Celebrity deaths

I'm sure by now most people will have heard that on Friday Leonard Nimoy passed away, aged 83.  Even if you don't really know of any of the characters he played or know that much about him as a person, I'm sure you'll have heard of him at some point.

As with all actors/celebrities of this stature, who have been present on TV/film for many years, their passing not only affects family and close friends but significant amounts of normal everyday people too. These people are present in peoples lives through various mediums, and people come to know of them, and so it is understandable that when they unfortunately die, it affects them too. I never know what too feel in these instances however.

I've known of Leonard Nimoy for many years due to his role as Spock in Star Trek, as many others do, and from what I knew of him, he seemed like an amazing person. There in lies the problem however. My perception of this person is for the most part based on a fictitious person that he played, not reflecting himself, and from  a handful of public appearances such as chat shows or film premieres.

This in no way hinders my view of him, from what I saw and read and knew about him, he was a brilliant person, I just don't really feel as though I have the right to grieve for him in anyway. I didn't know him personally, or ever even have any form of contact with him, I just viewed him through a screen, and so that connection doesn't really feel as genuine.

This isn't just in the case of Leonard Nimoy, last year when Robin Williams passed away, millions of people spoke out saying how he was a huge part of their lives, especially their childhood due to his roles in films during the 80's/90's.

I in no way want to say that people can't feel this way, or even that these people don't deserve to have people mourn their deaths, I just never quite know how to react. This could possibly be due to the fact that so far I am lucky enough to not have experienced a death of someone I know closely, and so just haven't yet found out how to act.

Whatever the reason, it is very sad to always hear of these people passing away and it will be strange to not hear about them or watch/read about them anymore. At least with these kinds of people however, we do still have a collection of their works to revisit and remember them through.