Collide Magazine

As you know, the past week ushered in some notable celebrity deaths–first Ed McMahon, then Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson on the same day, and then TV pitchman Billy Mays over the weekend. Obituaries, tributes, and career retrospectives are best left to other blogs, but I can’t help but comment on the effect these high profile passings have on popular culture.

When news of Jackson’s death began to break, millions flocked to Google and other sites for more information, and then to Twitter and blogs to weigh in on the catasstrophic event. Media outlets responded by playing MJ videos and discussing his legacy with distinguished guests while Yahoo ran the strange headline, “Jackson fans moonwalk, hold worldwide vigils.” In our world, only celebrities can inspire such devotion.

Just this morning, Erwin McManus tweeted about the toll the barrage of celeb deaths has taken on his city, Los Angeles. “LA has been reeling from the loss of celebrites-esp MJ.” And he’s right. People everywhere are genuinely upset about the deaths of people they’ve never met. Of course, the pop culture machine (fueled by TV, magazines, and the Interwebs) thrives on making certain humans larger than life and making those celebs are part of our daily lives (even though we aren’t part of theirs). As a result, losing someone we’ve adored for decades is difficult for some of us to bear. And then there’s the mortality angle.

With the excpetion of McMahon, the celebrities were relatively young. Mays and MJ were 50 and Fawcett was just 62. I wonder how many 40- and 50-somethings are taking stock of things in the wake of these deaths involving people their age. If any two factors make a person appear invincible in the eyes of themselves and others, they have got to be youth and celebrity. And yet here we find ourselves–even the youngest, richest, and most adored among us can’t escape death.

As our culture mourns the loss of its icons, maybe it’s time we give some thought to the influence of celebrities on our lives. Of course, it’s never a bad time to resolve to live each day to the fullest (and encourage others to do the same). In Psalm 63, King David wrote, “I will praise you as long as I live.” The implication there is that he knows he’ll die some day, but until then, he’ll live as he was meant to live.

How’s that for heavy on a Monday morning?

This entry was posted on Monday, June 29th, 2009 at 10:14 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.