A lot of what I read yesterday included people reacting somewhat angrily to the outpouring of grief towards his death, when there are millions of unknowns dying every day from poverty related causes.
I have thought about this and decided to give my opinion.
In the first instance, let's discuss Heath's death. Firstly, our society places a huge emphasis on fame. And for the most part, we all want to be famous. Look at the internet where there were so many people complaining about the information regarding his death, are all these people just twittering and blogging for fun or because they want someone to read it? Because they want the recognition? The fame? I know that I blog for myself, but also because I would like to think that someone else reads it and discusses it. This emphasis on fame is a worldwide phonomenon too. I have recently watched the Long Way Down and Long Way Round series about Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman's travels on motorcycles around the world. Even in the middle of Mongolia, where people live nomadically in tents made of cloth and eat testicle stew so as not to waste any part of an animal, Ewan was recognised for his part in movie making. So it is very true to say that fame is a VERY worldwide thing. So, in turn, this means it is newsworthy. So why do people grieve so deeply for someone they may never have met?
I will tell you what happens to me. I react to various things that all producers and/or directors will say is exactly what they are trying to achieve. If you play a montage of a person's life, complete with a sad song (one montage yesterday had a song playing that included the line "and the sun will set for you" .. fairly sad stuff) and images of said persons life, most people would be hard pressed not to get at least partially emotional over it. I do. It's marketing. It works (on me it works very well).
A lot of people that call in to radio stations so upset are young, and reacting to a grief they may never have had to deal with before. Playing sad songs and talking like we know these people as well as our closest friends only adds to the feelings of grief.
On the other hand, there are people in our everyday world who are suffering also. Who are lucky if they reach 28 because their regional mortality rate is 30. Whose children are dying because they cannot eat. Whose homes have been wiped out by a natural disaster. Whose civil wars rage out of control. To me, these people are not forgotten either. I do all I can as a person to try to help these people too. I sponsor a child in Mozambique, and have watched him grow over the last 5 years. Watched him start school, Watched his family learn to manage crops and grow food so that they can sustain themselves once World Vision leaves their region. When Bali was bombed, I sent my donation to Bali, not to the Australians affected. I knew that in Australia we would raise money beyond any one's imaginings, and our government would aid the victims, both of which happened, but I also knew that Bali would need all the help it could get to rebuild, so my money went there. After the Tsunami, I did the same thing, and sent my donations to the poorest areas, those that would need it the most.
Bottom line though, was that my grief for these people affected by such extreme tragedies is much greater, but natural unexpected disaster aside, it is not shocking. People are dying from poverty related causes every second, so we are almost, sadly, conditioned to it. It doesn't shock us anymore. Yet when it does shock (tsunami, acts of terrorism) we rally and help.
So yes, yesterday there was a lot of grief and emotion surrounding Heath's death. Here in Perth, being such a small town, nearly everyone would have a Heath story (even I do) so the outpouring was probably even greater. This doesn't mean it was more or less important, it just means it was news on that day. And we as human beings reacted to it.
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