It's funny how different celebrity deaths affect different people. For instance, some people carried on about Michael Jackson or Anna Nicole.
For whatever reason, I feel like Naomi - John's murder affected me greatly. Maybe it was partly because he was the first, also the fact that he chose to live in New York and you might see him walking around the streets like Garbo (who I did see once) or Jackie O.
Or maybe it was the sheer stupid senselessness of it.
Murder, by definition is almost always senseless and often tragic. There is, however, something odd about a society that groans and moans about the murder of a celebrity but usually knows nothing and feels nothing about thousands of other murders. Moreover, in my own perverse mental meandering, I wonder what happens to innocent little boys and innocent little girls that turns them into murderers. Could it have just easily been you or me who had become a murderer? Sociologists, criminologist, psychiatrists, and others probably have plenty of theories. To my mind, though, it all points to the possiblity that evil (manifested in murder) is not a secular abstraction but something more profound. End of sermon. No collection.
The film about Mark Chapman really shed no light for me on why he killed Lennon. It seemed to be motiveless and stupidly impulsive, like much of the rest of his life.
Still remember the day with perfect clarity: I was watching TV when a news bulletin interrupted the show. It said Lennon had been shot. I immediately called my roommate who worked at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. She hadn't heard anything about it, but as she was talking to me, I heard someone in the background say, "John Lennon's dead." By the time she got home from work, every Beatles and Lennon record in the store was sold out.
What amazes me now, in the era of instant information, is how long it took for us to learn he'd been shot and that he was dead.
So true.
ReplyDeleteRandom violence can strike any of us at any time. Fame, wealth, and talent are no protections against it.
ReplyDeleteNo, they increase the likelihood. Murder a famous man and you become famous.
ReplyDeletePatti - I couldn't have said it better. What a senseless, horrible tragedy. I still get a lump thinking about it...
ReplyDeleteHis loss is still so painful to me.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how different celebrity deaths affect different people. For instance, some people carried on about Michael Jackson or Anna Nicole.
ReplyDeleteFor whatever reason, I feel like Naomi - John's murder affected me greatly. Maybe it was partly because he was the first, also the fact that he chose to live in New York and you might see him walking around the streets like Garbo (who I did see once) or Jackie O.
Or maybe it was the sheer stupid senselessness of it.
Jeff M.
Murder, by definition is almost always senseless and often tragic. There is, however, something odd about a society that groans and moans about the murder of a celebrity but usually knows nothing and feels nothing about thousands of other murders. Moreover, in my own perverse mental meandering, I wonder what happens to innocent little boys and innocent little girls that turns them into murderers. Could it have just easily been you or me who had become a murderer? Sociologists, criminologist, psychiatrists, and others probably have plenty of theories. To my mind, though, it all points to the possiblity that evil (manifested in murder) is not a secular abstraction but something more profound. End of sermon. No collection.
ReplyDeleteI missed the announcement the night before during the game, having gone to bed early. I learned of it the next day at work.
ReplyDeleteWe were all lost for a time.
I second what Naomi said.
ReplyDeleteIf he was not a celebrity, he would not have been killed so that makes it difficult to sort out.
ReplyDeletePainful to me, too.
The film about Mark Chapman really shed no light for me on why he killed Lennon. It seemed to be motiveless and stupidly impulsive, like much of the rest of his life.
ReplyDeleteOnly in recent years have I come to truly appreciate his lyrics.
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ReplyDeleteStill remember the day with perfect clarity: I was watching TV when a news bulletin interrupted the show. It said Lennon had been shot. I immediately called my roommate who worked at Tower Records on Sunset Blvd. She hadn't heard anything about it, but as she was talking to me, I heard someone in the background say, "John Lennon's dead." By the time she got home from work, every Beatles and Lennon record in the store was sold out.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazes me now, in the era of instant information, is how long it took for us to learn he'd been shot and that he was dead.
Back in the sixties, it took even longer.
ReplyDeleteBut in real life murder *is* tragic and pointless.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
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