Famous people dying and how the public 'grieve' - a thread for discussion

[PollyFilla]

People were very upset when Princess Diana died but many felt the outpouring of grief was strange given that most of us didn't know her.

Ditto Jade Goody. Most people posting about her death didn't know her.

And likewise Natasha Richardson's sad death this week has moved a lot of people.

So this is a thread to talk about public grief and why people feel the way they do and whether it is completely normal and proper and appropriate or whether it is a symptom of how our press operates in the UK: it gives us all a lot of information on celebrities and so we feel we know them even though we don't.

I think the whole area is interesting. What do you feel in terms of grief for famous people who die and why?

Really? I have had a few pains in my life. Random people dying and being on the news does not make me feel like weeping about them. Surely there has to be some reason for resonance for that case to be made. I can't say that I see Jade Goody as a victim, except of cancer (and previously of not thinking before speaking). Without Big Brother she would have died in complete anonymity and her children would not be looking to inherit anything at all. How she managed to make a career out of her BB "experience" is still beyond me, but publicists were a huge part of that - no biting of the hand that feeds you methinks.

I've just read this whole thread as a making lunch avoidance scheme. Thank you person who started it, it's been interesting and valuable.

The english have had occasional bouts of mass mawkishness about things for many centuries, even before the Victorians. The reaction to the deaths of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire and queen Caroline in the early nineteenth century are eerily familiar. People seem to feel that they 'own' celebrities in some strange way. I fall into the 'sorry for any young family losing their mum' camp, but can think of a great many better uses for the money that's fed the bandwagon.