Amy Winehouse dead!?

[Yi-Long]

... supposedly news just coming in that Amy Winehouse has been found dead? Have to pick up my girlfriend from the trainstation so can't be bothered to look for english news-sources...

[grim_tales]

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/amy-winehouse- ... 18932.html

27 is too young

[gasteropod]

Is the trend of everyone posting jokes as soon as a famous person has died boring the shit out of anyone else?

[Yi-Long]

Is the trend of everyone posting jokes as soon as a famous person has died boring the shit out of anyone else?

Depends on the jokes I guess.

[IronMonkey]

Can't say I'm at all surprised by this.

[Markgway]

Is the trend of everyone posting jokes as soon as a famous person has died boring the shit out of anyone else?

Not only boring but tasteless too.

The death of a 27-year-old girl is not comedy gold no matter the reason for her demise.

I'm damn sure her family don't think it's funny.

People who make these jokes are sad, pathetic little creatures who should be ignored.

[gasteropod]

On Facebook:

Me:

Someone explain to me the point of all these dead boring jokes every time someone famous dies

Friend #1:

Its an attempt to look edgy and current

Friend #2:

Its about laughing at the world. ‎...Plus theres always someone edgy and current to go against it ;-)

Me:

It's not a laughing matter, and the jokes aren't funny. I'm indifferent about the death as I was neither a fan nor a friend, but this trend is as boring as it is ethically repugnant

Friend #2:

Lighten up. Not everything is serious. Even death.

[grim_tales]

I agree with Gas. I wasnt a big fan but posting jokes when a young person/famous person (see also MJ) dies is tasteless TBH, even if dark humour can be funny, but not now. The girl just died.

[Yi-Long]

Yeah, it would be out of place if it had come completely out of the blue with a healthy normal person, but in this case, it hardly comes as a surprise to anyone... so obviously there will be some jokes coming at it from that angle...

TBH, I don't really mind jokes if they're good, but that's probably because I know these jokes often just pop into your head completely automatically... so I think it's natural to not jus show regret or grief, but also find the lighter side to it. But I can understand some people seeing that as disrespectful.

[Markgway]

As far as I'm concerned there are no 'good jokes' about dead people (or specifically about their deaths). The people who make them (and those who laugh along) are damaged goods. To find humour in tragedy is a sickness in itself and reveals a deep void in a person's soul.

[HungFist]

I'd say: on the contrary: inability to see dark humor in tragedy suggest of inability to rational thinking. I'm kinda scared of these emotion driven people who lose their ability to think logically when confronted by an emotional situation. Some deaths simply are so ridiculous that they deserve to be smiled at. That doesn't mean disrespecting the person. Rather the opposite. It's so dumb when someone accidentally manages to kill himself in an especially inventive or hilarious way, and then everybody pretends nothing unusual has happened.

I sure would laugh if I got stomped to death by Japanese schoolgirls, or got killed by an allergic reaction from a Japanese school uniform. And I wish my family would smile at that too, because those would be some of the most ironic ways for me to go Besides, I'd rather leave smiling people after me than crying people.

I also hate those hyppocrites who bash a person all their life and when that person suddenly dies they pretend they're sorry. Michael Jackson was good example: the day before his death people called him a fucking retard. The next day the same people were praising him as greatest human being the world ever knew.


None that had anything to do with Amy Winehouse. I don't know what people are saying about her, I hardly know who she was. Some drug addict singer that people expected to od soon, I believe. I don't know if she was a good singer as I've never heard any of her songs.

[gasteropod]

But we're not talking about a funny death here Hung, people just jump at the chance to try and make something funny out of it. I can't remember the name of that scooter thing you lean forward on, but when the creator of that died by falling off a cliff on one, yeah that is humorous. Not his death, but the irony of it and the image of it.

[IronMonkey]

The people who make them (and those who laugh along) are damaged goods.

Isn't everyone damaged goods?

[Markgway]

Isn't everyone damaged goods?

Some more than others.

I couldn't disagree more with HungFist.
I don't care if the death is Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, or some random bloke on a scooter.
NONE of them are funny in any way, shape or form.
A life lost is never funny and there will always be someone left to grieve and pick up the pieces.
Would you find it funny if your son or daughter died?
All of these people are someone's son or daughter....

[Heka]

I also hate those hyppocrites who bash a person all their life and when that person suddenly dies they pretend they're sorry. Michael Jackson was good example: the day before his death people called him a fucking retard. The next day the same people were praising him as greatest human being the world ever knew.

Well put. Also if Amy Winehouse was a talentless and unknown heroin addict I doubt many would consider her death a tragedy. She made her own choises and it's of course sad that she never could kick the addiction.

As for joking about the matter. I think it's OK to joke about it with your friends if your friends understand the context and you and your friends get enjoyment and laughter out of it. Though one should always consider to whom to joke is directed to, that's why it isn't a very good idea to joke about the matter in the wast internet but rather in private. I don't think "jokes" disrespect the memory of some person if they aren't made with ill intent.

[Markgway]

[Also if Amy Winehouse was a talentless and unknown heroin addict I doubt many would consider her death a tragedy.

To be clear I don't think her death was tragic simply because she was a famous singer (I was never a fan). The drug-related death of any young person has to be considered a tragic waste of life. I have no sorrow for criminal junkies who make the lives of others a misery - but AFAIK Winehouse only ever truly hurt herself. How many times have you heard people (maybe people you know?) say 'I'm OK with drugs. I know what I'm doing. They won't hurt me'. The tragedy is not in the 'who' but in the 'why'. Why do so many young people go out this way? Whatever the answer I'm sure it isn't funny.

[thelostdragon]

A life lost is never funny and there will always be someone left to grieve and pick up the pieces.
Would you find it funny if your son or daughter died?
All of these people are someone's son or daughter....

Bin Laden was someone's son.

[Markgway]

Bin Laden was someone's son.

Please tell me that you're not comparing Amy Winehouse with Osama Bin Laden.

[Shingster]

I think he's just highlighting the fact that when Bin Laden died everyone and their uncles were cracking jokes across the internet with little to no complaints by the self-styled internet bastions of good taste & decency, such as yourself. Not that LD's point is specifically about cracking jokes about Bin Laden, but rather comments that gloated over his death on these boards.

Is it hypocritical for someone to be glad of the death of a murderer then complain about people poking fun at the death of a celebrity because of the feelings of innocent friends and families?? I dunno, I think it's a natural response to pump a fist in the air when a man responsible for the deaths of thousands (including tens/hundreds of your own countrymen) is effectively curbstomped by the military as a result of his actions!

[gasteropod]

I was as indifferent to Osama Bin Laden's death as I am to Amy Winehouse's.

[Shingster]

I was as indifferent to Osama Bin Laden's death as I am to Amy Winehouse's.

Me too. It's tragic whenever any 27yr old loses their lives to drugs, but it was all too inevitable in Amy Winehouse's case to really register any shock and sadness whatsoever. Same goes for Bin Laden, I failed to see how the manner in which he was taken out by the U.S Military benefitted anyone, certainly didn't feel any sympathy for him though!

[gasteropod]

but it was all too inevitable in Amy Winehouses case to really register any shock and sadness whatsoever.

Yes I did a fair bit of eye-rolling when some simple folk posted on Facebook comments like 'I can't believe Amy Winehouse is dead'. They didn't see it coming? Really? lol

[Markgway]

Is it hypocritical for someone to be glad of the death of a murderer then complain about people poking fun at the death of a celebrity because of the feelings of innocent friends and families??

Short answer. No.

Bin Laden was a terrorist indirectly responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocents.
Any reasonable person would be glad that he's dead.

Winehouse was a troubled pop star of debatable talent whose actions were entirely inconsequential to 99.99% of the planet. Like or loathe her she didn't kill anyone so to offer any kind of moral comparison with an evil mastermind is ludicrous.

You can laugh at Bin Laden jokes (although not my thing really) and feel that jokes about Winehouse are in bad taste without ever betraying hypocrisy.

I was as indifferent to Osama Bin Laden's death as I am to Amy Winehouse's.

I didn't jump for joy when Bin Laden was killed - but then I didn't know anyone murdered on 9/11 or 7/7. Doesn't mean I wasn't glad when I learnt he was dead. I don't care about Winehouse in any personal way - I just find bad taste jokes deeply undesirable and symptomatic of an insensitive society.

[Yi-Long]

Well, as far as I'm concerned you can joke about pretty much everything, cause that's just how our warped minds work (I'm a reel hoot at funerals...)

I think the Amy Winehouse jokes are just a direct result of her public image. This wasn't a surprise tragic death of a young healthy talented youngwoman. This was a well expected death of a foul-mouthed ill-behaved troubled woman who was more in the news because of her ridicoulous behaviour instead of her undeniable talent. So THAT's what people are responding to, and that's where most of the jokes are coming from!

Sucks for her family and friends? Maybe, but I guess it must have sucked for them when she was still alive and pissing herself as well...

Live like an idiot and don't be surprised if you'll be remembered like an idiot. That doesn't mean she wasn't a sweet girl somewhere beneath it all, but that's not how she's known beyond her inner-circle, so obviously people are going to joke about her public image. At some point it isn't even anything personal, cause most people never got to know her personally!

About Bin Laden's death. I was shocked. It didn't bother me that he was killed, cause obviously he's been responsible for lots of innocent deaths, be it directly or indirectly. But it did bother me HOW he was killed and how quickly the disrespectfully disposed of the body under the false pretense that it was somehow according to some islamic law or something(!) And I was perfectly fine with jokes about that as well. However, the public response to that assassination/killing was also a bit over the top with so many people cheering about a guy getting shot in the eye. Understandable ofcourse, but still not something I really enjoy seeing from a mob of people.

I think we all discussed the Bin Laden issue in it's own topic though, so I won't go too deeply into it...

The biggest tragedy in this whole Amy Winehouse death is ofcourse that I had finally managed a while ago to get Valerie out of my head, and now those bastards are playing it all the time again...

[Markgway]

Well, as far as I'm concerned you can joke about pretty much everything, cause that's just how our warped minds work (I'm a reel hoot at funerals...)

Speak for yourself...

I think the Amy Winehouse jokes are just a direct result of her public image.

Look. We all know she was a fuck-up OK? A pantomime clown whose ridiculous antics were prime tabloid fodder. Of course there's irony in 'fans' leaving bottles of alcohol at her shrine - you really couldn't make that shit up - but cruel jokes... crude gags... and pitiful one-liners... etc., are more cheap and tawdry that she ever was.

Sucks for her family and friends? Maybe, but I guess it must have sucked for them when she was still alive and pissing herself as well...

No maybe about it. It must've been hell to watch the girl screw up her life... but at least they had the hope that one day she might change. Now all they have is an urn full of ashes (or whatever token the Jewish version allows for).

But it did bother me HOW he was killed and how quickly the disrespectfully disposed of the body under the false pretense that it was somehow according to some islamic law or something(!)

Oh yeah, that REALLY bothered me. I mean how dare they disrespect a world renowned terrorist? What were they thinking, those imperialist brutes? One in the back of the head and thrown in a ditch - that's what he deserved. The sea burial was to prevent a shrine.

However, the public response to that assassination/killing was also a bit over the top with so many people cheering about a guy getting shot in the eye. Understandable ofcourse, but still not something I really enjoy seeing from a mob of people.

I don't enjoy seeing mob mentality either... but as you say understandable. Since none of us here has lost a loved one to a terrorist act we have no right to judge those who have.