Kobe Bryant dies a tragic death and the whole world is suddenly his fan.
Every time a celebrity, sportsman/woman, popular personality dies an untimely death, my feeds are cluttered with people's posts of condolences etc.
Today, Kobe Bryant died an untimely and tragic death which was made even more tragic by the fact that his daughter was also on the helicopter which crashed (along side 4 other people) and nobody survived.
I am not a Lakers fan, heck, I'm not even really a fan of Basketball. Granted, I have seen plenty of videos and clips of Kobe doing magical things, and I've even lost number of nights on youtube to searching for Kobe's best play compilations. But I will openly admit, I was never a fan boy.
That said, my fandom takes nothing away from his impact as a basketball player. His influence is unquestionable, his skill undeniable. Undoubtedly one of the all time greats of the NBA. His legacy will likely make new heights as a result of his early passing. Highly esteemed people who die early tend to experience a magnification of their achievements. That is one of the "perks" of meeting an untimely death as a superstar. You become an even bigger one.
What is not fine by me, is the sudden appearance of Kobe fans, emerging from the wood works like Kobe was their childhood (and kidulthood) idol. I understand if you live and breathe basketball, I even understand if you are a passive appreciator of basketball. But I don't understand it if you've never watched a single game of basketball in your entire lives, and suddenly you're making posts like you're suffering from a huge systemic loss. Just stop it. It's so superficial and fake. It's nothing but an opportunity to show some fake sympathy and fake sensitivity at the behest of someone's tragic passing. It's not virtue signalling. It's just highly inappropriate immature attention seeking.
This isn't the first time, and it won't be the last.
Hitching a ride on the current events is a way to make yourself seem relevant, even if it really has nothing to do with you. Being an "influencer" you are likely compelled to spill your two cents on the matter even if you are none the wiser. Surely being a popular influencer means you can't just ignore that which has nothing to do with you? Surely you can't just admit that you don't have an interest in Kobe and basketball? That wouldn't be asking too much?
Apparently it is.
I didn’t even know who the guy was until today. It is a tragic event, but no more time should be spent discussing this man’s death unless more attention is paid to the others who died in this accident.
Exactly. And the good thing is you're not suddenly pretending to be his biggest fan - unlike the rest of my social feed. As you said, the same attention needs to be paid to the others who died in the accident. They were all human beings.
But it was a super duper high tech special helicopter which makes it near to impossible to crash.
I'd rather just be quiet about it and not say a word about it.
I don't know or understand why people are doing all the sympathy thingy and I quite frankly think that for some, it is just because of popular culture.
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Sometimes tragic news like this makes one reflect on their own mortality. When it seems like we are mourning others, sometimes we are just mourning ourselves. The death of the daughter along side makes it all the more tragic and some people really can not help themselves in the face of such tragedy.
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