Writing Challenge #2

David Kaplan, chief professional officer of the American Counseling Association explained it as if the celebrities we follow become like extended members of our families in an interview with Huffington Post. “We grow up with these people,” he said, and by keeping up with what they’re doing on a regular basis, we feel like we get to know them and “in a sense, they become a member of our family — especially the ones we really like.” Needless to say, this feeling of knowing them leads to very strong emotions when they pass away. In the same interview, Kaplan speculates that the death of a loved celebrity triggers such strong emotions because it “reminds us of our own mortality.” This is very interesting because it goes to show that celebrities have become more than just their sport, and larger than life almost. We see these people as untouchable superhuman and it affects us when we realize they can suffer too. The way people deal with these emotions varies from person to person. What was most surprising about the passing of Kobe was the fact that so many people who didn’t follow basketball felt hurt. I had a conversation with my teacher about this subject, and he mentioned he cried when he heard the news, even though he doesn’t watch basketball. This made me realize that Kobe’s influence reached much further than just the basketball community. If Kobe’s passing was enough to genuinely affect an English teacher in Montreal that doesn’t consider themselves a hardcore basketball fan, imagine how someone that grew up in LA watching and idolizing Kobe while he played for the Lakers must have felt.