Why do you sympathize with suicide attempts only if they involve celebrities?
Halle Berry attempted suicide in 1996
Today I want to bring up the question of how we deal with someone who has attempted suicide1. To be precise, I want you to think about your behavior over celebrities attempting suicide. Why do you, or others, sympathize with celebrities who try to commit suicide, and why do you, or others, laugh, ridicule and classify as psychotic almost all the non-celebrities who try to commit suicide?
Is a suicide attempt by a celebrity different from other suicide attempts? Do you treat celebrities who attempted suicide the same way you would treat a non-celebrity hospital patient who attempted suicide? Why, and why not?
Why do we frown over suicide in general?
At its core, every suicide attempt usually tries to serve one purpose: to end one’s own life. In our societies, while ending someone else’s life is legal, allowed and even promoted as a preference in many situations2, ending our own life is usually frowned upon and considered an abnormal behavior. At the same time, however, it seems that we try to react differently to a famous, rich person trying to commit suicide, compared to the way we would react finding out that our poor neighbor or classmate attempted suicide.
Johnny Cash attempted suicide in 1968
Why is it that a non-celebrity cannot walk around a party, head up high, after an attempted suicide, but we glorify, praise and pay to watch celebrities walk around with heads up high after their attempted suicide? Online, we run into similar issues, regardless of the celebrity or non-celebrity status. Recently, I posted an article called “Thought: I want to commit online suicide.” Because of that, I received numerous phone calls and texts in the offline, real world. Among the many interesting reactions, one business associate asked me “Would this affect your work or our project time line in any manner?” All of that made me realize even more as to how everyone focuses on the negative reaction people should have to suicide, instead of the actual reaction one may feel without considering the society rules and norms into the actual feelings. What is it about the concept of suicide that, when presented, results in almost similar reactions depending on the venues and people it involves?
Could it be that we usually follow the stereotypical society trends when dealing with topics like suicide and celebrities? Could it be that because of our affiliation with wanting to be normal in the society, the stereotypical trait of worshiping celebrities takes priority over the idea of hating the concept of wanting to attempt suicide?
Random List Of Celebrities You May Worship Who Attempted Suicide
It may be easy to overlook the fact that someone not famous may have a character outside of their suicidal interests, the same way we may tend to overlook the fact that a celebrity tried to commit suicide. Similarly, we may simply overlook that someone may have tried to commit suicide and may have nothing going on in their life, but that they may believe certain reasons for such trends in their life to be true for their case.
To help understand how we may allow the celebrity status of a person overshadow the fact that they tried to commit suicide, I present to you the following random list of famous people who have attempted suicide in the past:
- Owen Wilson. Tried by slashing wrists in 2007.
- Princess Diana
- Halle Berry. Tried by gasing herself in 1996.
- Elizabeth Taylor.
- Drew Barrymore. Tried by slashing her wrist at age 14 in 1989.
- Gary Coleman.
- Mike Tyson
- Donna Summer
- Drew Carey. Tried twice, by drug overdose in 1976 and 1978.
- Eminem
- Peter Fonda
- Billy Joel. Tried by drinking furniture polish in 1970.
- Jennifer O’Neil
- Elton John
- Johnny Cash. Tried by drug overdose in 1968.
- Charlie Parker
- Michael Jackson
- Vanilla Ice. Threatened suicide while on a 911 call in 2008.
- Britney Spears
- Jean Wallace. Tried twice by sleeping pills in 1946 and with a knife in 1949.
Because of the fact that the people above have attempted suicide in the past, do you respect them less now? Do you respect them more because of their suicide attempts? Will your attitude towards any of the above people now change in any manner, because of finding out or knowing that they once tried to end their life?
Are you more sympathetic towards suicide attempts made by celebrities compared to suicidal attempts made by non-celebrities?
Princess Diana is said to have wanted suicide while pregnant
What is your view on this matter? Can you think of other celebrities who have attempted suicide? Do you know someone who attempted suicide? Have you thought of committing suicide yourself before and faced any of the stereotypes or trends mentioned above?
What do you think?
Do the trends and actual behavior of sympathizing with celebrities who attempted suicide tell us that it may simply be the society values and stereotypes that cause us to look at the concept of suicide with our eyes closed? If we can overlook the fact that a human being tried to commit suicide because that human being was and is a celebrity, does that mean we can come up with other qualities or labels, or trends and observations, including a change in our own thinking, that can allow us to respect and treat everyone who attempted suicide the way we would want to respect and treat everyone who has not attempted suicide?
Please let me know what you think in the comments below. Thank you for reading. 
I really appreciate it.
Footnotes
The footnotes allow me to add information and more personal feelings and notes to bottom of articles, questions, poems, and other writings or expressions without disrupting the flow of the main content much. If you have any questions or comments about this footnote or footnotes in general, please contact me. Thank you.
- Someone who has attempted suicide is a person who has tried to end their life, and because of different reasons, is still alive. Those reasons could include unsuccessful ways of trying to kill one’s self, or being stopped in the middle of a suicide by someone else. [↩]
- Killing someone in an armed robbery, war in Iraq, Civil War, World War I & II, etc [↩]
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( September 19th, 2009 at 7:23 pm )
We deify and live vicariously through celebrities. And we can love or hate them when we want. So there’s a emotional distance that is safe for us. In that, we don’t have to actually deal with the emotions of someone you actually know or know of in real life on a constant basis. We can pour our heart out when convenient for us to feel better about the situation, not them.
It’s easy to say how sad it was a great talent like Johnny Cash tried to kill himself. And think about all the great songs and how sad you’d be if he’d actually accomplished the suicide then. It would not be as easy probably if you had known him and actually had to deal with him during that period. So we are detached and can offer our emotions easily and never have consequences from it.
Megan Fox is too hot to have thoughts like that. She’s on top of the world, she shouldn’t probably have any thoughts at all, much less those kind of thoughts. Or that’s what we project in our minds as being true. An elderly lady who no one knows decides to end it all we can kinda see from a distance as not being as important to our world. We don’t know either one but we make that choice. Since we think we know Megan Fox and not the elderly woman it’s easy. If the elderly woman was your mother, that complicates things and we don’t like to think about that or deal with it. It’s much easier to sympathize with poor Megan or insert any celeb name.
I do know someone who attempted suicide. The first thing I thought of arriving at the hospital is “What do I say?”. And, how do I react?. And, how can I help them?. Maybe it’d be better If I didn’t go see them yet?. Yeah, that’d be best! I’ll wait till they’re all better!. But, I went. It was really hard and very emotional. And very stressful. She got well months later after a lot of therapy. Or as well as can be to still want to live. And not surprisingly, most of her “friends” didn’t attempt to call or visit her during that time. I’m glad I took that step and went to see her. But, if something like that happened again to anybody I knew I’d have probably the same initial questions and reactions. It’s not easy on the person or those around them.
If using my imagination and detachment and easy thoughts we apply to celebrities It’d been Johnny Cash I went to see. I’d say “I’m here Johnny! Your all better now!” He’d agree and we’d stroll out singing I Walk The Line, all happy like.
It’s not that easy, though we all wish it was.
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( September 20th, 2009 at 12:40 pm )
Sure we prefer celebrities when thinking of importance but at same time they accomplish something regularly. Usually unfamous people attempting suicide do it because of being poorer. What do you think?
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( September 26th, 2009 at 8:49 am )
In my point of view celebrities have popularity and media attention due to that their suicide attempts becoming news but infamous people suicide attemts is not getting attention to the media and other thing.
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( September 27th, 2009 at 11:42 am )
PumpkinHead, thanks for the comment.
That is a very good point, that we can actually distance ourselves from Celebrities and keep on living our lives compared to people around us around whom we may feel more vulnerable because those people seem to be just like us, among other reasons.
The examples of Johnny Cash and Megan Fox are good too. For me, the suicide concept may even triggered Johnny Cash to be better at describing himself. Megan Fox may indeed have problems, and recently, her new film completely flopped. It did bring her to the spotlight more. Do you think the two may be related?
Thanks for sharing about your friend who attempted suicide. It is indeed very interesting how people distance themselves from someone who attempted suicide. Many people become more sensitive also, thinking that anything bad or sad uttered by a person who committed suicide in the past means that the person is having suicidal thoughts again.
Do you think it can be easier if we accept the idea of suicide as not being absurd and as being something completely unacceptable to many but a big step that, in many situations, can be avoided?
Thanks again PumpkinHead!
Melanie, thanks for the comment. For me, regardless of what a person accomplishes in life, a suicidal thought can be related, among other things, to the idea of wanting to continue living or to experience something different, or the idea of simply wanting to stop experiencing. In your view, are celebrities entitled to suicidal attempts more than others?
Mandy, thanks for the comment also. I agree, the news media covering celebrity suicide attempts and small mentions like “We wish him/her the best”, coming from new anchors, makes many people feel more sympathetic because for those people, something said on the news is almost the same as something being normal and the accepted standard that they should accept also.
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( November 27th, 2009 at 12:27 am )
I treat celebrity suicide on the same level as ordinary people suicide. Just because the person is famous doesn’t make their life any more important than the average joe’s.
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( January 5th, 2010 at 2:49 pm )
Well, it’s mental.
Kurt Cobain was on top of the world with Nirvana when he took his life.
Terrell Owens is another one who I think tried for sympathy and publicity.
I think each one is different. Drugs play a huge part. Mental condition. They are just humans. Sometimes, all the pressure mounts up too….
Lutz
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( January 12th, 2010 at 8:57 pm )
because celebrities are better than us?
HELLLLLO
We worship celebrities, they are our GODS
people still go to church (even if they dont go to church) get me?
We make cults around these pretty people raised upon high
I mean when Americans march for a suspected child molester (guilty or no) because he made some good music in his lifetime, when stars regularly meltdown from the pressure of deity-hood we’re there with cameras, recording ever second of their blessed existence.
what does that tell you about the priorities of a terminally moronic society?
we have about as much depth cllectively as a cardboard box
normies dont count like celebs, we’re a lower class of peoples
….id say 1oo normies to every average celeb
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( January 12th, 2010 at 9:10 pm )
This is the end product of deeply neurotic culture, so desperate for connection with something authentic & larger-than-themsleves that they will project their disowned bagge and project it on unusally pretty faces & other man made idols
The entertainment machine swallows ignorant gawkers with divisive, backward societal programming that, over time, will totally close their minds
seeing it for what it is
is a good sign
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( January 12th, 2010 at 9:11 pm )
Baggage*
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( January 13th, 2010 at 10:17 pm )
I guess it’s all psychological effects of drugs, fame, pressure, stress. That’s why they tend to ends their life, even they almost have everything they want.
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