How come whenever a celebrity dies...

[Kimarous]

How come whenever a celebrity dies, I have absolutely no idea who the person is? Seriously. Looking back add the various celebrity deaths over the past year, the only one I even remotely recognized was Ronnie James Dio.

EDIT: And Michael Jackson and Billy Mays.

Am I culturally illiterate? Am I too young to know who they are? Is my disdain for what qualifies for a "celebrity" blocking out the really good talent? Do I just pay attention to the media but pay no heed to the folks behind it? Or is it just my inability to match faces with names at work?

 

[Marter]

You need to pay more attention to popular culture I suppose.

You aren't alone though. I don't really pay attention either.

 

[Chogg Van Helsing]

yeah i owuldnt worry about it, most of them are prob dicks anyway

i cant believe dio is dead tho! :C

 

[Socius]

How come whenever a celebrity dies, I have absolutely no idea who the person is? Seriously. Looking back add the various celebrity deaths over the past year, the only one I even remotely recognized was Ronnie James Dio.

you "remotely" recognized Dio? wtf dude?
You don't "remotely" regonize Jesus when he is cruicified!
You don't "remotely" recognize that fat happy golden statue as Buddah! (he is awesome!)
You don't "remotely" recognize Mohammed when... oh right, no pictures.
sorry. (no disrepspect intended)
You don't "remotely" recognize that guy with six arms as Shiva.
You don't "remotely" recognize the guy with the hair as Alber Einstein.
(I can go on forever)

Anyway, Dio is and will always be the God of metal.
You instanlt know, in your heart, who he is.

 

[Kimarous]

How come whenever a celebrity dies, I have absolutely no idea who the person is? Seriously. Looking back add the various celebrity deaths over the past year, the only one I even remotely recognized was Ronnie James Dio.

you "remotely" recognized Dio? wtf dude?
You don't "remotely" regonize Jesus when he is cruicified!
You don't "remotely" recognize that fat happy golden statue as Buddah! (he is awesome!)
You don't "remotely" recognize Mohammed when... oh right, no pictures.
sorry. (no disrepspect intended)
You don't "remotely" recognize that guy with six arms as Shiva.
You don't "remotely" recognize the guy with the hair as Alber Einstein.
(I can go on forever)

Anyway, Dio is and will always be the God of metal.
You instanlt know, in your heart, who he is.

I meant no offense. I was only trying to emphasize how few celebrities I know/acknowledge, not disparage Dio's recognizability.

 

[Socius]

How come whenever a celebrity dies, I have absolutely no idea who the person is? Seriously. Looking back add the various celebrity deaths over the past year, the only one I even remotely recognized was Ronnie James Dio.

you "remotely" recognized Dio? wtf dude?
You don't "remotely" regonize Jesus when he is cruicified!
You don't "remotely" recognize that fat happy golden statue as Buddah! (he is awesome!)
You don't "remotely" recognize Mohammed when... oh right, no pictures.
sorry. (no disrepspect intended)
You don't "remotely" recognize that guy with six arms as Shiva.
You don't "remotely" recognize the guy with the hair as Alber Einstein.
(I can go on forever)

Anyway, Dio is and will always be the God of metal.
You instanlt know, in your heart, who he is.

I meant no offense. I was only trying to emphasize how few celebrities I know/acknowledge, not disparage Dio's recognizability.

I am aware, I just wanted to make a silly list.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Hard to keep track for me too. But I keep track of the really big ones. I'm still bummed about Paul Gray's death.

 

[Valksy]

Depends on your interests. I hadn't a clue who Dio was because I don't like that music genre but as a fan of movies I am very aware of Dennis Hopper (although not necessarily a fan).

 

[Knight of Cydonia]

I'm pretty sure that you would of recognized Micheal Jackson. Micheal Jackson.

OT:You're not the only one, I hardly know who they are either.

 

[Captain Pancake]

WHAT YOU TALKIN 'BOUT WILLIS?

RIP that guy.

A death is a death, I suppose. If the person meant that much to you, even a celebrity, then its good to show your respects.

 

[ultrachicken]

I'm bad with names, so that's my excuse. However, I have no idea who you are, so I don't know why you don't know.

 

[EeveeElectro]

I recognise most of them... but I didn't know what show Coleman was in, only knew his catchphrase.

 

[Frenger]

What bugs me is that Gary Coleman got a newspost here on the Escapist... but Dennis Hopper didn't. I've looked, must be an oversight...

I mean, wtf is up with that?

 

[Tireseas_v1legacy]

If I had to make a guess... it's probably because they tend to be stars of previous generations.

Think about it: You don't care about the guy who played Charlie in Charlies Angels, but you tend to care about the guy who voiced Doctor Breen in Half Life 2 (incidently the same guy, but your generation defines how you know him).

Another example, Jerry Orbach is known more recently for his fame as a detective in Law and Order, but he spent most of his carreer as a Broadway headliner in NYC musicals.

Now imagine the thousands of actors who don't have major parts in recent TV/movie roles, but had huge parts in the '60s '70s and '80s. You'll have no conncetion to those actors because you simply never were heavily exposed to their material.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

It's alright, I don't even remember the name of the last person who died. Gary Coleman is somewhat familiar, but other then that, I don't know many of them.

 

[Mechanix]

So you didn't know who Michael Jackson was?

 

[Kud]

Perhaps you are like me and you don't really care who these celebrities are and you don't care when they die.

 

[zHellas]

I recognise most of them... but I didn't know what show Coleman was in, only knew his catchphrase.

Diff'rent Strokes.

 

[Confidingtripod]

I dont care because even the few times I know a celebrity I never knew them personally so I just move past the latest "shocking" death

And to Mechanix above me his death was blown wwwwaaayyy out of proportion.

 

[Julianking93]

You don't know who Dennis Hopper or Michael Jackson is?