Friday, January 15, 2016

Celebrity Deaths

Article over at Salon on the high rate of celebrity deaths we seem to be having now:
...the rule of threes has become the “Law of Constant Celebrity Mourning.” The Internet of today is like an “In Memoriam” segment that never stops. And in addition, there are simply more famous people than there have ever been before—in an age where the Web has democratized fame. Whereas celebrity used to be enjoyed by a very small group of powerful people (e.g., movie stars, musicians, politicians, and best-selling authors), now anyone with a webcam and a YouTube account has the ability to build a following. Can you imagine what the “In Memoriam” list is going to look like in 50 years—when we’re adding the slew of Vine and Instagram stars to the mix? That black cloud I mentioned won’t eat the media; it will be the media.
"But Xmastime", you say in the voice of Craig “Ironhead” Heyward from those soap commercials (RIP), “didn't you bring this very thing up 7 years ago?"  

OF COURSE I BROUGHT THIS VERY THING UP 7 YEARS AGO!!!
...we need to get used to our celebrities dropping dead at a high rate from now on as thousands of the very people who came of age at the exact right time to be a part of the advent of TWO major celebrity industries, rock 'n roll AND television, having been born between 1930ish and 1940ish, are now of "dying age." We're at a perfect storm of both timing and sheer number of celebrities dying over the next decade or so; we should be surprised when a week goes by when someone really famous DOESN'T croak. Throw in our creating celebrities just to be celebrities, and we'll have moved from the days of silver screen star Carole Lombard dying to "I'll always remember where I was when I heard Tinkerbell died..."

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