Guest Writer: Alden Michels - Sacrosanctimonious: The Glorification of Dead Celebrities

Since the inception of this blog, Alden Michels has been ubiquitous in the comments section, usually in some form of disagreement. This doesn't really come as much of a surprise because we've been disagreeing with each other about things since we became good friends a decade ago. I value his opinions very much, not because they are uniquely his, but because they tend to keep me honest. He always brings up compelling points and I admire how quickly he thinks on his feet. So enjoy Alden's post, I think it makes for some pretty interesting reading. See you Monday.

Sacrosanctimonious: The Glorification of Dead Celebrities

By Alden Michels

No one gives a damn about Tim Russert. Not really. I never cared for him much. In fact there were several times during his career that I found his exploits downright shameful. I thought he was far too willing to accept the Bush Administration’s answers with few follow up questions even after it was patently obvious they had lied in the past to him on his show. I also think he showed blatant hostility toward Hillary Clinton on two separate occasions when he was supposed to be the moderator of the debate. As a journalist, I thought he was overrated and I constantly wished they had a different host of Meet the Press.

Still reading? I should amend the first sentence; I mean no one in the general public. Obviously his family, friends and colleagues care. Now, I’d love to say that I said the above for sheer shock value, but I meant it, and while it might be insensitive, it is honest. I have heard several people who knew him speak in hallowed tones of his good nature and professionalism. In fact it’s all I heard for weeks on end, and that talk spilled over to conversations I heard in the workplace, standing in line, in restaurants. People spoke of him as if they were going to miss him, despite the fact that they never actually met him. And then his son’s eulogy was repeated ad nauseum ad infinitum, which resulted in his son making the talk show rounds to discuss it. A public funeral is one thing, but a televised funeral used to sell ad space to Johnson & Johnson makes me a bit sick.

It reminded me of when Heath Ledger passed away before his time and people began to draw ludicrous parallels from him to Marlon Brando. I thought he was a good actor, but not even in Brando’s area code. I was very careful not to mention that I thought his work in Brokeback Mountain was vastly overrated. Everyone was afraid to say anything negative about him. Well, everyone except John Gibson. The reverence for Mr. Ledger continues today with the impending release of The Dark Knight with record numbers of advance tickets being sold and Oscar Buzz already generating for his turn as the Joker. It very well may be an incredible performance, but would the buzz be as strong if it were not shown posthumously?

I wondered for a long time; why do people attach such meaning to people they have never met? What did Russert or Ledger mean to any of them? And why did any negative talk of them have to be stifled? We, as a culture, are so afraid to speak ill of the dead. That is understandable. Certainly comments like the ones Gibson said about Ledger are inappropriate, especially when children are involved. But does that mean he has to become the finest actor of our generation? Does death really turn Heath Ledger into Marlon Brando and Tim Russert into Edward R. Murrow? Is it not only dishonest, but disrespectful to the memories of the truly great? Isn’t this affected sadness a presumptuous attitude posed by an invasive cultured hooked on TMZ and US Weekly?

And just when I thought I was immune from the reverence of dead celebrities, George Carlin died. Now, I hold that George Carlin was a better stand-up comedian than Russert was a journalist or Ledger was an actor. But, that is not the point. The point is when Carlin died I felt a loss even though I had never met him. His brilliant cynical perspective always cut through conventional wisdom and made me look at life differently. And in that moment maybe I felt a kinship with those who saw Russert as a Sunday morning mainstay and felt connected to the story of him and his father. I felt a bit of what Ledger fans must have felt when they realized that he would give no more performances.

I suppose it is right that we are mindful of others’ feelings after the passing of an icon, but where do we draw the line? I know that we do care for these public figures, but do we have a right to? And if so, to what extent?