why do "we", as in us... always do a RIP for famous people?

[Brock Samson]

 Well I feel he contradited himself as per the highlighted statements, and missed the point that somefolks do actually care about media icons (for good and for bad) and paints celebrities (specificlly actors) with a broad brush disrespecting them in the process... they are people some are actually noteworthy for good or for bad reasons, for crying out loud - he didn't even read the thread.
Some of these folks I do care about 'n some I don't, when the designer of the Charger died a few yrs. back did he deserve a thread...  I'm just sayin'..  are we feeling here, or thinking?.. cause if your thinking it becomes a moot who gives a crap situation, but if your feeling perhaps you have a Favorite moment the Persons' work or life provided and wish to honor.
BTW:
I'd like to start a thread about capitol punishment but I'm afraid it might be too controversial.   

[Mike DC]

 
I think sometimes our fawning over celebs isn't always a bad thing. 


Think about all the smack that has been talked about these people when they die in a stupid way.  We would be a lot less willing to say the blunt truth if it was someone we knew personally, just out of respect for the dead & the grieving. 

When the person is a celeb (I.E. not a real person to us) we say what we really think.  We call it stupid when it's stupid. 

[ZSmithersCharges]

Posting about dead celebrities on a forum just seems to be the internet version of babbling the useless babble with friends or coworkers & such. It's no different than when you end up talking to someone you know & you need a topic to discuss after you finish beating the weather into the ground.

You or Me: "Hey, how's it going today?"

Someone Else: "Oh, not bad. I wish it would stop raining though."

You or Me: "Well, rain sucks sometimes, but think about where we'd all be without it."

Someone Else: "True, I didn't think of it that way."

You or Me: "Good thing I saw you today to point that out."

Someone Else: "Yes, I don't know if I would have remembered what I was taught in science class back in grade school."

You or Me: "I make it a point to remind people of things like that. You just never know when you might be selected to go on the Who Wants To Be A Millionare show & not want to use up all those lifelines. You could get a really tough question like, 'What type of plant was introduced in New York State in the 1800's that never grew there originally & is now a problem to native plants?' It would suck if you wasted a call to someone on weather related crap."

Someone Else: "Wow, that is a good point."

You or Me: "Do you think it's a good enough point to start a thread on?"

Someone Else: "No, it's actually pretty freakin' stupid."

That was such a great fake conversation 

[jb666]

Posting about dead celebrities on a forum just seems to be the internet version of babbling the useless babble with friends or coworkers & such. It's no different than when you end up talking to someone you know & you need a topic to discuss after you finish beating the weather into the ground.

You or Me: "Hey, how's it going today?"

Someone Else: "Oh, not bad. I wish it would stop raining though."

You or Me: "Well, rain sucks sometimes, but think about where we'd all be without it."

Someone Else: "True, I didn't think of it that way."

You or Me: "Good thing I saw you today to point that out."

Someone Else: "Yes, I don't know if I would have remembered what I was taught in science class back in grade school."

You or Me: "I make it a point to remind people of things like that. You just never know when you might be selected to go on the Who Wants To Be A Millionare show & not want to use up all those lifelines. You could get a really tough question like, 'What type of plant was introduced in New York State in the 1800's that never grew there originally & is now a problem to native plants?' It would suck if you wasted a call to someone on weather related crap."

Someone Else: "Wow, that is a good point."

You or Me: "Do you think it's a good enough point to start a thread on?"

Someone Else: "No, it's actually pretty freakin' stupid."

That was such a great fake conversation 

It was actually pretty damn funny 

[Forza]

I don't like the threads either but then again that's why I don't read them. Reminds me of a friend that was bitching to me how he hates eating subway everyday when he has classes. Gee, I dunno, go somewhere else maybe?

[Silver R/T]

ya, it's pointless. These people don't care for average guy who's working at the factory or does other hard labor. They actually depend on us, to watch their games, their movies, etc. They lived well cause of our hard earned money.

[RD]

Well one thing for sure, You got your share of attention with this thread.  

tilar, no offense mate, but if making jabs at me in the intention to associate me with being an attention whore makes you feel smart and witty.. you got me pegged buddy.  Hope you can sleep tonight now. I guess you expect those who start threads to type one post and never revisit it.

now back onto the topic at hand.

Well I feel he contradited himself as per the highlighted statements, and missed the point that somefolks do actually care about media icons (for good and for bad) and paints celebrities (specificlly actors) with a broad brush disrespecting them in the process... they are people some are actually noteworthy for good or for bad reasons, for crying out loud - he didn't even read the thread.
Some of these folks I do care about 'n some I don't, when the designer of the Charger died a few yrs. back did he deserve a thread...  I'm just sayin'..   are we feeling here, or thinking?.. cause if your thinking it becomes a moot who gives a crap situation, but if your feeling perhaps you have a Favorite moment the Persons' work or life provided and wish to honor.
BTW:
I'd like to start a thread about capitol punishment but I'm afraid it might be too controversial.  

i dont believe i did contradict myself in my statements.  my point was clear and concise.  my focus was on the idolatry of actors or famous people who have recently deceased and why people feel they must start threads in their honor.

i dont have to read a thread that is the same as many other celebrity RIP threads that i have read in the past.  they all say the same thing, just from different people.

my argument here is NOT whether I should make these threads disappear, nor is it to get people to stop doing them, my QUESTIONS are to why people feel they NEED to do such things?  If you all who are missing that point want to make me look like the asshole, my angst dwells from you not understanding my argument.  Re-read what I have wrote, not what you think I wrote OR what you assume my words mean.  They are pretty clear.

[Tilar]

RD, It was not my intention to make you look like an attention whore, but look at it from the other side of the screen for a moment. It seemed ironic to me that you would even make a post about it and then come in and say that you posted about it because you thought actors were attention whores.  I made the comment because I thought it was funny. Nothing more. If I made you feel bad it wasn't intentional and I'll apologize, Not for what I said but for making you feel bad.

As far as anyone feeling a "NEED" as you say to post these things, To me it's no different than the need for Mr. Gowdy to post a video about his liver biopsy, or the post about the guy wanting to do his wifes sister, or the zombie thread... Ok the video of the liver biopsy was a little over the top but I'm not going to make fun of him if he feels he needs to share  something like that.  It's an off topic forum. That's what it is for.

[mikepmcs]

Posting about dead celebrities on a forum just seems to be the internet version of babbling the useless babble with friends or coworkers & such. It's no different than when you end up talking to someone you know & you need a topic to discuss after you finish beating the weather into the ground.

You or Me: "Hey, how's it going today?"

Someone Else: "Oh, not bad. I wish it would stop raining though."

You or Me: "Well, rain sucks sometimes, but think about where we'd all be without it."

Someone Else: "True, I didn't think of it that way."

You or Me: "Good thing I saw you today to point that out."

Someone Else: "Yes, I don't know if I would have remembered what I was taught in science class back in grade school."

You or Me: "I make it a point to remind people of things like that. You just never know when you might be selected to go on the Who Wants To Be A Millionare show & not want to use up all those lifelines. You could get a really tough question like, 'What type of plant was introduced in New York State in the 1800's that never grew there originally & is now a problem to native plants?' It would suck if you wasted a call to someone on weather related crap."

Someone Else: "Wow, that is a good point."

You or Me: "Do you think it's a good enough point to start a thread on?"

Someone Else: "No, it's actually pretty freakin' stupid."

Fricken hilarious as always! 

oh, and RIP Mary Travers, you will be missed.  Hopefully Jamey doesn't see this. 

[moparstuart]

  puff the magic dragon   

[RD]

RD, It was not my intention to make you look like an attention whore, but look at it from the other side of the screen for a moment. It seemed ironic to me that you would even make a post about it and then come in and say that you posted about it because you thought actors were attention whores.  I made the comment because I thought it was funny. Nothing more. If I made you feel bad it wasn't intentional and I'll apologize, Not for what I said but for making you feel bad.

As far as anyone feeling a "NEED" as you say to post these things, To me it's no different than the need for Mr. Gowdy to post a video about his liver biopsy, or the post about the guy wanting to do his wifes sister, or the zombie thread... Ok the video of the liver biopsy was a little over the top but I'm not going to make fun of him if he feels he needs to share   something like that.  It's an off topic forum. That's what it is for.

i can see your point if indeed my truest of intention was to get nothing but attention on myself, but that is not the case.  my intention is to figure out WHY people feel the need to do such posts.  In order for me to figure out why, I have to stay intune to the thread and post my reasons as to WHY i dont agree with them.

And ty for your reason as to why you think they are posted.

oh, and RIP Mary Travers, you will be missed.  Hopefully Jamey doesn't see this.

SACRILEGE!!! lol that was funny mike.

[Brock Samson]

Well who if anyone would be worthy of a memorial post?.. 

[RD]

Well who if anyone would be worthy of a memorial post?.. 

come on now.. if you dont know, you shouldnt ask.  when have you ever seen me disagree with someone posting a memorial post for their good friend, family member, or loved one.

these are people they know and love.  in regards to famous people, can you say you know and love them the same way you would a family member?

[Neal_J]

Well who if anyone would be worthy of a memorial post?..  

Perhaps Jessica Simpson's coyote-mauled dog

or Mary...of Peter, Paul & Mary?

Just a couple of ideas...

[Ghoste]

Perhaps it isn't the famous person that is being missed and immortalized but rather their body of work?  If their art represents a specific moment in time for you and reminds you fondly of that period in your life, then it's worth noting.  If the art stands forever then it would seem fair to RIP the deceased?
That being said, I stand by my first post that pop culture has made us into a cult of celebrity worshipers.  I'll point at Paris Hilton again and ask WTF?

[PocketThunder]

I always thought Puff the Magic Dragon was about smoking grass...  guess not after some quick reading on the internet  (it mus be true!)http://musicouch.com/musicouching/puff-the-magic-dragon%E2%80%9D-controversy/

[Brock Samson]

 I do think this is an interesting topic though,.. Sometimes when the threads appear the Michael Jackson thread in particular comes to mind, I wince and debate reading,.. But in the Case of Patrick S. I could perfectly understand perhaps because to my mind he was usually typecast as an everyman and apparently touched at least some folks with his Roadhouse role... He was even forgiven for knowing how to dance cause no one mentioned that...    
I dunno i think we need our heros (and villains) even if they are manufactured - I'm reading about that very subject now in Joseph Campbells' book "The masks of God - Creative Mythology". This reading is difficult if for no other reason then the parallels I'm drawing from it. Far more dense with history and example then his more popular "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" which I would concider only a simple primer into the subject.
Anyways,..
I don't think your a bad guy or whatever I just don't understand which way your going with this, you say you don't want to seem like one but then at the same time don't care what folks think...  Well, some people do care for whatever reason -  they like (or hate) their works or relate (or don't) to the characters they brought to life, or rooted for their fight against their  inevitable end and/or specific disease, Or belive they're a pervert and applaud their demise or whatever,.. Point being they FEEL something and want to share and compare notes.
Folks are different and have different feelings to the same events,.. I didnt think Bobs' post was particularly funny at all,  (sorry Bob.) and I read it three times,.. I allways find his input on whatever amazingly on point but didn't this time... a few folks got it, but I didn't,.. my point is you say You don't care when actors die, and don't understand why anyone would post about it,.. yet you make a post about it...
Am I the only one who is confused by this?..  
Were still cool right?..
I'm gonna go read Bobs' thread again to see if I can understand youze guys resisitance to these threads...  

& BTW:
I thought "Puff" was about the end of childhood and our imaginary friends...
 

[Brock Samson]

 OK:
after careful Review...
  I'm going with People FEEL something, hence they make a thread, and that is my Final Answer..

[Ghoste]

Soooooo... taking what you've said and adding what I've said, celebrities by definition of living a public life in our right now pop culture world become artists even if their art does nothing more than to make us stare at the circus freak (Paris again  ) and art by it's nature provokes thought and or emotion and upon the death of the "artist/celebrity" which we must act upon by noting the passing since the emotional response is akin to that felt by the more simple mourning and remembrance we would have for a loved one?

[RD]

... you say you don't want to seem like one but then at the same time don't care what folks think...  

i guess i should have cleared that part up more, what i meant to say was that "i dont care if people view me as an insensitive prick", not that I dont care what people think in regard to this topic.

Soooooo... taking what you've said and adding what I've said, celebrities by definition of living a public life in our right now pop culture world become artists even if their art does nothing more than to make us stare at the circus freak (Paris again  ) and art by it's nature provokes thought and or emotion and upon the death of the "artist/celebrity" which we must act upon by noting the passing since the emotional response is akin to that felt by the more simple mourning and remembrance we would have for a loved one?

wow... what a runon sentence!!!   understood it.. awaiting brock's response

[dodgecharger-fan]

To offer up a possible answer to the intent of the question: perhaps the need is to be the first to point out the event within our little nook on the Internet.
It's news.
There's no post about it yet.
Let me be the first!

After that, the thread is there for discussion of the person, their body of work, the untimelyness of their death (or otherwise), the way in whcih they passed, etc..

That's just a possible answer to the "why" that is being asked.
I'm sure there are many more reasons "we" do it.

[RD]

found this article somewhat interesting in a somewhat related way to why people may do RIP threads:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32895999/ns/entertainment-the_new_york_times/?GT1=43001

[Tilar]

I got part way through that link but lost interest.... But then IMO msnbc rates right up there with my brothers wife...Notice I didn't call her my sister-in-law.

Sorry, I'll try to get back on topic in this off topic discussion   ... Why does there have to be a specific reason to post a RIP thread? Or any subject thread for that matter? MJ didn't mean squat to me but I'm glad the original poster posted it so I could say he was a POS. I had met Les Paul once, and although I'm not a guitar freak, I knew some of his work. He was one hell of a guitar man and many people hated to see him die. Does that make them bad for posting their respects?

Oh, and I thought Puff the magic dragon was about imaginary friends too.

[Mike DC]

As for celebs & mythology I think it's an interesting comparison.  I guess the big difference is the fact that celebs' real life actions do so much to carve out their popular mythology.  With imaginary gods & demi-gods, we humans get to entirely write our own ticket.  Except for the occasional unfortunate strike of lightning, there will be no real-world editing process over what stories we dream up about the Gods.


But the line between a person and a pop culture "god" idol is definitely blurred by the media & popular treatment of celebs.  

Just look at South Park's treatment of celebrities.  They start with the real life people and write their own tapestry of events onto them, just like classical mythology.  (And with any luck some of these myths will cling.  Kanye West or Barbara Striesand might get pissed off but I doubt Brian Boytano would mind.)

[chargergirl]

We RIP for famous people because they touch our lives. We laugh, cry, sit in suspense, or horror dependant upon the medium. Because they touch our lives it is fitting that we say goodbye. Some we hate to see go, others well it's ok that they are gone. Michael gave us wonderful music before he lost his mind. In many ways I grew up with this guy. I was floored when he started changing his face and knew it was just a matter of time before his insanity revealed itself...it saddened me, still does. Patrick was married to his high school sweetheart and you never heard bad things about him, it was nice to see a good guy do well. His movies were diverse and pulled different audiences. Les Paul...laughed out of guitar makers offices with his stupid electric guitar for more than ten years, proves that if you believe you don't give up. Paris Hilton is famous because someone decided that being an idiot was entertaining when she passes it will be grieved by her family. Kanye...well times are changing cause every time he got on stage the night he stole another persons thunder, he was BOOed! He tried to explain away his stupidity, arrogance, and just general bad manners because of his mothers passing. When asked why he did these same type of things when she was alive he was speechless. Mother Theresa passed and there was just a bit more than a blurb on the news because Princess Diana had passed. Diana was a good person, Mother Theresa was a GREAT person...there wasn't three weeks of constant coverage about her. She is greatly missed and quietly revered throughout the world. People we don't know personally may touch our lives and be missed. However look at the board and see the support for members that are going through hard times and there is more than just a comment, there are friends.