attachment to celebrities

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The recent death of Heath Ledger shows it, but it has basically happened when just about any celebrity dies...random people that never knew the celebrity personally turn into total emotional wrecks! I can see becoming upset like this if a close family member or friend dies, but the only connection most of these people have to the celebrity is seeing that person on the big screen a few hours a month, or hearing them on the radio occasionally. Even then, the celebrity is ACTING, and not actually displaying their actual personality, but reflecting the personality of the writer or director. Yea, good actors are great people for what they do, but how in the heck do others become so emotionally attached to someone they haven't as so much as even waved "hi" at!

I don't understand it either. My sister was on the brink of tears when she found out about Heath Ledger. Personally, despite me not crying my eyes out over it, it is sad that he died. The reasons why are he was a good actor, he was young (only 28 years old) - not really an age for someone to die and the fact that he has left his daughter fatherless. But other than that, I can't really say why else it was sad as, like you say, I didn't know him as a person.

I think it is sort of like the thing NTs do when a child goes misisng, they hear so much about it and see the emotional reactions of the family and are more prone to mimick it unconsciencely. I don't do that but my mother does and she is NT. I am no expert though. Just my opinion.

Regan, Ghandi x2, Princess Di.
I'm also fond of the Queen.


It is not people facination. But what they represent-be it what it may to me. I couldn't call it facination or whatever, just notice and appreciation. When people who have been a chalice for ideals and social movements and you've thought fondly on them and they die. You've been robbed of future notices and appreciations of that person.

I don't really understand the attraction myself. I am not a celebrity follower.

I agree. It's creepy and crazy. What's so interesting about these celebrities that people worship? They seem like normal, boring people to me.

I am definitely not a celebrity person. Most of them turn out to be, well, not good people (Britney Spears is a good example of this) and they end up thinking they're the best things that walk on this earth. Although I must admit Amanda Bynes was very, very nice when I met her last summer.

Add my name to the list of unable to understand peoples emotional reactions to celebrities. Even since I was young, I found it funny how people reacted to celebrities.

I also find it weird, and disturbing how people give so much attention and emotional reaction to a celebrity's death, but then almost totally ignore genocide. Where are the people crying about the millions of people dieing from stupid wars, starvation and disease in Africa? I think its a sad reflection on our society in the west that we give one individual more attention than the millions of people that truly need it. I think about that every time a see a celebrity death on the news, but then never hear important things happening in the world. (sorry, kind of rantish)


I don't even know who Heath Ledger is

I also cannot understand people's obessions with celebrities that they have not and will probably never meet, I've always thought the sorts of people who want to know a certain celebrities favourite colour etc, are probably not quite right upstairs. Anyway, Heath Ledgers death caught my attention, I'm a huge movie fan, or was, lol, when I had more money, anywho, it was a bit of a jolt, I have watched 10 things I hate about you countless times with my little sister, I just think it's a bit sad that he died young and he won't be making any more films, obviously, but I really can't see why people are getting all emotional about it unless they actually met him.

Bugs

I don't care of celebrities but I must say I hate it when someone really famous dies what is caused by the fact that it's a serious change - suddenly it becomes obvious that you'll never hear about this celebrity's new film, marriage or whatever. I remember when I heard about Diana's death in 1997 - I turned TV on and I heard: "Princess Diana is dead. She died in a car accident". It was a very interesting thing, indeed. All magazines were writing only about Diana then - Diana's life, Diana's childhood, Diana's love affairs, Diana's marriage, Diana and Dodi and so on. God, she was respected almost like a living goddess kumari while she was the most normal woman in the world - except for her title and social position. Neither specially smart nor having a strong personality. All decent people would like to help the poor if they had so much money and were equally famous, not only she. Once I dared write it on one forum - that she was nobody extraordinary and one guy accused me that I was simply malicious because I didn't know Diana so how I could judge her intellect then .

While it's certainly exaggerated with some celebrities, like Mr. Ledger, it's also true about non-celebrity deaths/tragedies that are reported on. Most notably when pretty young girls are kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed (or rescued). The Media jump on those tales and the families of such girls are catapulted into fame, the victims turned into angels and the perps turned into monsters.
This almost never happens when "ugly" children are victimized.
Or how about when an autistic person is killed by their parents and there is the ubiquitous line, "children with autism are hard to manage". No one says that about regular kids who are murdered by their parents. No, they're angels. Their parents are monsters.

And Irulan, isn't that ironic that you would get attacked for saying Diana wasn't superhuman? That's the whole tragedy of Diana, she was very human and she got caught up in it. That's what is sad when anyone dies young or in pain. That we are very fragile and we all experience heartbreak and sorrow.

Diana shouldn't be Charles' wife. They didn't have anything in common. When I was a child, at the age of 8-11 I used to read a tabloid newspaper Skandale (Scandals) that was something like your Weekly World News (I still remember all those articles about a woman with two heads who gave birth to a two-headed boy, about a dog infected with computer virus or about a man who claimed to be Hitler's next incarnation ) and there were often articles about the royal family. I thought then that Charles should be with Camilla.

Well, that's the problem with mixing romance with arranged marriages. I mean, one or the other, not both.

I have said that I am not into celebrities, per se. However, I do like Roger Bannister, not because he was famous, but because he accomplished what was formerly thought impossible at one time, breaking the four-minute mile. He set the stage for all the athletes who followed him. He also became a doctor and lived a very successful life outside of athletics. His example is one that should be followed. He didn't let his failure to win an Olympic gold medal get him down. He redirected his focus to the four minute mile and to success in life.

one of my most recent obsessions has been celebrities.... I have been known to be riveted to perezhilton.com, TMZ.com and dlisted.com .......

I used to have a fascination with Drew Barrymore. Just idolized her. Also, more recently, Reese Witherspoon. Both, in my mind, were perfection to be strived toward.

these days.... meh. they're just entertaining....

I have to admit, that when Steve Irwin died, I was sad, all though I didn't cry.
He wasn't JUST a celebrity though...he helped animals and the environment, taught children about conservation and just wanted to make the world a better place. It's not that I was attached to him, but it was more that I loved what he did.

I can't understand though, people that ball their eyes out over celebrities that for one thing, they didn't even know and secondly, if the celebrity did nothing to benefit anyone else but themselves.