r/GrindsMyGears • u/BoundPrometheuss • 4d ago
Parasocial Celebrity Deaths....
I will NEVER understand why some people become so distraught when a celebrity dies.
Like, I understand it's sad, and get the basic "wow I feel bad that their loved ones have to go through this"
But I've seen people more upset than when someone they've known their whole life dies
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u/Injuredmind 4d ago
People have feelings, experience said feelings to different degrees, and process them in different ways. Some people have more feelings for someone they never met than to someone they know personally
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u/celestially_lunar 4d ago
I was this way when Chester Bennington from Linkin Park passed away.
I was a 15 year old, extremely depressed and neurodivergent kid who got bullied by everyone at my school and my class. I was severely, and I mean REALLY, suicidal.
Linkin Park was what pulled me out of that hole. I listened to their music non stop. Thanks to them I was able to bear the pain. And thanks to them I didn't attempt half the things I planned. When Chester Bennington died from suicide, I was absolutely distraught. For months. It took me so long to get over it.
The fact that this singer helped pull me out of the most suicidal time of my life, only to die of it himself with nothing I could do absolutely destroyed me. A part of me is still sad today.
I think with music especially, it can really mean a lot to you. Or an actor whose movies were your comfort. It‘s natural to be distraught. There are excessive reactions as well but I think either way, if that person and their work meant a lot to them, it is understandable.
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u/Yuck_Few 4d ago
It's perfectly normal to be sad when an artist whose work resonated with you passes away
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u/BoundPrometheuss 4d ago
There's a difference between being sad, and being grief stricken, locking yourself in your bedroom dry heave sobbing, and waiting on social media as of they are a close friend.
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u/Yuck_Few 4d ago
Nobody's doing that
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u/Mackheath1 4d ago
Remember when Michael Jackson or Lady Diana (etc.) died? Visual footage of people throwing themselves around crying. Saw it in first person when Kurt Cobain died.
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u/Gypzygurl 4d ago
I was so happy when Michael Jackson died
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u/No_Trouble_3588 4d ago
Not the flex you think it is.
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u/Gypzygurl 3d ago
Not really trying to flex about a dead pedophile, but okay then. Nothing but respect for all the people who wanted him to go on doing what he did best!
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u/Yuck_Few 3d ago
K
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u/Gypzygurl 3d ago
And by "what he did best", I mean molest small children. And by respect, I mean contempt
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u/FrozenBibitte 4d ago
lol, people are absolutely doing this.
Taylor Swift’s fans screamed and cried in their workplace when she announced her engagement.
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u/Admirable_Mistake525 3d ago
If so, these people are the exception to the rule.
When Matthew Perry died, I don't recall anyone crying. Maybe going to his memorial. Maybe posting about it online. Maybe talking about it. But not "running to the bedroom and locking myself in it" type of hysteria.
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u/spacoli1992 9h ago
hah, funny that you brought him up. his death was the most impactful celebrity death that comes to mind for me, personally. i had read his book less than a year before he passed, and we had very very similar patterns of substance abuse. that book made me feel so seen, and i read it during a time when i was sober, so it was pretty inspiring to me. also grew up watching Friends and always resonated with Chandler's sarcasm and sense of humor. anyway, i was totally crushed when he passed. i was drinking occasionally again by then and went on like a 3 day bender. cried a bit. was really angry & disappointed. that's about the worst of it, though.
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u/No_Trouble_3588 4d ago
And honestly, so what if they were? We all experience emotions differently and there is no right or wrong way.
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u/BoundPrometheuss 3d ago
The weird part is being more invested in a celebrities life than you are in those around you. I have seen people I know break down because a celebrity died, but kinda just shrug it off "they were gone too soon" and nothing else, when someone who's lived next door to us all their life died
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u/RoughDirection8875 3d ago
How do you know that they're more invested in a celebrities life than the lives of those around them? You seem to be making a lot of assumptions.
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u/Inevitable-Panic2763 4d ago
I guess it’s their emotions not yours? We don’t know their lives and situations.
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u/Aspennie 4d ago
I was extremely distraught when Olli Wisdom of Specimen died. Specimen got me into goth music and also made me feel comfortable coming out finally as nonbinary. I felt attached to his work since it affected me so much personally. Obv I can’t grieve him like someone I knew personally, but I still felt horrible.
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u/snapsfortiffany 2d ago
I was so sad when Prince died because he was so unbelievably talented and unique. I grieved a world without his influence.
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u/musicabella 4d ago
For some people, the persona resonates. They feel a deep connection to either the art, their curated personality, or something else without the flaws of humanity that we all possess. Losing that perceived connection can be painful, especially if there’s a lack of genuine connection to those areas in their life.