NEWS
Death at one’s elbow: celebrities, fans and the grieving process
2016 started in sadness, with the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman, among others. As fans post about their grief on social media, Kirstyn Smith looks
at the reasons why we mourn celebrities that we’ve never met
COMING UP • Edinburgh Student Arts Festival (Fri 12–Fri 19 Feb): Scotland’s only student-run arts festival showcases art from various educational institutions in the city, and features everything from performances and exhibitions to talks and workshops.
writing a raw and frank post about the sudden death of her husband in May 2015. ‘People started talking to me more openly. And even strangers, because I’m not the only person who experienced loss this year or in previous years.’
They say death is the last taboo, and this is as true online as it is in person. But the perceived detachment offered by social media encourages discussion, conversation and acknowledgement of world-shifting experiences. The technology is there, and on it we share news of our breakfasts, our pets, our families. So, why not our grief?
Bowie fan, Natalie, found solace in social media: ‘Twitter is a great medium for talking to like-minded people and was the i rst place I turned when I heard the news. It was really lovely to share stories with ordinary people who felt the same way I did about Bowie. I didn’t see any one-upmanship, just real emotion and shocked sadness.’
While the phenomenon of sharing every thought and feeling online is a relatively new one, it’s not as though we’ve never publicly united to mourn the death of a public i gure before. ‘You could refer to the death and the funeral of Winston Churchill,’ says psychiatrist Dr Lars Davidsson, medical director of the Anglo European Clinic. ‘There were about a million people lining the road when his cofi n passed through London. I think people have always mourned public i gures who die, it’s just that Facebook and Twitter provide us with the technology to do it in a different way.’
These new technologies are often the precipitant as well as the solution. Social media, particularly Twitter, allows artists and celebrities to connect to their fans in a way they never could before, allowing for closer perceived bonds and a more intimate access to their everyday lives. So it’s not the most unusual occurrence for the fan / celebrity relationship to become a reality: Wizards of Waverly Place actor Jake T Austin recently announced on Instagram that he is now in a relationship with a fan who had ‘Twitter stalked’ him for six years. Alan Rickman fan, Janelle, says: ‘Life is about connectedness, and if someone I never met can bring me into a (metaphorical) embrace with even more humans I’ve never met, then that is a beautiful collective experience. How lucky we are to have such support and opportunity. Knowing we’re not crazy for crying over someone we don’t know. Knowing we’re all rather alike, in fact, and need that hand to hold through shared posts and favourite scenes.’
If the goal of an artist is to create work that moves and engages, it’s only natural for us to also feel bound to that artist as well.
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Fil F ti l (W d 17 S • Glasgow Film Festival (Wed 17–Sun 28 Feb): highlights from this year’s event include the world premiere of Where You’re Meant to Be at the Barrowland (Fri 19 Feb), Raiders of the Lost Ark (pictured) and Silence of the Lambs at Kelvingrove Art Gallery (Sat 20 Feb), as well as an appearance from Richard Gere, for the UK premiere of his new i lm, Time Out of Mind. See feature, page 17.
• StAnza (Wed 2–Sun 6 Mar): this poetry festival has over 100 guests from all over the world, reading and talking about all things versii ed. Highlights include Andrew McMillan, Don Paterson and Jo Bell. • Glasgow International Comedy Festival (Thu 10–Sun 27 Mar): the cream of the comedic world swoops upon Glasgow for another barnstorming festival. See feature, page 27.
• HippFest (Wed 16–Sun 20 Mar): silent i lm festival returns to Bo’ness for a sixth year. See preview, page 59. • Puppet Animation Festival (Sat 19 Mar–Sat 9 Apr): a feast of puppet- based entertainment from the UK’s largest and longest established annual performing arts event for kids.
• Edinburgh International Science Festival (Sat 26 Mar–Sun 10 Apr): the festival’s programme launches on Tue 9 Feb. See feature, page 33. • Beltane (Sat 30 Apr): a modern interpretation of the ancient fertility festival of Beltane in the spectacular setting of Calton Hill.
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P H O T O © B R A N D U F F Y
T S Eliot’s cruelest month may have been April, but if he were alive today he’d be forced to consider giving January the honour. Instead of breeding lilacs out of the dead land, this month seems intent on doing the opposite.
Less than a fortnight in, 2016 took a nosedive when the news broke that, just three days after marking his 69th birthday by releasing his resoundingly lauded Blackstar album, David Bowie had succumbed to cancer. Four days later, before the world had the chance to collectively exit the ‘denial’ stage, another blow came in the form of Alan Rickman’s death, also from cancer and at the same age. Story fodder for years to come, the answer to the ‘where were you when you heard David Bowie had died?’ question will be, for many: ‘on social media’. A collectively shocked and pissed-off general public took to the web to air their woes and search for comfort in the digital arms of others as the shockwaves rippled on. When Alan Rickman’s death was announced a handful of days later, a Facebook post on my feed summed up the reaction of most people I know: ‘Fuck you, cancer. Take a day off.’
Pouring out our grief on social media is a phenomenon that divides as much as it unites; the ‘grief police’ will always be around to let people know how, where and why you should be feeling sad. It was a topic addressed recently by the Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, when she spoke out about
12 THE LIST 4 Feb–7 Apr 2016