WARNING: The following is highly rhetorical...and, even worse, I only feel part of it is...um...highly rhetorical...the rest of it, I totally fucking mean, dude. Anyway, you can't say I didn't warn you!
Oh...so I'm really stupid and American (what a loaded term) when I care that a celeb I've never met has died. Apparently, my intellect and morality are at stake according to whom I care about that has died.
Yeah...so, if one feels any remorse or grief over the death of Heath Ledger or some celebrity they didn't know, that feeling is equivocated with a lack of caring about troops in Iraq or with basically, being uninformed and caring about "hard" and "real" news issues. Hey, I'm right there with you...I have not watched a single day of the Today morning news show since they reported on Brad and Jennifer's marriage. I decided that was it for me, that was my line in the sand. I just hate that caring about a random celebrity's death is equivocated with being uninformed. It is quite possible to listen to NPR and mourn Heath. And, it's quite possible that listening to NPR doesn't mean anything, but you'd never know it from some of the responses I've read elsewhere from people up in arms about those of who are saddened over Heath's death. I just can't see the connection between watching the BBC and listening to NPR and how that makes you a better person, or a more intellectual person. Pluck me from my pedastal the moment I think I'm better for it or because of it. Is being informed and listening to/watching NPR/BBC so mutually exclusive from being a little shocked and saddened by Heath Ledger's death and wanting to talk about it?
Oy, the kvetching from some people who are so appalled and offended that some of us might actually be saddened by the death of Heath Ledger when there is Real Stuff To Be Concerned About. You know what...Fuck you. If I wanna react to and feel shocked about Heath fucking Ledger I will. The rest of my week is spent being so fucking intellectual and informed that I reserve the right to feel whatever I feel for whatever reason I feel it.
So, I'm going to repeat a stupid and long comment that I made from someone else's blog that felt really cathartic.
Oh, and yes, I've had a couple of vodka martinis. Why do you ask?
Now...for the commentary that I'm sure you were breathlessly awaiting (from the blog of Mighty Mighty Monk Seal).
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Couldn’t agree more with everything you said. Absolutely couldn’t agree more. I didn’t realize Brad Renfro was the kid in The Client, so I didn’t “mourn” him, and thusly had next to nothing to say about him other than how much I enjoyed that performance and had no idea he had a career and a following outside of that.
About Heath, I’m grunting and straining here from the high horse that I’m climbing onto, but yeah, I’m in shock and I’m sad. And I’m not apologizing. But then again, I always reserve the right to mourn celebrities (and be pissed at those that would castigate me for doing so). With Heath, I realized part of my reaction is wrapped up with triggers about sudden death after having lost my Mom so suddenly. And yet, I wonder if that’s not just a really good excuse to give myself a “pass” for mourning him. Hell, I still miss River Phoenix. And I even publish that fact on my “about me” section in my blog…which…for the record, is the kind of thing I refuse to fill out on Myspace and Facebook ( and yeah, I’m ashamed that I succumbed to them and for this digression).
Anyway, the point is…I don’t understand why some people care who or how or why other people mourn. I’m sure there are myriad reasons why Heath’s death has gotten to so many people and many of those reasons anecdotal (perhaps in my case) as well as largely shared, but at the end of the day…why does it matter to those that don’t care? I can’t imagine myself caring about why other people mourn Brad Renfro or Suzanne Pleshette and inserting my naysaying opinion about it. I think it’s just as valid to mourn or be freaked out about someone’s death who you didn’t even know. The thing is, Heath Ledger, whether in death or life, represents something to so many.
I remember when Johnny Cash, John Ritter, and Paul Simon (the bowtied politician who was so cool he was a guest on SNL and represented the district I am from) died in such close proximity. I had a class and I felt the need to express my sadness over these losses when the last of those 3 died. I figured everyone would just humor me, but to my surprise, they didn’t have to. It seemed I touched off something in the prof that she’d been feeling too. Anyway, it was a nice little ten minute moment and made me feel I could face the rest of that class and day with “authenticity" if you will.
Wow, fuck. That felt cathartic. Inarticulate, but cathartic nonetheless. I might just copy/paste this and post another blog. And I won’t apologize for doing so.
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2 comments:
I have so much to say about this post but I'm soooo sick getting it out is tough.
I completely agree with you. People forget that when you see someone for the greater part of your formulative years you have the propensity to gain a connection. Whether it be trivial or deep, whether you meet them or not, you do. We're supposed to feel sorry for soldiers we've never met because they are soldiers and are sacraficing their lives for us. But why is it any less noble to be a part of the movie that I saw on my first date? The movie I watch every day when I want to cry? The movie where my favorite actor played a frickin soldier and put the war in front of my own eyes?
I get not wanting to get over obsessive, but there is nothing wrong at all with not only mourning a tragic death, but mourning that of someone who may have influenced you creatively.
Keep on tellin' em!
Shell, call me sometime. I'm always around. Most days I just sit there staring sadly at my cell phone. I want to hear how you're doing.
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