(no subject)
Nov. 19th, 2003 12:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nnyGeth: Y'know, I really like Elliott Smith.
Nny: ...as well you should.
Geth: I never really appreciated him until he killed himself. But now, y'know, I see that he was all tortured and stuff, and I totally like his music more.
Nny: AAAAARGH! DIE, FOOL!
I really really *hate* that bloody reaction. It is one of the best ways to piss me off. "The good die young", and all that crap. What utter bollocks! It aggravates me intensely that people do this; that they don't particularly notice a musician/actor/writer until they've died, often by suicide, upon which the world at large showers them in plaudits that may well not be deserved.
If, say, Britney Spears jumped off a cliff tomorrow, I would not suddenly decide that Hey! Her music *is* worth listening to after all! And start analysing her lyrics for deeper meaning hinting at her tortured genius. I would, instead, go watch the crabs at the bottom of the cliff dance the macarena on her smooshed form.
There's that whole cliche about "the best songs are those they never wrote", and it's true enough- a myth grows up around those that die prematurely. They seem to forget about those that *did* grow old- Elvis a spectacle in his glittery jumpsuits and secondrate songs (due largely to poor management), Marlon Brando fat and bitter and old... They wouldn't necessarily have got better. John Kennedy Toole might well have only had one decent book in him. We'll never know, and that fascinates people. Personally, I think it's pointless to speculate. And even *more* pointless to idolise people because they were miserable enough to kill themselves.
I don't know what point I was trying to make. It was just a general rant at some people's stupidity, I guess. I woulda said it to him in person, if I'd known him better, but instead I'm treating you folks to my incoherent thoughts. Aren't you lucky?
*g*
Nny: ...as well you should.
Geth: I never really appreciated him until he killed himself. But now, y'know, I see that he was all tortured and stuff, and I totally like his music more.
Nny: AAAAARGH! DIE, FOOL!
I really really *hate* that bloody reaction. It is one of the best ways to piss me off. "The good die young", and all that crap. What utter bollocks! It aggravates me intensely that people do this; that they don't particularly notice a musician/actor/writer until they've died, often by suicide, upon which the world at large showers them in plaudits that may well not be deserved.
If, say, Britney Spears jumped off a cliff tomorrow, I would not suddenly decide that Hey! Her music *is* worth listening to after all! And start analysing her lyrics for deeper meaning hinting at her tortured genius. I would, instead, go watch the crabs at the bottom of the cliff dance the macarena on her smooshed form.
There's that whole cliche about "the best songs are those they never wrote", and it's true enough- a myth grows up around those that die prematurely. They seem to forget about those that *did* grow old- Elvis a spectacle in his glittery jumpsuits and secondrate songs (due largely to poor management), Marlon Brando fat and bitter and old... They wouldn't necessarily have got better. John Kennedy Toole might well have only had one decent book in him. We'll never know, and that fascinates people. Personally, I think it's pointless to speculate. And even *more* pointless to idolise people because they were miserable enough to kill themselves.
I don't know what point I was trying to make. It was just a general rant at some people's stupidity, I guess. I woulda said it to him in person, if I'd known him better, but instead I'm treating you folks to my incoherent thoughts. Aren't you lucky?
*g*
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-19 12:46 pm (UTC)I think it's really stupid. Someone being dead doesn't make a song better than it is already. It's not like their life force somehow enters it and gives it extra oomph or anything.
She got really, really insulted when I pointed this out to her. *g* I asked her why she wasn't obsessing over other dead people, and she told me I had a heart of stone. It's probably just as well you didn't try to argue the point. Some people really do have crazy views.