The obsessiveness of celebrity deaths

When a celebrity dies, or is rumored to be dead, social media explodes with continuous posts about their death, despite the fact that thousands of people die daily.

Sooner or later, everyone dies. Nov. 30 was “The Fast and the Furious” star Paul Walker’s day and the social media world was flooded with #PaulWalker, #TheFastandtheFurious and other similar posts.

And that is only one of many instances in which people get obsessive with celebrity deaths. In a world where there are about 6,000 deaths a year, including those of soldiers and other people who have been highly influential, why do Hollywood stars get so much more attention?

I’m not saying that celebrities don’t deserve some kind of recognition when they pass away, because everyone does. That’s exactly my point though; everyone deserves recognition when they die-not just the “rich and famous. “

Since our country doesn’t have any royalty, people have placed celebrities in the same rank as other nobilities. Much of the public have created heroes out of these stars, in some cases to the point of obsession.

When Marilyn Monroe died, the whole country went into mourning. There was more press at her funeral than there are for the funerals of most presidents, perhaps with the exception of John F. Kennedy. Princess Diana’s death was an internationally publicized event.

These public figures become immortalized by fans placing them on unrealistic pedestals. People are insecure, causing them to look to other’s lives, especially those who are widely known, wishing that they were in their shoes rather than their own.

This insecurity has led to obsession and has gotten far out of control, to the point that these celebrities can’t live normal lives. The freedoms that we have in our every day lives, like privacy, are no longer something that the famous can cherish.

Prince William and Kate had to sign an agreement to allow the press to be around for a crazy amount of time so that they can have some alone time with baby George and the rest of their family. The Kardashian women can’t even walk out of their house without having someone following them with a camera.

Walker died and all of his fans “mourned” by putting “RIP” on their social media. But another family lost a loved one in that crash-the driver of the vehicle. Yet, I didn’t see any posts about him.

Even when celebrities are still alive, someone posts that they are dead and the rumors spread like wildfire. Luckily, the stars have a good sense of humor about it and often correct false claims with post of their own.

I can’t even count how many times I’ve seen posts about the death of Morgan Freeman. Justin Bieber’s supposed death has been retweeted more than 500 times. Jackie Chan has been reported dead on social media numerous times, usually from one of his own stunts gone bad.

I get that we love our movie and music stars. They are so well known that almost everyone wants a chance to take part in recognizing that their beloved hero/heroine will not be producing any more work. It’s just gotten to be a little much.

With social media being such a prominent tool these days, we have a lot of power in our hands. Let’s try a little harder to be a little wiser with that power. We can use our strength in numbers to accomplish more productive things.