Let's get back to what I hate. I hate all this mushy nonsense that marks the ten year anniversary of Princess Diana's demise.
Honestly, I've never come to grips with the significance of her celebrity. When I mentioned this to my wife, she ignorantly proclaimed, "It's also the 30 year mark of Elvis's death, so why don't you complain about that?"
My goodness, I married a silly woman.
Elvis Presley changed things, the kinds of things that we take for granted. Again, my wife says, "Diana led causes too." But that's half of my point. First of all, Elvis wasn't about "causes." He was about himself and his talent for music, a passion that truly changed the world. What was Diana about? According to my wife, Diana worked extensively to eradicate the world of landmines.
Hmm.
By "worked extensively," what exactly is meant? Did she actually go to minefields and start digging them up and dismantaling them, or did she merely speak out against them and pose for a few photo-ops with leaders from countries who would like to have old landmines from old wars removed at the expense of the taxpayers or philanthropists of some other country?
I'm not saying that the awful consequences of post-war landmines are not tragic or even a concern for caring people with the means to donate personal funds voluntarily toward landmine removal. What I'm saying is that Diana did not change the world with her "work," and all this ado regarding the anniversary of her death is ridiculous.
When was the last time that you commemorated Thomas Edison's, Henry Ford's, Plato's, or Andrew Carnegie's deaths? These are just a few names who did far, far more to improve the quality of human life.
Diana loved. She gave a damn about people in the world, the ones who couldn't save themselves. That's why, at six years old, even I cried when I watched her funeral. Because some people just don't deserve to die just yet.
ReplyDeleteSome of us know what it feels like to be helpless, to be unable to take care of ourselves even though we'd like to. Diana was HOPE to people like me, and I'll never regret remembering her death. Where actual help is impossible, hope is more than enough.
Edison, Ford, Plato, and Carnegie have been given quite a bit more commemorating than Diana, by the way. Do you see chapters and chapters about her in textbooks? Nope.
I hope you never have to feel helpless, because if you hate remembering people who provide hope, you're going to be incredibly alone, sir.
And be nice to your wife.
How did Diana give people hope?
ReplyDeleteWhat we're witnessing is the media's power to create heroes from nothing, not the actual daring and talent from which real heroes emerge.
I didn't say she was a hero. She gave people hope in that she proved to the helpless that there were people out there who could potentially help. A light at the end of a tunnel, metaphorically.
ReplyDeleteNot all "helpers" are "heroes." She wasn't a hero, she was just a channel of hope that shouldn't have been extinguished when it was.
The media does exaggerate her story, I'll give you that. But I don't find anything wrong with remembering her death.