Hello everyone! Hope y’all had a good week and are doing well. By now, you’ve probably heard that the famous basketball legend Kobe Bryant has passed away in a helicopter crash, a crash that, unfortunately, killed all nine people aboard the aircraft. He was 42 years old. He died along side his daughter, Gianna “Gigi” Bryant, who was only 13 years old. She also had dreams of playing professional basketball, following in the footsteps of her father. God rest their souls.
Hearing about Kobe’s passing really had a large effect on both my family and my classroom. Our family group chat was flooded with texts as soon as we heard. That’s how I found out about the crash. Any updates on the situation were immediately sent to group chat. My son, a huge sports fan, was devastated. The Lakers were his absolute favorite team, and Kobe was one of his favorite players. My son was very upset when he retired. Kobe Bryant was something that he and my husband bonded over. My husband and my son have not always been close or had the most peaceful relationship. They disagreed about a lot of things, like religion, but their love for the 24 jersey was always something that they could connect over and it gave them something to talk about.
I made some space at the beginning of my classes for students to share any thoughts that they had or to share how they were feeling. Many of them were very upset, understandably. These kids have never known a life without Kobe. He was an idol, a hero, for a lot of them. Hearing about a celebrity die, even if you never met them, can be a very emotional experience. Hearing about someone so young die too, someone only a few years younger than them (my students), can also be very emotional. It reminds people of their own mortality, which can be very jarring. No one’s time here on Earth is guaranteed. The book of Job comes to mind at times like these: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:20).
During fourth period’s discussion, one student got mad that we only care about people dying when it happens to celebrities. Randomly people die every day but nobody cares then. Members of our armed forces die everyday fighting for our country and our freedom, and yet, they are not given the same level of attention as celebrities. I think the reason that celebrity deaths have a different impact on us is because the death is more personal. It feels like someone we know has died. Despite never meeting these people, we still have memories of them; we still know about their personal lives. Compare this feeling to the feeling when a soldier dies, someone who has willingly signed up to risk their life. We do treat the deaths of celebrities differently, but I think that simply stems from the larger impact that celebrities have on our lives. What do you think? What does it say about our society when we mourn the death of a celebrity more than a marine? Are you allowed to mourn someone you’ve never met? Let me know in the comments below! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to subscribe!
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