MovieChat Forums > Kobe Bryant Discussion > I've never cried when a celebrity died, ...

I've never cried when a celebrity died, nor did I leave work or take the next day off. However...

posted 5 years ago by StickyScruggs (16)
3 replies | jump to latest

I was shocked and sad (NOT a "need a day off" sad) when the following celebrities died:

Kobe Bryant
Michael Jackson
Aaliyah
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes
Gary Coleman
Bernie Mac
Whitney Houston (true story: one of my friends posted on FB that he left work for the day. *rolling my eyes*)
Robin Williams

Perhaps there's more than I can't remember. Anyway, I felt absolutely nothing when Paul Walker and James Gandolfini died. No disrespect regarding Paul, due to the obvious, and not to discredit him or James, but at the time, I never heard of them. And let's be realistic -- if the "Fast and Furious" franchise and "The Sopranos" never came into fruition, would as many people have been saddened over their deaths?

With that said, it's completely overboard to either cry or take off from work when a celebrity died. Although, I can somewhat make an exception with crying, but only on either of the following four conditions:

1. You aspired to be like that person (unlike Whitney, I totally emphasized with my other FB friend, classmate from high school who played on the basketball team, who cried when Kobe died).
2. The celebrity went brutally instead of peacefully.
3. The celebrity was young.
4. both 2 and 3 (such as Kobe Bryant and Aaliyah).

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

The only celebrity deaths which hit me hard were the ones which the person kept their illness hidden from the public, or died tragically (with a few exceptions)...

Donna Summer - I've been a fan of Summer's music since my pre-teen years, and never heard she was ill because she was such a private person and she kept her illness well-hidden until after her death (2012). It was completely shocking when I received a text from my sister while I was at work.

Dixie Carter - Same as Summer; I was quite a fan of hers even before Designing Women (1986-93), and was shocked to hear of her passing in 2010. Again, like Summer, she kept her illness private - and no one knew how sick she was until after her death.

Elizabeth Montgomery - Pre-internet (1995) some reports started 'leaking to the tabloids' just a few weeks before her passing, though for every 'she's on her deathbed' there were those stories which said she was 'recovering from the flu'. In the end she had colon cancer, too far advanced before she detected it a month before her passing. What was more shocking was that she was originally diagnosed -and treated - for colon cancer about ten years earlier. Both times, she kept it private and fans never knew. Her death was still hard to believe.

JFK Jr - Like Kobe Bryant, he died in a crash, only his was a small plane he was piloting himself, and crashed into the water off of Martha's Vineyard (not too far from me). For my generation (I'm just a few years younger than he) this was most shocking as he was considered our 'future' for politics. Who knows where he'd be today - possibly in the White House ?

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Here are the ones that really shocked me:

1. John Ritter
2. Kurt Cobain
3. Princess Di
4. Phil Hartman

I was too young to appreciate who he was when he died, but I can imagine that I might've cried at the news of John Lennon getting killed.

[–] MrJasonFoster (407) 5 years ago

I don't think it's ever acceptable to take a day off because a celebrity you did not know died. His family is set for many generations. The people taking the day off probably live paycheck to paycheck and can't afford a day off. Completely unacceptable behavior. He was great, but come on.