Voices escape, singing sad sad songs.

(I don't mean to beat to death the news, in a oh-so-stereotypical bloggy way, but--)

Heath Ledger hath quit the world.

Oh, Heath. I hardly knew thee.

Wait. I didn't know thee.

What I feel is not grief exactly, because that seems like a pretty immense emotion to invest in someone I didn't know. Still, there's a twinge of something. Something I don't feel when anonymous people up and die. It begs the question: what, exactly, is society's emotional attachment to a famous person?

There are categories of fame--The Leader, The Entertainer, The Intellectual, the Socialite. While an individual dying of any category will warrant those close to the person to grieve, I wonder about the community. Is it sad to me because I was attracted to him in "10 Things I Hate About You"? Or because I liked his acting? Or because he's famous?

If a leader died, someone I really looked up to--and there are a couple, I suppose--I think I would actually grieve. Because that means something for the society. Like late last year... all the images of people sobbing in the streets after Bhutto's assassination. Her death had societal implications; it was symbolic.

We are social. I remember five years ago, feeling somewhat misanthropic, actively searching for people I deemed "different" from the masses, people that "got" me. People with the same taste in music; people who wanted to go to the same places. Which makes some sense--that's the age when a number of uncomfortable things happen: 1, you realize being an adult doesn't make someone an Adult; 2, in most places, you still get treated as though you're younger than you are; 3) you start noticing the rest of the world; etc.

Now, I feel drawn to the community. I want to bond with people I can't imagine bonding with, I want to be opened to new things by others, rather than just finding people who already know what I know. It's about taking comfort in your similarities as human beings reacting to the human condition, not about taking comfort in both enjoying the same obscure indie band. To some degree, the second is a microcosm of the first. But focusing on the first, I think, will get you further.

What I mean to say is: I think the death of Heath Ledger was sad because everyone knows who Heath Ledger was. He was "shared" by society, and now society shares one thing less. He didn't lead us, but he entertained us--and our society is one bent on entertainment. I'd even say entertainment is a kind of religious thing in America.

Look at Britney Spears. She ceases to exist as a person--she's just a concept now. She's entertained us to death; it isn't even voluntary anymore. The woman has been chained down by the public. Newspapers wouldn't report her every move if people didn't consume it. And people consume it so voraciously because newspapers report it. It's a weird world.

Anyway. Speaking of liking the same song, I really like "Jesus, Etc" by Wilco. I keep listening to it. Over and over. Anybody else like that song? We could take comfort in our similarities as human beings reacting to the human condition via social critique via entertainment via alternative rock via country-folk leanings.