Celebrity Deaths and the Mourning of

I get it. I do. I was very saddened by Patrick Swayze and Heath Ledger. And Brittany Murphy. Don't Judge Me!

I was sad when I heard about their deaths because they had all been involved in films I love. Dirty Dancing. 10 Things I Hate About You. Clueless. Yeah, that's pretty much my entire adolescence. And they were all still young. Ledger was obviously on his way to becoming one of the greatest actors of his generation. Swayze, or "The Swayz" as he is sometimes called, was generally awesome. And, hey, Brittany Murphy could have cleaned herself up and gone to Broadway. Girl could sing, as seen in this video (skip to 2:38). My point is, there was a real chance that they would do more in their careers and lives.

Today JD Salinger died. And people are really upset. They're upset that an author has passed away who hasn't published anything since 1965 and hasn't given and interview since 1980. He was 91 years old. Why are these people so upset? Unless you're a member of his family or social circle, this in no way negatively effects you. You're not going to miss his personality or opinion, because he wouldn't even come to the door if a reporter came a knockin. Were you thinking that after FORTY-FIVE YEARS of not publishing anything that suddenly he was gonna pop out a new novel? Hey, maybe his widow has some of his unpublished manuscripts lying around that she'll have published now that he's dead. So maybe his death positively effects you. Or maybe there are no manuscripts and instead of writing he's spent the last several decades of his life playing canasta. There were no new books and no new interviews coming. My point is that the level of JD Salinger in your life would not be any higher if he were still kicking. Not that he would be doing much kicking, what with the BEING NINETY-ONE. The Onion sums it up with a nice bit of satire: Bunch of Phonies Mourn JD Salinger.

Also, I read Catcher in the Rye. Underwhelming.

I'm going to bed now.