Whitney Houston is dead!

[AnchorAlumna]

My theory is a lot depends on who is controlling the news.
The people now controlling it (meaning TV news directors, editors etc) are from the generation who grew up with Whitney commanding the pop charts. That, plus the fact of her dramatic decline over the years, informs what they choose to put on the air.
Add that to instant news - the news was out minutes after she drew her last breath - plus our innate tendency to not be able to tear our eyes away from a train wreck - and you have the TMZ TV show reporting, with each person's opinion, every detail.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

You mean thank you, Dolly Parton.

Originally Posted by PM_Mama00

Yep!

Nope. I did the Whitney version so she gets the shout out. Dolly's original sounds different.

[AnchorAlumna]

Originally Posted by SWTXBelle

You mean thank you, Dolly Parton.

Originally Posted by christiangirl

Nope. I did the Whitney version so she gets the shout out. Dolly's original sounds different.

Dolly wrote the song.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by AnchorAlumna

Dolly wrote the song.

But she didn't sing it the way I sang it and it wasn't the words that got the baby to sleep! This is not the Dolly Parton thread!

[33girl]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I don't really get the time and attention devoted to celebrity. Can someone tell me why anyone really GAS about who is or isn't allowed to come to the funeral of a dead person who was [really] good at singing? What is your emotional connection to this person who you saw on TV and heard recordings of and never met or knew beyond what you read in the tabloids?

That's easy. Her songs (one in particular) were playing at memorable times of my life. They probably added to the memorable-ness of it. It makes me sad that a person who contributed to my life, even in a very peripheral way, even though she didn't know that she did it, is gone.

The fact that you even referenced Steve Jobs apparently means he played some similar part in your life.

If you don't understand that I don't know what else I can tell you.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by 33girl

The fact that you even referenced Steve Jobs apparently means he played some similar part in your life.

I wasn't particularly affected by Jobs. I was just throwing out an example of someone who had an ongoing contribution to society and was felled by an illness which wasn't preventable (whereas addiction is very preventable and treatable). Jobs' contribution to society was measurably more than Houston's, but my Apple stock has continued to be a great investment, so his death wasn't a big deal after all.

If you don't understand that I don't know what else I can tell you.

Yeah, I don't get it.

[knight_shadow]

Originally Posted by 33girl

That's easy. Her songs (one in particular) were playing at memorable times of my life. They probably added to the memorable-ness of it. It makes me sad that a person who contributed to my life, even in a very peripheral way, even though she didn't know that she did it, is gone.

The fact that you even referenced Steve Jobs apparently means he played some similar part in your life.

If you don't understand that I don't know what else I can tell you.

Yep.

Singers usually provide the soundtracks to folks' lives (ex. I love XYZ because she was on the radio when I had my first kiss). Of course, this is going to cause people to get attached to them.

If (general) YOU don't have a connection to the artists, that's fine, but we can't discount their contributions to entertainment. The Beatles were before my time, so while I wouldn't flip tables and take off of work when McCartney passes away, I'll understand if others are upset.

I was also thinking about something else recently. I'm 27, so MJ and Whitney (among others) have been constants in my life (as long as I can remember, MJ and Whitney have been around). With their deaths, it's making me feel like I'm "closer to death" (if that makes sense), which is a bit of a downer.

[christiangirl]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

I was also thinking about something else recently. I'm 27, so MJ and Whitney (among others) have been constants in my life (as long as I can remember, MJ and Whitney have been around). With their deaths, it's making me feel like I'm "closer to death" (if that makes sense), which is a bit of a downer.

Ditto. Seeing people who have been "present" my ENTIRE life die trips me out. I remember watching the world premiere of the "Remember the Time" video when I was 7. To think that MJ is no longer living (even though he died younger than most) is a huge reminder of how much of my life has passed and how much older I am. Time is precious and that loss made me more aware of how fast it's going. In that vein, it's also trippy seeing people close to my parents' age or younger die. It makes me more aware that my time with them is limited as well.

When I think of Whitney, I remember watching The Preacher's Wife with my mom, dancing to her music with my friends, etc. So it does feel a little bit like a personal loss because Whitney was "there" in those intimate moments.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by knight_shadow

Yep.

Singers usually provide the soundtracks to folks' lives (ex. I love XYZ because she was on the radio when I had my first kiss). Of course, this is going to cause people to get attached to them.

If (general) YOU don't have a connection to the artists, that's fine, but we can't discount their contributions to entertainment. The Beatles were before my time, so while I wouldn't flip tables and take off of work when McCartney passes away, I'll understand if others are upset.

I understand this on a general level ... but the song still exists, and all that, you know?

I was also thinking about something else recently. I'm 27, so MJ and Whitney (among others) have been constants in my life (as long as I can remember, MJ and Whitney have been around). With their deaths, it's making me feel like I'm "closer to death" (if that makes sense), which is a bit of a downer.

This is a very good point, as it's essentially the dissonance I was talking about - and it's a mechanism we all share. We just have different manners of expression.

[aggieAXO]

Originally Posted by 33girl

That's easy. Her songs (one in particular) were playing at memorable times of my life. They probably added to the memorable-ness of it. It makes me sad that a person who contributed to my life, even in a very peripheral way, even though she didn't know that she did it, is gone.

The fact that you even referenced Steve Jobs apparently means he played some similar part in your life.

If you don't understand that I don't know what else I can tell you.

Yes to this! Music plays a big part in my life-especially music from my youth and Whitney was a part of that genre. I found out a few minutes before I turned 40 last Saturday and a part of my childhood died with her. I am so sad.

[steveg]

How many times we have seen a great talent flame out?

Fame=money=stress=drugs=death?

It is so sad that these talents are lost to us.
Whitney was a talent beyond beleif.

Her rendition of The Star Spangled Banner will never be found any better.

RIP you great lovely person.

[KSig RC]

Originally Posted by Kevin

I don't really get the time and attention devoted to celebrity. Can someone tell me why anyone really GAS about who is or isn't allowed to come to the funeral of a dead person who was [really] good at singing? What is your emotional connection to this person who you saw on TV and heard recordings of and never met or knew beyond what you read in the tabloids?

If it's about being sad that you'll miss her future output, let's be honest. Her voice wasn't what it once was and she was a hopeless addict making a living on [badly] singing the same songs she sang 20 years ago.

I don't recall even Steve Jobs' funeral arrangements getting this sort of hype. Maybe it's about Sony maximizing some last minute profit on record sales?

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/e...w/11913702.cms

I just don't get it and never will.

It's essentially cognitive dissonance made real - the dissonance between everyday life and celebrity culture (plus celebrities' actions and our own, plus the time we spend on it versus the value it actually provides) becomes outrageously powerful when a celebrity dies.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by KSig RC

It's essentially cognitive dissonance made real - the dissonance between everyday life and celebrity culture (plus celebrities' actions and our own, plus the time we spend on it versus the value it actually provides) becomes outrageously powerful when a celebrity dies.

That's a perfectly rational explanation. I don't really get the celebrity culture or why anyone accepts it, but they do. There is certainly nothing innately virtuous about it, and as you illustrated, it's pretty irrational.

[Cen1aur 1963]

Originally Posted by Kevin

That's a perfectly rational explanation. I don't really get the celebrity culture or why anyone accepts it, but they do. There is certainly nothing innately virtuous about it, and as you illustrated, it's pretty irrational.

Folks accept it because it's entertainment. Folks like celebrity gossip/entertainment, especially if it's negative (lies or truth).

[AZTheta]

Well hell, I personally have always adored THIS version:

http://youtu.be/D090T2MSxKY

She sang it in concert at the TCC Music Hall in 1976 or 1977 and I thought every single piece of glass in the building was going to shatter and the ceiling was going to lift up and the angels were going to come and sit on the stage. So much power came out of that tiny package. I held my breath the entire time she was singing.