Outlier in not mourning
Jan. 12th, 2016 07:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vicarzI find the outpouring of genuine emotion on fb about Bowie's death...disconcerting. I hearted Bowie, not just for his music, but his political stances and general social progressiveness. But he was just an artist. He made music, did shows, performed in movies, and got paid for it.
The most selfish thing I heard anyone say was that while they respected his privacy, they thought on some level he owed it to his fans to publicly disclose his struggle with cancer. No! Absofuckinglutely not! It was a gift that he stayed public, that he voiced opinions, and had a long career when he didn't need money anymore. But he owed "us" nothing anymore than Arnold needs to keep lifting weights, than Bush needs to stay conservative, than ... well for fuck's sake he's just a performer. We don't even really know who he is - we know his public persona.
I'm not mad - I respect everyone's right to be upset he died. I don't quite understand it but I'd be a fool not to expect it. Every time someone famous dies, there is an outpouring of emotion. I'm not the dick that, on news of his death or at the outpouring of mourning, feels the need to criticize the departed or call out their flaws. Frankly I don't know of any Bowie flaws and his early music was very important to me in my queer development. Even if I knew of things he did I didn't approve of, this isn't the muddafuggin time. Those people are either trolls on purpose or foolish enough to be accidental trolls for not understanding that their reaction of 'ick' to the homogenous and loud lamentations is normal and even healthy.
I still don't get it. His music isn't going anywhere. He did age really fucking well, and stayed both active and...weird in very good ways. He made it easy to be weird in the way I was. But he was just an artist. He didn't hold political office. He didn't run a charity. For me, I haven't liked his music since the 80s. I love ashes to ashes, odyssey, fashion...but not china girl, let's dance, or anything he did recently other than movies and talk about sex and polly stuff before others did. Cool, but not groundbreaking important.
Yet here I am blowing off a little steam. I showed a little support in fb posting "FB...as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silent" for their unified grief. It's fine they feel that way and my feed will be filled with good and bad pictures and videos/songs for some time. It'll fade. It shouldn't bother me - if it wasn't for that it would be people comparing the Oregon fellows to Brokeback over and over again. Perhaps it's better this way.
I get it, I expect it, but...no I really don't quite understand it. It's not the first time and it won't be the last.
Edit:
POST-POST CONFESSION: after writing this and posting it, commenting that ashes to ashes was playing in my head, I popped onto utube and found the video and it was stunning, triggering my old feelings (low quality video will do that to me - I had a lot of solo time as an adolescent) (and there was NO FUCKING INTERNET KIDS)
So while I am meh and confused by the thing, I posted the video because this was my Bowie (and I could say he died years ago) (only really, he did stay pretty cool, so perhaps not) and as a subtle fuckyou to people lamenting China Girl.
The most selfish thing I heard anyone say was that while they respected his privacy, they thought on some level he owed it to his fans to publicly disclose his struggle with cancer. No! Absofuckinglutely not! It was a gift that he stayed public, that he voiced opinions, and had a long career when he didn't need money anymore. But he owed "us" nothing anymore than Arnold needs to keep lifting weights, than Bush needs to stay conservative, than ... well for fuck's sake he's just a performer. We don't even really know who he is - we know his public persona.
I'm not mad - I respect everyone's right to be upset he died. I don't quite understand it but I'd be a fool not to expect it. Every time someone famous dies, there is an outpouring of emotion. I'm not the dick that, on news of his death or at the outpouring of mourning, feels the need to criticize the departed or call out their flaws. Frankly I don't know of any Bowie flaws and his early music was very important to me in my queer development. Even if I knew of things he did I didn't approve of, this isn't the muddafuggin time. Those people are either trolls on purpose or foolish enough to be accidental trolls for not understanding that their reaction of 'ick' to the homogenous and loud lamentations is normal and even healthy.
I still don't get it. His music isn't going anywhere. He did age really fucking well, and stayed both active and...weird in very good ways. He made it easy to be weird in the way I was. But he was just an artist. He didn't hold political office. He didn't run a charity. For me, I haven't liked his music since the 80s. I love ashes to ashes, odyssey, fashion...but not china girl, let's dance, or anything he did recently other than movies and talk about sex and polly stuff before others did. Cool, but not groundbreaking important.
Yet here I am blowing off a little steam. I showed a little support in fb posting "FB...as if millions of voices cried out in terror and were suddenly silent" for their unified grief. It's fine they feel that way and my feed will be filled with good and bad pictures and videos/songs for some time. It'll fade. It shouldn't bother me - if it wasn't for that it would be people comparing the Oregon fellows to Brokeback over and over again. Perhaps it's better this way.
I get it, I expect it, but...no I really don't quite understand it. It's not the first time and it won't be the last.
Edit:
POST-POST CONFESSION: after writing this and posting it, commenting that ashes to ashes was playing in my head, I popped onto utube and found the video and it was stunning, triggering my old feelings (low quality video will do that to me - I had a lot of solo time as an adolescent) (and there was NO FUCKING INTERNET KIDS)
So while I am meh and confused by the thing, I posted the video because this was my Bowie (and I could say he died years ago) (only really, he did stay pretty cool, so perhaps not) and as a subtle fuckyou to people lamenting China Girl.
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no subject
Date: 2016-01-12 04:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-12 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-12 10:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-12 06:39 pm (UTC)I'm not mourning per se, because you're right, I never met him, and he'll continue to have the same effect on my life dead as he had alive (ie much enjoyment of his back catalogue). It is still a sad thing, particularly being very sudden and on the young side.
A death of a famous person evokes more nostalgia than mourning. It unites people in shared memories, to an extent.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-12 10:02 pm (UTC)(Also, I like a huge number of the post-Ashes to Ashes tracks. But this won't surprise you.)
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Date: 2016-01-12 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-13 12:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-01-14 01:06 am (UTC)Yes, he doesn't owe us a health update. That's personal.
Yes, he was an artist...who produced works that was accessible and inspiring. His reach was more influential across many nations than a politician whose work is limited and short. Besides, nobody likes politicians.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-14 01:35 am (UTC)