Amy Winhouse and the Norway tragedy - pointless comparisons....

[joko]

I have been sickened by some of the horrible comments i have heard about aw...on here, on facebook, in life etc - its one thing to dislike her and not care shes gone, but to be glad & wish her dead - some even wishing theyd killed her is abhorrent.

But what interests me here is the ones that choose to compare the situation to the Norway tragedy...expressing anger that some people have the nerve to care at all about AW too...and making statements such as 'what about those kids eh?' and 'why care about a druggie after what happened in norway?' - as though there is a limit to compassion & you cannot comment on AW without also mentioning the NT, otherwise you dont care as much as them...
some appear to be claiming anyone who has expresses sadness for AW is scum because there is a worse tragedy to care about.
Its as though they believe they need to prove their compassion and are trying to 'out do' others on who cares most, and how they are angrier than everyone else at the loony in norway...
some even claim that some people care MORE for aw than the NT...(yet when asked to name a single person who has said that, their 'argument' rather falls down)...
and yet, in the same breath, they are revelling, laughing and sneering in a death, and wishing pain and violence and even murder on a young woman...
...totally failing to realise the irony.

its seems to some that taking recreational drugs makes you no longer human and therefore normally good people are totally allowed to abuse and kill you... and be hailed as heroes for it.
it seems to some that taking recreational drugs is a far worse crime and a bigger sin than murder and violence...

any thoughts..?

(just for the record, i am not a fan of AW, nor does her death affect me)

[New Judge]

I’m not at all complacent about drugs, tamborine. I make no comment on how she died (except perhaps to say it was somewhat likely). What I’m questioning is the reaction to her death shown by strangers and the contention that the event is a “tragedy” to them.

Unfortunate and sad it may be, but a tragedy (disaster; calamity; catastrophe) it ain’t.

[beso]

samak //Even weirder, it seems to me that taking recreational (illegal) drugs attracts less opprobrium than smoking (legal) cigarettes these days.//

People who take illegal drugs generally do it in private. Tobacco smokers use their drug in public, nonchalently subject others to the smoke and many litter the streets with the butts without a thought.

[jno]

"can't believe they are going with Norway for front pages, that happened yesterday"

Actually, that's a reasonable complaint from a newspaper point of view: today's news customarily takes pride of place over something that happened yesterday. But the Norwegian massacre was a big story - quite apart from the deaths, it raises questions about security, extremists, British connections and so on - that will take days to investigate and digest; so it's stayed on the front pages longer.

[alexanderd]

According to her "best friend " she had been off drugs for a while it was the drink that killed her and I was disgusted to see people leaving bottles of vodka at the "shrine"

[karenmac60]

I agree Joko - there will always be a bigger or worse tragedy, but that doesn't mean we cannot sympathise with each and every one.

[ladybirder]

NJ I believe being devastated is so overused and inappropriately used nowadays. Regarding Amy, you are utterly devastated if she was your daughter but upset, shocked, if you are a fan or very shocked, very upset if you are a friend.

[askyourgran]

Very true jno.
The two tragedies do not compare. The loss of 90+ lives through massacre by some deranged person is surely more newsworthy, the implications are endless.
Nonetheless I liked AW's music her style and her voice. I'm sad that there will be no more music and I'm sorry her life has been wasted through drugs.

[minniemoo]

I was a fan of AW and felt a little bit sad at what has happened and I also feel tremendous compassion for the families of the people/children who were killed in Oslo but I have to say to Joko - Well Said - some of the comments are disgusting and I don't know how people can compare the two tragedies.

[joko]

i had an argument with one 'friend' on fb who was outraged that within 30 mins of her death fb was flooded with messages...but hardly any for NT...he even offered to show me screenshots!...i stated that that was because it had only happened 30 mins ago!...there will not be the same amount of messages in a few hours or tomorrow!...he gave me a load of statistics, which i told him he'd just made them up, but he cliamed he worked them all out based on evidence and 'math'...
i asked how long hed been taking notes and if hed counted the NT ones... er...no...but hed spotted the 200% rise in AW statuses....hahaha

his 'best' comment was ' its just another case of i told you so'....! unbelieveable...actual smugness!... i told him that comment says so much more about him as a person than you would probably want people to know...

the most ridiculous part was when he began to go on about his own struggle with drugs! ...and how if he can do it so can she...!

it does seem that most of the most venomous comments come from ex users, who are still bitter at the pain it caused them...people who really should understand more than anyone.

its also seems to be coming from more men than women... i wonder if that would be the case if she were a 'babe'...?

[andy-hughes]

The death of public figures (and this did seem to begin with Princes Diana) has a peculiar cultural impact in uniting people in what is really pseduo-grief. They are not actually mourning someone they did not know, they are bonding together to share a common experience, because this gives people some feeling of comfort and belonging. This continues with visitng specified location and leaving a 'tribute' -however inappropriate that might be.

A similar knee-jerk reaction is to focus in on the nearest (in time) tragedy, and offer spurious comparions. Again, this allows poeple to feel righteous about their own particualr 'grieving' focus - and again it is something deeper than the apparent issue being discussed.

A better example of this mass bonding behaviour - and it occurs on here at regular intervals - is the need to out-do others with a level of outrage at the latest attrocity. This usually takes the form of wishing an accused individual a seriously nasty death, with the poster usually on hand to offer to administer it if no-one else feels up to the job.

So the wailing and ghnashing of teeth, and the obverse sneering and laughing are really manifestations of the same trait in human behaviour - a feeling of a need to 'belong' and bond together with a common cause.

It passes off after a short time, or is replaced by something else, because lack of direct involvement means that such feelings are as brief as they are intense, so wait a few days, and everything will settle down.

[joko]

i one thing i have noticed too... is the many challenges issued... people post links to a more 'worthy' tragedy, and sneer 'lets see how many of the AW loving scum, like this page or post a message saying rip to them eh? i bet they dont?'
yet they themselves are only even reacting to the tragedy because of their own self righteous internal anger about AW, and the need to prove to people that 'they have got it right' and know where their prirotities lie etc
had their been no AW death, no only would they have never posted about the other tragedy, they would probably not have even noticed...

[jno]

goes way back before Diana, andy - consider Rudolph Valentino. Or even Nelson, if you like, though I suppose he had a better claim to it than media/arts people, having literally saved the nation.

http://www.findadeath...lentino/valentino.htm

[joko]

another 'argument' is that people are mourning someone they dont even know... well we dont know the NT victims either...we dont even know thier names or what they look like or what kind of people they were...so that 'argument' is kind of weak...

its like teen angst really...with people wailing '' why doesnt anyone caarrre as much a meee...im the only one who truly feeeels the pain....its just as always thought, the world is full of thoughtless cruel people....except for meeee...in fact i carrre sooooo much i want to kill and hurt the person who is taking away from the focus ot true suffering....because that will really show them all how much more i care than anyone else...ohh what a world, what a worrrrlllld...!
but its coming from adults...

[andy-hughes]

Weird isn't it joko?

These events certainly serve as some sort of public affirmation for people who subconciously feel that they really don't make an impact on the world around them.

It is slightly sinister though.

[joko]

the irony is, that its these kinds of people with their impotent threats and desires to kill and hurt a woman who feel has somehow taken focus and despite her faults has the adoration they will never have... is probably exactly the same fellings as the loony who killed all those people - because he wanted to make an impact and be hurt...and in his twisted logic, killing would bring it...

[wiggal]

Probably completely random in this thread, but the other day my 11 year old stepson asked me and his dad which was worse, the titanic or 9/11. What made him think about that I don't know. All I could really say to him is that they are not comparable in my opinion like a lot of tragedies that have happened and both are as terrible as each other. I tried to explain my opinion to him but it got a bit lost!

[joko]

wiggal...in terms of tragedy id say they were equal...the only thing that separates them is that one was an accident borne of ignorance and arrogance and the other a deliberate atrocity caused by terrorism....

the loss of life an aftermath is comparable though

[Canary42]

It's an enormous tragedy that every day over 5,000 children worldwide die of malnutrition. But that doesn't lessen the tragedy of Amy, just puts it in perspective.

[joko]

bill...not sure of your point...no-one is denying she was a fool, a terrible role model and the whole saga was extremely tedious and exasperating....

i do not for one minute blame people for not caring that shes died and feeling it was only a matter of time.

however this post was about the nastiness by some of those same people which was not acceptable or undertsandable....
but also about the comparison...there simply is no comparison - the only link between the 2 was that they happened at the same time...and some people seemed furious that others could care for both issues at the same time, whilst they apparently could only comprehend caring about the one that is undoubtedly the more horrific...