Posted on 01/14/2016 2:27:11 PM PST by nickcarraway
Glancing at today’s headlines, you would be forgiven for feeling a sense of numbed and weary resignation. British actor Alan Rickman, beloved for his roles in movies like Die Hard and the Harry Potter series, is dead of cancer at the age of 69—mere days after we already suffered another tragic death in David Bowie, also of cancer, also at the age of 69. In fact, these days it seems like you can’t read the morning news without hearing of a celebrity dying. It’s a disturbing trend, and it’s one that shows little sign of reversing.
That’s why we at the editorial board of StarWipe feel we must issue this call to action: We like celebrities, and they should stop dying.
It is a moral outrage and a worldwide disgrace that celebrities whose work brings us so much pleasure should be allowed to die, day in and day out. David Bowie was a true innovator whose constant artistic reinvention continued to transfix and surprise us right up until his newest album, released just before his death. Who knows what equally great music David Bowie might have given us if he hadn’t died? And Alan Rickman was a unique, bewitching presence that elevated every movie he was in—a gift he will now never be able to give another production. Let us be clear: The fact that neither David Bowie nor Alan Rickman will be allowed to continue entertaining us is a tragedy. And it is incumbent upon us all to finally stop this sort of thing from happening.
Last year, we saw the loss of scores of celebrities, a roster that ranges from Leonard Nimoy to Maureen O’Hara to Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister—killed by death, all of them. So far, 2016 is off to an equally bloody start. January is barely two weeks old, yet already Bowie and Rickman have been added to a quickly growing list that includes One Day At A Time star Pat Harrington Jr., Ghostbusters actor David Margulies, and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, to name just a few. Each of these people made incredibly diverse contributions to the arts and died of different causes, which, for some, may create the illusion that their deaths were totally random, no different than those of the thousands who die every day all across the world. Except for this: Every one of those deaths involved a celebrity.
While some may choose to deny it, the unifying thread is clear. Celebrities are dying, and we must take every possible action to put an end to it.
Never give up, never surrender. RIP, Alan.
Obama will do an EO banning celebrities’ death.
Didn’t work with Franco, Mao, Kim Il Jung, ...
On the Internet, nobody can tell that you’re dead.
Hmmmm.... so avoid 69?
I was saying this jokingly earlier. But seriously, once everyone with talent dies, we will have no talent.
Or 27, if you’re a musician.
That obsession has given us Trump.
That’s why I keep getting zombies on Tinder? (But seriously, I would never go on Tinder)
>>And somehow Paris Hilton and the Kardashian’s survive like the cockroaches they are...
That’s what I thought too. Real celebrities who have actual talent are dying because they were all from an earlier time. The present day crop of what is considered a celebrity is young and will live after all celebrities with talent are gone and that makes me sad.
I think about 99.5% of the celebrities I actually like are already dead, and have been for years.
Neither would I. (Good joke.)
Hot puppies, there's hope for my career yet!
Heaven’s casting director had other plans.
Exactly.
69 is the new 27.
Could we get them to stop talking first?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.