When famous people die

[Arcades057]

I have noted a disturbing trend around the internet, and I have seen it evidenced here on a few occasions (namely the recently-closed RIP Tony Snow thread and the thread about that televangelist guy).

The trend is to curse these people for perceived ills they committed while living. One may look at a person such as Heath Ledger, who played a homosexual cowboy in a movie, and say "thank God that guy's dead, man, all he did was advocate for the homaseshuals!" This person, by the accounts of anyone with half a brain rolling around inside their heads, is a friggin idiot.

Conversely, the same people who would lament the death of a "progressive" figure, will then celebrate the death of a "conservative" figure, such as Mr. Snow, are also friggin idiots.

Those of you who troll RIP threads for people you do not agree with: Why do you do it? If you don't like the politics or the person, why not avoid the thread entirely? If Micheal Moore died tomorrow, a person who I find morally reprehensible and vile, I would not troll the threads you create lamenting his passing, as that would be tacky and equally as reprehensible as the acts that I felt necessitated my original response.

So why do you do it? Why troll RIP threads for people you dislike/hate?

[Mike70]

well how to answer or even to answer? i'll give it a whirl.

first off heath ledger was an actor, the people and things he portrayed on film do not necessarily reflect his personal beliefs nor was he someone actively trying to alter the fundamental course of the country, so to condemn him for things done on film would be, well, rather stupid.

jerry falwell and jesse helms, et.al, were not actors. they were real people with some belief systems that many, many of us find utterly and completely unacceptable in any way, shape or form. if the planet is a shade lighter for want of these sorts of people, i think that is a good thing.

tony snow on the other hand was seemingly just a dude trying to do his job while struggling with cancer. i doubt very, very seriously that he was "in" on any of the major decisions made by this present admin. hell, the guy was only in the job for a relatively short time, so i didn't quite get where the hatred for him was coming from.

as for jesse helms and jerry falwell - i hated both of them to their cores and loathed the stuff they said and did. i am glad they are done with, never to return. i find it very hard to treat folks like them as real humans because i so abhor what they are all about, since most of it seems to revolve around some sort of hatred for one thing or another.

our country doesn't need these throwbacks to the bad old days nor does it need an idiot like michael moore but that is story for another time.

[Arcades057]

I can understand people hating controversial figures, I can understand that hatred still being quite real even after the person is dead.

What I can't understand are the trolls who attack threads RIP'ing the dead. That was the question: Why attack the threads.

[axlish]

Cursing the dead is pretty classless all around. I'm not here to legislate class though, so to each his or her own.

[AcesandEights]

I don't usually advocate such behavior, though I can appreciate a 'thank god that sonovabitch is dead' attitude in some respects. I'm also not going to shy away from talking critically about the dead.

It all comes down to passion and what one feels is appropriate, of course. And when you think someone who is hateful or plain ol' evil dies, it's going to change how you feel about, and react to, their death.

Dropping craziness/hatefulness into a death notice is bad karma...though I'm not saying I wouldn't do it in some occasions...

[SRP76]

People complain about people they hate in the death threads because nobody makes threads about them while they're alive.

[MinionZombie]

1) Careful this doesn't descend into some bitch-fest, like the closed Evangelist guy thread - only saying, though. So don't fret. :)

2) I totally read the title like one of those "When Weather Attacks!" type clip shows ... ... say "When famous people die" in that style and you'll giggle, I know I did. :p

...

I guess it's easy to point out someone's flaws after they're gone ... cos they can't say much against it as they're dead and under ground.

Also, perhaps it's just natural. Those who didn't like the person much point out the flaws, and those who liked the person point out the positives.

I guess death is an excuse to point out both, or more so with public figures anyway.

[SRP76]

In order to cut down on the negativity in dead people's threads, we should each list who we despise most, so we can make threads to bash them while they're still breathing.

Here, I'll go first:

1. Rosie O'Donnell
2. Roseanne Barr/Arnold/whatever her name is today
3. Snoop Dogg
4. Arlen Specter
5. Edward Kennedy
6. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
7. John Travolta

...that should be enough to start off with.

[Yojimbo]

SRP, Snoop before Arlen Spector? AND John Travolta. Dude, that's harsh! :lol:

[SRP76]

Well, that wasn't in any particular order. I just numbered them to keep track of how many there were. The real #1 as far as ranking varies: it's whichever one of them I happen to be thinking about at any moment.

[Danny]

People complain about people they hate in the death threads because nobody makes threads about them while they're alive.

why?, so they wont read it and track them down and beat ten bells of **** out them like in jay and silent bob strikes back?:lol:

[Skippy911sc]

Discussing someones life and their accomplishments or the lack there of after they pass is natural and I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Tony Snow was not thrust into the spot light he was a conservative pundit for a long time. I saw him on Real time with Bill Maher on several occasions. The difference between Snow and the other deceased political/religious figures was that he argued his point in a classy way. The great thing about our country is the ability to disagree and openly discuss it. Whether you liked him or hated him, have the discussion. When you are speaking on behalf of someone else you are speaking for that person. This is why we have so many retractions from the current political candidates right now. Snow spoke for the administration and therefore he was a part of the administration. He spoke on their behalf long before he became press secretary. Lets have a discussion that leads to enlightenment not drive the discussion into a hate crime.

[EvilNed]

I'm glad Hitler is dead. Shoot me.

[Dillinger]

I'm glad Hitler is dead. Shoot me.
Heh heh heh. I totally agree!

I've noticed people on these forums (i'm looking at you especially, Arcade) never said one damn word about Tony Snow when he was alive. But the minute he's dead, everyone kisses his ass.

We have to ween ourselves off of this morbid obsession of worshipping the dead. It's like this. Nobody gives a damn about said person until said person dies. Well, here's a newsflash for you. If I didn't like you when you were alive, dying isn't going to change my opinion of you. Sorry. You're not getting off that easy.

Tony Snow chose to work for the neo-con crime syndicate that hijacked our government. Under his own freewill, he became a minion of the most corrupt regime in our nation's history. Yeah, I know he's dead. But nonetheless, a dead traitor is still a traitor.

[Mike70]

Arcs i get what you are saying now. my first response did really answer the question posed, so here i go again.

i agree with you that if there is an RIP thread and it is the clear intention of the original poster to have a "memorial" thread then ripping on the dead person shouldn't happen in that thread and if it does, then the OP should ask for those posts to be nuked per the forum rules on following the wishes of the thread author.

now if it is simply a thread announcing the death of someone, then that seems to be a different matter and i would guess it would be open season (unless the thread author states otherwise in their first post).

[MinionZombie]

Or someone dying, who you don't really know, gives an excuse to talk about them - or indeed organises enough people into talking about them, that a whole conversation gets going.

There's only so much time in the day that you can dedicate to talking about stuff ... it's like watching movies, some random thing might be enough of an excuse for you to get all hardcore about a series of films, or one director's films or what have you.

Likewise, someone dying is an excuse to talk about them.

[Legion2213]

Nelson Mandela.

Let me be the first to say good riddance to terrorist rubbish. Don't like him now, won't like him when he dies.

Edit: This is the purpose of this thread right? You can say bad stuff about dead folks if you say it when they are alive?

[Dillinger]

They're dead. It's not like they're going to care or anything.

Hey Pope John Paul II, your mom is an astronaut!

[mista_mo]

Heath Ledger was a drug addict who'll be remembered for the way that he died, not his movies.

****storm shall commence in....

[capncnut]

<says nothing to answer the above inanity>

[SRP76]

Heath Ledger was a drug addict who'll be remembered for the way that he died, not his movies.

****storm shall commence in....

His movies? He had movies?

I guess they just weren't all that appealing.:p

[MinionZombie]

Nelson Mandela.

Let me be the first to say good riddance to terrorist rubbish. Don't like him now, won't like him when he dies.

Edit: This is the purpose of this thread right? You can say bad stuff about dead folks if you say it when they are alive?
Interesting response, because I too don't like all the Mandela fawning.

Yeah he's done good stuff, but he's also done bad stuff - but oh that just gets forgotten about completely.

And of course, Africa's in such a bloody state now, and the likes of the UK won't touch it with a barge pole for fear of the "white power" thing rearing it's head ... fact is, Africa is a mess with idiots in charge.

Idiots, greedy ones at that, come in all colours ... and it's an awful shame for the people of the country who just want to live freely, have food to eat, send their kids to school to get educated and earn a better life, but for many, many, many of them...it's still a distant dream. :(

Anyway...I'll go now, I'm off to see WALL.E at t'cinema. :)