The worst year ever? Maybe

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 29/12/2016 (3424 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s become a familiar refrain. Every time a major personality dies, people decry 2016 as the “worst year ever” for celebrity deaths. It was capped — we hope — by the death Wednesday of actress Debbie Reynolds, one day after the death of her daughter — actress, writer and screenwriter Carrie Fisher.

Even Angus Reid’s year-end poll released Wednesday suggested most Canadians are taking a dim view of the year for themselves, their country and the world.

Certainly, it has been a year of noteworthy deaths: David Bowie, Prince, Ms. Fisher and Harper Lee, to name a few. As several people have pointed out, this is more than anything the outcome of demographics. Baby boomers are getting older and they are starting to die. Even celebrity status, it seems, does not make one immune to death.

But it’s more than demographics. Many of the famous who died this year came of age during a period of great cultural shifts, meaning that those we are now mourning are famous not only because they were talented, but also because they were trail-blazers.

Take, for example, Muhammad Ali, who died in June. Mr. Ali was famous for his abilities in the boxing ring, winning gold in the 1960 Olympics and taking the world heavyweight boxing championship three times.

However, Mr. Ali will also be remembered for refusing the draft in 1967. His refusal to take part in a war many saw as immoral resulted in him being fined, stripped of his 1964 world heavyweight title and banned from boxing until his conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Ali also became the voice for the civil rights movement: “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?”

Others on the list were also risk-takers, particularly in music. The obvious examples are Mr. Bowie and Prince, but don’t forget George Michael, who died Christmas Day at the age of 53. Mr. Michael, part of the pop duo Wham! in the early 1980s, reinvented himself as a solo artist and dodged controversy by coming out in 1998 after being arrested for lewd behaviour. News after his death detailed the millions of dollars he gave to children’s charities and organizations that assisted those with AIDS.

There’s another reason why the deaths of these celebrities are felt so keenly: the growth of entertainment media. With magazines such as People, first published in 1974, and the popularity of television programs such as Entertainment Tonight, TMZ and E-Talk, the lives of the famous are on display for daily consumption. After awhile, they start to feel like more than just entertainers, but friends. When they die, they are mourned like friends too.

Unfortunately, the rise of celebrity journalism also caused additional stress for the famous already struggling to maintain killer performance schedules and demands for esthetic perfection. Recall that many of those people on this year’s list, including Ms. Fisher, Mr. Michael and Prince, dealt with addiction and mental health issues.

2016 may go down in memory as being the year of the Grim Reaper and 2017 is likely to bring its share of celebrities who will die and then be remembered, but we’re all aging. Time waits for no one.