Yesterday, the world woke up to the news that 31 year old actor, Cory Monteith, best known for his role on Glee, had passed away suddenly in a hotel room in Vancouver. The news devastated not just his friends and his family, but the entirety of Hollywood and the huge Glee fandom. Even members of the press were torn up by the news. Twitter was filled up with an outpouring of grief and messages for Cory, showing just how well loved he was and how much he will be missed.
I will be honest, I am one of those affected. I am devastated and heartbroken at the loss of a core character of Glee. I am shocked at how sudden and unexpected it was. It was the last thing I expected to wake up to. I had hoped it was a hoax but reliable news sites were reporting it and there was an official police statement. I have also never seen such interest in a story, such a reaction to a sudden death. I remember the shock of the deaths of Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston, but something about this is different.
The problem is within a couple of hours of me finding out about the news, the typical comments started about people like me needing to put things into perspective. The reason was because of a news story in the UK. A fireman was killed, while on duty, tackling a shop fire. So where should my perspective lie?
I get that perhaps our culture is celebrity obsessed and perhaps we do ignore the stories which should really matter. But what do people expect me to do with these news stories? The fireman who died, he is not known and his family can be left in peace to grieve, to mourn, to lay him to rest. I feel for them, I do, and no one should ever be taken so young. I think the news story was reported as it is unusual these days for fireman, at least in the UK, to die while on duty. It helps to remind us that there are people putting their life in danger every day, just so people like us can be safe. I have the utmost respect for fireman, putting lives at risk to save people every day. But for most people, we read the story, feel for the family and then we move on, because it does not affect us, because we did not know them.
As for the loss of a young actor, I know I did not know him personally, but every week I watched act, sing and dance (though the latter was poorly) in a show that I have loved since it started in the UK. I won't grieve in the same way his friends, his family, his cast mates or anyone who he was close to will, but it does sadden me that this guy will no longer be on my screens. However, there is more to this story than just the loss of a talented actor.
Cory Monteith had never been one to shy away from his past drug and alcohol problems. He had always been honest that he had been to rehab at 19 and got clean. This year, he had returned to rehab in March and got himself sorted, got clean and turned his life around again. There is a good chance that his death is drug related, but for many people, we really hope it isn't. To the fans, his friends, his family, it appeared he was in a great place in his life and it was reported he was looking forward to returning to work. So therein lies the shock in this situation and we want answers. What happened that night? If it is drug related, why, after everything he has been through, would he go back down that route?
Then to top it off, there are the questions in relation to Glee. Will it be cancelled, leaving many people without a job or will it continue? If so, do the scripts need to be rewritten, will the start of filming be delayed, and if so, how long by? And then how will they deal with Cory's death, how will it affect storylines? For most TV Shows, if there is a loss of a cast member, they are usually older so the death can be written in easily, as was the case of Dallas, when Larry Hagman passed away last year. So many questions that people want answers to, which will take weeks for them to be answered.
I know I am not putting things into perspective in the way people want me to, but I can also see just how this one death affects so many lives in so many different ways. I was not one of those people who was affected by Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston's deaths but I finally get why people responded the way they did to the news their deaths. And perhaps, one day, someone in the public eye, who those who moan about perspective admire, will pass away and they will finally understand just why the fans feel the need to grieve, to mourn and to remember someone who meant so much to them, even though they never met them. But at the same time, we should be grateful that we will not have to publicly mourn our loved ones in the same way as those who have celebrities as loved ones will. We will have our privacy to deal with such awful news in our own way.
But remember, and I say this to the fans, who, for some, have perhaps overacted, life does not stop because someone has died, it goes on, whether we want it to or not.
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