We recently lost a comedic legend, Gene Wilder. While his death didn't necessarily affect me personally, it got me thinking. Whenever a well-known and loved celebrity dies (Michael Jackson, Prince, Aaliyah to name a few), a handful of people, or sometimes even entire nations, suffer a grieving period. This seemed odd to me at first, how entire groups of people can mourn and feel personally affected by the death of someone they never even knew. Then it occurred to me: we feel like we do know them.
When a large-scale celebrity dies, we lose an icon, a legend, a role model. Millions of people across the globe look up to these people and idolize them. They are placed on a pedestal, and their entire lives are looked at under a microscope. Of course we're going to be affected by their passing. I used to look at people who fell into serious morning after their favorite celebrity died, and I would almost laugh at how ridiculous it seemed. You never even came close to knowing this person, why are you so upset over the loss? It seemed ridiculous and almost inappropriate to me. I felt like normal people with no actual connection to whoever was gone had no right to mourn their passing. To me, that seemed almost disrespectful to the celebrity's actual family and friends, the ones who had every reason to be affected.
It's just now in the aftermath of Wilder's death that I am finally realizing why so many people take celebrity passings so hard. We, as fans, make up a sort of family for these celebs. A star's fan base constitutes family and supporters, aside from just being fans. No matter who you are, there must be at least one person represented in the media who you idolize.
There's somebody on TV or on the radio who you look up to. You follow their lives, and you marvel at their success. You want them to continue to succeed. You're proud of them. Now imagine finding out one day that they've passed. You've been following their life for months, or maybe even years, and suddenly they're just gone. There's nothing more for you to follow. They're no longer furthering their career, continuing their success. Of course you're going to be affected.
I was not personally saddened by the passing of Gene Wilder, but I know plenty of people who were. People were deeply hurt by the loss of a comedic genius, a trademark of a generation. When a celebrity dies and it doesn't personally affect you, try to remember to respect those around you who are grieving. You never know when you're going to be on the other side.
