An Alternative Perspective (that I may get some flack for). (Off-Topic)

by BeardFade , Portland, OR, Tuesday, December 27, 2016, 18:37 (2668 days ago) @ SonofMacPhisto

Fuck you, 2016. Fuck you.

Alright. What I'm about to say might seem insensitive, but I think the people of DBO might be the kind of people who can appreciate this. While it sucks that a lot of our heroes and idols have died in 2016, I really wish people would consider the underlying correlation and causation to the situation, so they might be able to gain perspective.

The amount of celebrity deaths in 2016 is directly tied to the growth of "celebrity" in our culture. There are more household names dying in 2016 because there are more household names than ever before in history. The advent of the TV and global movies and international rock stars all took place in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s (and continues). How old are all (or at least most) of the people dying? 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s.

This isn't to say it's not sad when we lose people. It most certainly is. But a healthy perspective on life maintains a healthy perspective on death. Death is coming for us all. None of us will survive. And that's ok. It's one of the many things that gives the life we have great meaning.

Mathematically, 2017 will likely be worse than 2016 in regards to losing our celebrities. 2018 worse than that. So on and so on. Our only hope of losing fewer household names in a given year is to reduce how many household names there are. Perhaps our angst and outcry is really more of an indication of the importance of "celebrity" in our culture and lives than it is about our personal sentiments towards people we've (likely) never met.

Once again, let me reiterate. My condolences to those grieving the many losses of 2016. I know that many of these stars had major impacts on your lives. I'm just getting exhausted with no one mentioning the elephant in the room.