Bingowings said:
Two high selling award winning albums and a lot of memorable live performances aside that is a rather mean spirited (not that she can hear you or anything).
It is strange how her death seems to be getting more attention than the massacre in Norway or the famine in Africa but that's none of her doing.
It's like with movies - in order to care-a-lot, people need a connection to a character.
Show them lots of mass atrocities (or cartoon Jedis killed), and they'll be like "oh no this is bad" for a few minutes, then move on. Do something to a well-portrayed character they've built an emotional connection to - and you've got yourself a memorable movie experience.
Same here. A person with a recognizeable face, a distinct personality, mannerisms, statements and output, seems way more "real" and "close" to us than some horror stories of anonymous people we've never heard of.
We feel and realize how horrific it is, but their presence isn't as established in our brains, and it simply seems less "real".
That's at least my take, but that's pretty how it is, I think. Sure, a huge flaw in our psyche, but there it is.
As for me and Winehouse, there's another defense mechanism at work here I'm afraid - compassion is at its highest when it hits the innocent, and as her death is most probably a result of her bad habits, I don't see myself caring all too much.
Rather ironic, seeing as how I'd rather go due to some imposing circumstance I'm not responsible for, rather than by fault and weakness of my own. But maybe that's the relation ;)
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Just something else I've noticed when reading this kind of news - whenever a victim happens to be "involved" in some way, be it volunteering in a dangerous country, in some kind of police duty, in a dangerous area, or even now at this "political summer camp" (at least it wasn't a normal school!!), there always is this subtle "ah, well, they put themselves out there" reaction inside my head.
A rather dangerous defense mechanism making one want to "stay away from trouble" and look the other way. As long as it only hits the activists and fighters... well props to them.
Pretty sure many others (hopefully not all) can relate to that as well.
We're quite unevolved animals ain't we!
/just something I had to get off my mind