“Why do we glorify them?” He so aptly responds.
This question, prompted by the sudden death of Peaches Geldof, baffles me.
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And when I think of his passing, I still feel sort of sad. I’m sad we didn’t get to see all the other brilliant films he might have made, or see him grow up. We are the public, we watch them change, get fat, grow old and wrinkly, and we pass silent judgement. It’s what society does. But we’re also people, we are compassionate, and we like to put ourselves in other peoples shoes, and share in their joys and triumphs, as well as their darker moments.
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Why do we glorify them? We spend a lot of time consuming things that they do: films, music, sports, TV shows. Sometimes we spend more time concentrating on them, than we do on actual real human beings in our immediate surroundings. How many times have I sat beside Toby watching a film, and analysed every inch of Joaquin Phoenix’s face blown up 10ft tall on a cinema screen? I’ve listened to Paolo Nutini on repeat, headphones plugged in, blocking out all other sounds completely, listening only to his voice soothe my woes or cheer up my day. I’m not saying it’s bad either; I love music and art, TV shows and films, and I admire the people who we create them, but we invest so much in them. So much so, that sometimes we forget that we don’t really know these people at all. We think we do, but we don’t really, not at all.
I guess we mourn celebrities because we glorify them. That’s the simple answer. I guess it’s not really that simple at all. The heartbroken sixteen year old in me still wants to have a little cry for Heath Ledger. And maybe that’s alright. Then there’s another more adult voice in my head that says, “You didn’t know him.”