Whitney Houston is dead!

[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).