Have you ever cried when hearing of the death of a celebrity?

[BamaTanya]

I'm curious. Ds just asked me, "Why are people so upset that Michael Jackson died?" We're not very involved in pop culture (as a family, I mean), but my dc had heard of him.

 

I tried to explain, "He died so suddenly, so tragically. He was young. He had children . . . ."

 

And ds said, "But he was just a person."

 

And I said, "And it's sad when regular people die. Remember how it felt when Nana died?"

 

And ds said, "Some of the kids at school were crying about it."

 

And then I wondered the same thing. Are little kids such big fans that it affects them emotionally? Or maybe their parents are that upset?

 

So I wondered some more. I know that some deaths are very sensational. Very tragic. Some people have a large impact on our culture. Sometimes the news just punches you in the gut, you know. I remember feeling that way on 9/11 (and for a couple of weeks after!) And when the Space Shuttle Columbia mission failed. An awful sadness. Tears.

 

But those instances were different, right?

 

I'm hard-pressed to think of any celebrity death that made me cry. Is it that I don't identify with celebrities on a personal level? Do I distance myself from them, both in their lives and in their deaths? I do think, 'Oh, that's sad.' I might even watch a more in-depth report that gives more details. To try to explain it. Once. And then I wish the news would move on to something else. KWIM? Not in a mean way. Just in a 'let them have some peace and privacy for the family' kind of way.

 

It looks like a lot of people experience these deaths more personally than I do.

 

What about you?

 

Maybe it's just that I'm not really a fan kind of person. There are politicians, ministers, artists, etc I admire, but not any that I want to make any tremendous effort to meet . . .

 

What do you think?

[psychgal]

I will always remember the exact moment of discovering Princess Diana died. I wasn't one of the fans, but it really shook me. i didn't cry, but this cultural icon was just suddenly gone. It felt a bit surreal for several days and periodically struck me as still being surreal for couple years at random times. With MJ, that shock --(a cultural icon gone) was there to a much lesser extent. I guess we all react in our different ways. I feel for family and friends, but the personal impact isn't there to make me cry.

 

I think 9/11 is a different thing altogether. It impacted me directly (even though I didn't know anyone who died there) because it changed my worldview.

[Desert Rat]

I get sad but cry? No. I was a huge Grateful Dead fan when Jerry Garcia died. I remember a lot of my friends at that time crying. I felt weird because I didn't. I didn't personally know him and, although his music touched me, didn't have emotional connections to the man. I feel the same way about all celebrities.

JMO

[Guest Virginia Dawn]

I don't remember if I cried then, but I was very sad when I heard of John Denver's death. Sometimes I cry now when I hear his music. It defined my growing up years.

[elegantlion]

I think tragic death, celebrity or not, affects me. However the celebrity that hit me the hardest was when Adam Petty died. Son of Kyle Petty, Grandson of Richard Petty. My dh and I are HUGE race fans, we even took our honeymoon to watch Richard Petty's final race. I'm a huge Kyle Petty fan and when ds was born we were grooming him to be an Adam Petty fan.

 

When I found out he died in an accident on the track I cried for days. He was too young. It hit home too as my dh had lost his own father in a racing accident when dh was only 9. It still saddens me when I think about it.

 

I don't know, I don't dwell on celebrity, but I like the movies/arts and there are plenty of people who live in the public eye that I DO admire. Even though I don't know them IRL, they still have touched my life in some way through their work.

[lauracolumbus]

Nope. Sometimes sadness when their loss leaves a hole in the universe, but that's rare.

 

Laura

[Crissy]

Not usually, but I surprised myself with buckets of tears when Princess Diana died.

I don't 'follow' celebrities or the Royal Family, so I still don't know why her death affected me like it did.

[BillieBoy]

I think people cry for all sorts of reasons. Maybe it's not for the person themselves but for the seemingly loss of an emotion or of an era. Perhaps the situation surrounding that loss mimics something close to home. One can never assume exactly how someone feels. I've heard a lot of accounts of people crying when JKF cried. Did they know him personally? No. But to them he represented the death of hope and promise.

I lost my father to cancer. When I hear of other daughters loosing their fathers, celebrities or otherwise, I get a good lump in my throat that has occasionally spilled to tears. It's all in your perspective and how close you allow your environment to affect you. Sometimes you're weak, but I don't think any one person is better than another because they can withstand emotional pain better.

[Brilliant]

Similarly to what BillieBoy said about JFK...Ronald Reagan is the only person whom I didn't personally know whose death I cried over. I heard it on the radio in my car and had to pull over because I couldn't see through the tears. Reagan was such a great man and did so much for our country and our world, that even though I knew he was old and sick, his passing was still bittersweet.

 

(I know many will disagree with my assessment of Reagan...I'm not trying to start a debate about the man, simply saying that my beliefs about him are what caused me to cry when he died...)

 

But I don't get the Michael Jackson thing. I'm in Southern California and baffled by the whole thing. I enjoyed his music when I was in college. It's very sad that he was strung out on drugs for so many years and that it finally killed him. But tears? No.

[LibraryLover]

We don't have to know people personally to feel the hole they leave in their wake. My mother and father never met John F Kennedy beyond a rally, but they wept openly when he died.

 

Along the Kennedy lines: I remember not crying exactly, but trembling a little, with heat in my chest, when I thought of Caroline Kennedy being 'alone' when I heard her brother had died when his plane crashed. I also remember thinking "It's good his mother is dead". I know I would have actually cried for her if she had been alive when John died.

 

People can touch us in odd and different ways. We might also be able to relate to some small or large part of their lives, and that can touch us deeply.

 

I think the issue with Jackson is that so many people think he's a freak and just 'pop culture', so they can't understand why his music would touch anyone. I've noticed esp with Jackson, people who were not affected by his music tend to think poorly of those who were. So maybe it's OK to cry about Reagan or Kennedy, but you must be an idiot if you cry about Elvis or Jackson.

 

But I don't think it's odd that people weep over the death of people they have never met. My youngest was really sad when I told her that Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz movie was dead when she asked how old she was. It was her favorite movie for a time and it really bothered her.

[BamaTanya]

Sometimes you're weak, but I don't think any one person is better than another because they can withstand emotional pain better.

 

I don't think so, either. Sometimes I feel very weak emotionally. Sometimes I cry when I watch the news and see a child with cancer or a hungry child. But I just don't feel that connection with celebrities. Maybe it's because we haven't lost one with whom I identify. I don't know. But I thought it was unusual that ds would say kids at school were crying (in the last 2 weeks -- since school resumed) over Michael Jackson's death. That was unexpected to me.

[pqr]

As many of today's "celebrities" are individuals of low character I may feel sad for their families but shed a tear for them.....not a chance.

 

Now as OC Mom said.......Reagan, well......I still miss that man.

[kalanamak]

When a popular radio host of a Saturday night radio show playing music from 1929-1959 killed herself:

 

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/133995_doyonobit07.html

 

I was really laid low. One comment on the station's site said "I feel as if I've been told I'll never see the moon again". That was how I felt. I had read to her show, nursed through her show, dozed, bathed, cooked, and just plain sat in the dark and listened to her show for so long....

 

I ended up thinking of leaving the state, and finally just changed jobs it made me rethink life so much. For a few days I even thought of leaving my family! One of my friends later said she'd never heard me be the least bit desperate, but I sounded it that fall. I think it was a good 4 months to recover. It wasn't the death, it was that such an intelligent, accomplished, beloved icon could find nothing to live for. What was sorry-ass old me still doing on the planet?

[secular_mom]

I cried (and still do occasionally) over Steve Irwin's death. Seeing his show was wonderful for me- how he and Terri were such great examples of attachment parenting, seeing how the whole family was able to work together, how close they were.

[WishboneDawn]

 

But those instances were different, right?

 

I think only because they're rather subjective. How you're going to react to the space shuttle disaster or the death of a celebrity really seems so subjective to me. It depends on you personally, on the culture you live in, on the reactions of those around you, etc. I don't think there's any reason to deeply analyse why one affects you and the other doesn't.

 

I generally don't cry period. Hurricane Katrina left me furious and 9/11 in a state of shock. I think only Jim Henson's death had me shedding tears. But others can have completely different reactions and I don't it reflects anything good or bad or useful about any of us.

[Impish]

I remember my mother sobbing when John Lennon was killed.

 

I didn't cry about it, but Princess Diana's death was a punch in the stomach for me. I wasn't very old when she was wed, but my mother and I got up at some ungodly hour to watch her wedding. There wasn't a time for me it seems that she wasn't around, as I was pretty young when she was married. Mom and I followed her life, the birth of each of the boys, read her biography, etc.

 

Mother Theresa rocked me too, but not in the same way. Her death to me was 'natural' vs an auto accident caused by paparazzi.

[Sandy in Indy]

The first time I cried over this kind of thing I was 5...Walt Disney died and I thought that was the end of Mickey Mouse, too.

 

I cried at John F. Kennedy's funeral because my mother was crying...so I kept her company. (I was about 5.)

 

And I cried buckets when Reagan died. I was truly sad at his death but most of my reaction was because I had recently lost my father. I wasn't dealing well with things...

[Gretchen in NJ]

I don't remember if I cried then, but I was very sad when I heard of John Denver's death. Sometimes I cry now when I hear his music. It defined my growing up years.

 

I was crushed when John Denver died. He was very much apart of my childhood. We would always start everyone of our many many road trips with "Country Roads." It was tradition. I cried when he died and once in awhile when I heard a song of his.

Edited August 23, 2009 by Gretchen in NJ

[BikeBookBread]

I cried with Charles Schulz (Peanuts) died.

[Pajama Mama]

I cried when Andy Gibb,younger brother of the BeeGees, died. I loved him in the late 70s when disco was the rage. I had posters of him all over and Tigerbeat magazines with him in it. He died in the late 80s. He wasn't popular and I hadn't heard of him at all at that time. He died of heart problems(I think) related to his previous drug use. It made me so sad. I think he was closely related to my childhood so that's why it affected me. He had supposedly cleaned up his act but the damage to his body was permanent(I think, it's been awhile) He was fairly young.

 

Of course, I loved Michael Jackson as a kid, too. But it didn't really affect or surprise me when he died.

 

I do remember crying in high school when they announced the Challenger shuttle explosion. They weren't "celebrities" but certainly heroes.

[Night Elf]

Princess Diana. I ran to wake up DH because I was so upset.

[ShelzNH]

When Steve Irwin died I cried like a baby and was literally in mourning for several weeks...

[abbeyej]

I very nearly cried when Steve Irwin died. Thinking about his wife and those *very* young children, and he just seemed like such a loving and exuberant fellow, and so very young, and the death so unexpected... Dh and ds had gotten to meet him a few years before (I'd stayed home with dd, who was a newborn then)...

 

But if I cried, it was really over the thought of those two children losing their father so young. Losing a father who seemed to be part of such a close and loving family.

 

When 911 happened, I think I was too shocked to cry. Too shocked, and still too frightened, fearing that it wasn't over yet (for weeks and weeks -- especially as we had anthrax scares at offices where dh had worked, etc, etc)...

[Dirtroad]

No and I have never understood people weeping for complete strangers.

 

The loss of a great mind, leader, or a gifted-talent is sad for the world b/c they had such gifts & shared them with others. However, to weep as if one had lost a parent or child is (to me) a form of idol worship & gets a bit scary for our household.

 

I really liked Johnny Cash.... sure was sad when he passed knowing all he had done & was sharing.... but I didn't weep or even shed a tear. Just felt sad at the news or when I see him in an interview since. BUT... I never knew him.... only appreciate his gift to society in music & faith.

[Audrey]

Generally, no. I don't cry for strangers like celebrities. However, I will admit that I cried when I heard Mr. Rogers died. He felt like family somehow.

[Pajama Mama]

When 911 happened, I think I was too shocked to cry. Too shocked, and still too frightened, fearing that it wasn't over yet (for weeks and weeks -- especially as we had anthrax scares at offices where dh had worked, etc, etc)...

 

That's how I was when 911 happened. I couldn't cry. I was so shocked. I was also worried because dh volunteered to go up to NYC as an EMT. Unfortunately, there was little need for medical personnel.

[Dirtroad]

I cried when Andy Gibb,younger brother of the BeeGees, died. I loved him in the late 70s when disco was the rage. I had posters of him all over and Tigerbeat magazines with him in it. He died in the late 80s. He wasn't popular and I hadn't heard of him at all at that time. He died of heart problems(I think) related to his previous drug use. It made me so sad. I think he was closely related to my childhood so that's why it affected me. He had supposedly cleaned up his act but the damage to his body was permanent(I think, it's been awhile) He was fairly young.

 

I had forgotten that one! I didn't cry but boy, like you, it was so sad. He was so young and so cute.... and had been heartbroken by Victoria Principal.

 

I also had in plastered all over my bedroom wall. :001_wub:Drove my parents nuts... but I "wubbed" Andy Gibb. I still turn his songs up really loud in the van & drive my kids nuts!!!!:lol:

 

I just want to be your everything.... I can hear him now! hehe

[Ibbygirl]

I cried when Celia Cruz died. She was a Cuban exile singer living and working here in the states. She wrote this song in 2000 from her album Siempre Vivire (I will always live) called Por Si Acaso No Regreso (If perchance I don't return (referring to Cuba) ). She died in 2003 from brain cancer having never returned to a free Cuba. There is a part in that song where she is singing about how she is dying in her heart from the pain of not being able to go home and then she just says "I'm dying". I always wonder if that "I'm dying" was a confession and that she already knew that she wasn't ever going to make it back home. The song always makes me cry and I cried bitterly for her when she died that she never got to go home again. :(

[buddhabelly]

And yes, they do have something in common: compassion.

[Jeannie in NJ]

I was working at a big film production company in Los ANgeles when John Wayne died and everyone at work (dozens of people) were upset and even men were crying. Now some of them might have actually worked with him in the past, but still everyone was upset.

 

Both dh and I were shaken the night that Princess Diana was killed. I remembered getting up with my roommates at whatever early hour the wedding was and watching it. I felt sad for her sons when she died.

[Kim in Appalachia]

I cried, and I was sad all day. But I can not think of any other celebrity whose death made me cry. There have been a few that it made me a little sad, and brought back fond memories.

[Ginevra]

I don't think I actually cried, but I was very sad and shocked when Princess Diana died. I think I shed a few actual tears when Tony Snow died; because I thought he was such an exemplary person, and to think of his family being without him really struck a nerve. When Steve Irwin died, I probably also shed a few real tears for the sake of his wife and kids.

[flyingmommy]

I was also very upset over Steve Irwin's death. He was so in love with life. I always felt like he was living life to the fullest every moment. I felt so sad for his wife and children. And part of me really believed he was larger than life....that the dangers of his job and lifestyle would never conquer him.

 

He's the only "celebrity" whose death has ever affected me very much. Most of the time, I just kind of think, "Oh, that's sad." But I was heartbroken when Steve Irwin died.

 

Jeannie

 

I cried (and still do occasionally) over Steve Irwin's death. Seeing his show was wonderful for me- how he and Terri were such great examples of attachment parenting, seeing how the whole family was able to work together, how close they were.

[dirty ethel rackham]

I am really not one to cry when celebrities die, but I did cry when Princess Di died, not so much that I was a huge fan, but for the life cut short, but mostly for her sons. When I watched the funeral, I had tears streaming down my face as I watched her sons. I cried when Steve Irwin died - such an exuberantly lived life cut short. He was so loved by family and friends and I cried for their loss. I did shed a tear or two when Michael Jackson died, mostly as I kept hearing his music, which defined my college years and early twenties. I did not cry for the freak show of a man he became. I had hardly given his kids a thought - mostly because he did such a good job keeping them out of the public eye.

[amy g.]

Never.

 

I'm very stingy with my tears. I have to save the up in case a real tragedy strikes.

[Jill- OK]

I was really shaken.

 

I think it was who he was...but also probably the circumstances.

[Paula in PA]

I cried when Princess Diana was killed, because I was a fan and also for her sons. I cried a lot when Deforest Kelley died (Dr. McCoy on Star Trek). I know I'll do the same when Leonard Nimoy passes. I got very sad when Stever Irwin was killed, but I didn't cry. My dd did, though.

[Mom2boys]

I am really not one to cry when celebrities die, but I did cry when Princess Di died, not so much that I was a huge fan, but for the life cut short, but mostly for her sons. When I watched the funeral, I had tears streaming down my face as I watched her sons. .

 

Me too. I was surprised by how upset I was when she died. But I was a new mom, and the thought of someone who adored her children so much, not being around to raise them, really hit home with me. And when I think about watching her boys walk behind her casket, it still brings tears to my eyes.

[Orthodox6]

I never have cried over the death of someone considered by other people to be a celebrity. My very short list of truly important people would not even overlap with the probable list under discussion in this thread.

 

As some others have noted for themselves, sometimes a well-known individual will die, and I will understand how his or her significance will affect those family members left behind and, thus, feel sorry for them. Only a rock would feel indifference.

[hsmom3tn]

I don't think I've ever cried over the death of a celebrity, but there have been some that made me feel sad.

 

I think the ones that affected me the most were the Challenger disaster, River Phoenix, Princess Diana, and Steve Irwin.

 

I was 9 months pregnant with my first child when Diana died. I wasn't a big fan, but my mom was practically in love with her. I was depending on her to get me to the hospital when I went into labor, but she was so upset I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to get her out of the bed when it was time.

[Jumping In Puddles]

I have never cried over the death of a celebrity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will cry when Springsteen dies. :p :p :p

[OnTheBrink]

I've cried for the families left behind and their pain, but I don't think I've ever shed a tear over a celeb's death in and of itself. I remember crying while watching Reagan's funeral, as well as Princess Diana's funeral. If I know the celeb is leaving behind children, I might cry about their loss. I didn't cry over MJ, but was moved to tears when his daughter spoke. Farrah Fawcett's documentary about her journey through cancer didn't bring tears until her son saw her and called her "mommy." That reduced me to tears, but I didn't cry over her specifically. Not that I wasn't sad for her pain and suffering, but it didn't bring me to tears.

[katemary63]

I surprised myself with buckets of tears when Princess Diana died.

I don't 'follow' celebrities or the Royal Family, so I still don't know why her death affected me like it did.

 

:iagree::iagree: I do, however, cry at almost anything, including the news of the death of total strangers when the circumstances are tragic. Yes, I cry at the death of celebrities. (Not MJ though - not a fan.)

[FeFe]

Princess Diana and Natasha Richardson were two that I shed a tear over. I suppose because they were both mothers and had young children. Both left before their time.

[sagira]

I cried (briefly) when Princess Diana died. It was the way in which she died, her relative youth, her children and the good deeds she used to do I think. I thought it was tragic that she died being pursued by the paparazzi.

[Big Buckin' Longhorn]

I do cry when almost anyone dies.

 

I feel so bad for the family they left behind. There is someone out there who loves everyone. And sometimes on the news when a homeless person dies, I cry for them because I feel bad that there is no one else to cry for them.

 

So the short answer is yes, I cry when celebrities die. I think death is sad. I know it's a natural part of our existence, but it certainly isn't my favorite part. Death is sad.

[Tree House Academy]

I cried when Dale Earnhardt died. My dad was such a fan when I was growing up - actually he loved to hate Dale Earnhardt. Anyway, it hit me for some reason...seeing his wife there and knowing that he died doing something he loved and while trying to help his son win - it just hit me in the gut at the time, I guess.

 

ETA: 911 WAS different. I cried for all of those families - for months after the tragedy. Those were not celebrities, those were regular everyday people trying to live life just like the rest of us. There were pregnant women killed, fathers, mothers, even a few children. It was more than tragic. I devoted tiem to reading each and every profile they put in the NYT newspaper (they ran 10 a day on the victims until they had given some snippet, some little glimpse into each life that was lost that day). I still cry when I watch footage or when I see someone who survived talk about it. That was a tragedy that rocked our nation and changed our world forever. That is MUCH different that MJ or Diana or Dale Earnhardt dying.

Edited August 22, 2009 by Tree House Academy

[Kari C in SC]

I cried (and still do occasionally) over Steve Irwin's death. Seeing his show was wonderful for me- how he and Terri were such great examples of attachment parenting, seeing how the whole family was able to work together, how close they were.

 

:iagree: When I turned on my computer that morning and saw on the screen that he had died - I just felt shivers and I cried. It was just so sad. I read a blog of a woman I have never, ever met. I only know her through her blog. Her mil and fil were hit crossing the street in New Orleans. Her mil was in a coma for awhile and then seemed to be doing better. Then she took a turn for the worse and passed away. When I read her blog post, I sat and cried. So, I guess for me - I don't have to actually know somebody to feel great sadness for their family.

[Cera]

Nope. Sometimes sadness when their loss leaves a hole in the universe, but that's rare.

 

Laura

:iagree:

[Guest Katia]

No. I don't cry for people I don't know.

 

I feel sad for their families left behind, but even if I was a fan......I don't cry. I do feel their loss and it is an empty feeling. But, no tears.