Being numbed by all these R.I.P. threads

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First thing I'll say is: I'm not complaining about the existence of them. I think every person who recently passes in the context of this forum deserves a respectful thread, and a chat about the person's legacy, etc.

And I'll make an exception for Nick K. passing obviously because this was very much a tremendous shock to many people here, many of which knew him personally, and there are still so many questions unanswered regarding this tragedy that may never be answered. I never knew Nick, nor have I ever visited the Gabba site, but I'm getting soaked by all the echoes of sadness surrounding this, that this particular R.I.P. is a unique one. So, for the sake of what I'm about to say, this one doesn't apply...

But regarding all the R.I.P. threads paying respect to musicians/artists who have recently passed on in their 70s to 90s, I've become rather desensitized to them, for which I feel somewhat guilty. But I can't feel shock anymore. Let's face it. Within the past few years, we reached that point where people who were behind the creation of what was then called "rock n' roll" are dying because of old age, or physical reasons commonly related to being old.. and the R.I.P.s are going to become even more common and steady. I have no problems with people who state in such threads "OMG.. I'm shocked", because these passings usually happen at a time we don't expect, of course.. and I do believe the shock is genuine.

But I just wanted to see if anyone is just glazing over most of these R.I.P. threads as I seem to be doing -- and whether I should feel guilty for just glazing over them, or not. (I stress again, Nick K's passing is quite an exception for the purpose of my point.)

― donut christ (donut), Friday, 11 February 2005 21:34 (twenty years ago)

You may be feeling guilty because you feel that you need to say something on them to properly mark the person's passing (because that seems like the right thing to do), except that in truth, you weren't all that familiar/touched/moved by the person's life. Still, you feel as though you need to say "RIP" (even in a perfunctory manner), while sharing an anecdote or something, and the whole thing feels more forced than you had hoped. Next thing you know, there's a dumbass thread on ILE about how we should say PWNED instead of RIP and people are arguing that saying PWNED is somehow preferable than a perfunctory RIP.

So my advice is: don't feel obligated to post on all the RIP threads.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 11 February 2005 22:06 (twenty years ago)

personally, i read most all of them because i feel like i'm getting to that age where all my heroes and heroines are dying, and it sucks.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 11 February 2005 22:07 (twenty years ago)

Mr H Stencil.

10/10 for eloquence. I wish I had better words. That is so moving but depressingly real.

― Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountain Dog (Jessie the Drunk Dutch Mountai), Friday, 11 February 2005 22:36 (twenty years ago)

i don't like just saying RIP, i try to never say it and prefer instead to just offer a personal memory of the deceased.

― Alienus Quam Reproba (blueski), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

There are more 'celebrities' dying off now than ever before, and it's only going to get worse. With the amount of people on telly nowadays, in 50-60 years it's going to be impossible to avoid.

Or it just that I'm getting older and therefore recognise who most of these names were?

Seems like it's easy filler for the news channels to while away their hours with. Quite whether we need to know if the drummer from some '60s or '70s one-hit-wonders has passed on, I don't know. Strangely, the newspaper obituary pages seem largely unaffected. It was a laugh seeing the Telegraph cover Ol' Dirty Bastard's career, though.

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:35 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

what is life expectancy at these days? can we pinpoint the year(s) when boomer deaths will be at their peak?

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Thursday, 23 November 2006 17:36 (eighteen years ago)

James Mitchell OTM. Before I had read the posts in this thread, that's what I was going to post.

I think nowadays, at least in places obsessed with pop culture and with easy internet access, we recognize, even if only by name, more musicians/actors/writers/reality tv show stars/etc then ever before.

I was going to attempt to develop this idea further, but I've been instructed by the girlfriend to make bread NOW, dammit. When instructions come from down the hallway in the shower, you know it's serious.

My point was just going to be that as the years go on, it seems like we'll be hearing about celebrity deaths more and more often, whether it's someone like James Brown or someone like whoever that naked fat guy who won on the first Survivor. I don't say this to belittle the real sadness that someone may feel over a musician that they've loved and followed over the years. It's just weird to think about this trend increasing over time.

Time to make bread.

― Zachary Scott (Zach S), Thursday, 23 November 2006 17:58 (eighteen years ago)

five years pass...

has anyone dead ever ended up not resting in peace

― lorem ipsum dolor de estómago (am0n), Tuesday, 6 March 2012 22:42 (thirteen years ago)

RIP

― lil kink (Matt P), Tuesday, 6 March 2012 22:50 (thirteen years ago)

Jacob Marley iirc, maybe others

― sleepingbag, Tuesday, 6 March 2012 22:53 (thirteen years ago)

R I P

REST IN PEACE

FASSY GET THE COFFIN

AND THEN DEM GET THE WREATH

― the late great, Tuesday, 6 March 2012 23:03 (thirteen years ago)

― lorem ipsum dolor de estómago (am0n), Tuesday, 6 March 2012 23:12 (thirteen years ago)

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