified. So on and so forth.
All this being said, people are affected by Montieth's death because they will no longer see his pretty face on their TV? I'm not too sure about that (even though I can admit that it's probably a factor).
@Altie - Beauty has nothing to do with it. It has to do with role models.
DeleteAnd before people argue about proper role models, everyone should remember that anyone can be a role model, regardless how immoral or normal they are. (See: Alex Rodriguez)
Also, T-Swift is the same age as most of us...so that "tween" thing doesn't work.
@FG - "too cute to be guilty" is just as racist as "too cute for drugs".
DeleteOne has nothing to do with the other, however, they give false senses of security.
For example, Ted Kaczynski was a sexy motherf-er.
@SPDR - In regards to your last point, watching these people on TV, it gives people something to hope for. And look forward to.
DeleteSo by cutting him out, they lose a ray of light.
At least that's the way I think they see it.