Bryan W. Alaspa 1Dying and being young
December 22nd 2009 14:35
“It's a hell of a thing, killing a man. Take away all he's got and all he's ever gonna have”
-Clint Eastwood as William Munny
“Unforgiven”
When someone young dies, it is almost always a tragedy. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and remove the “almost.” Even the most heinous of young people, should they die, is still a tragedy. They should never have been in a position of becoming to evil and had society done something to stop it, he or she might not be dead because of it.
Whether that person is killed or dies from some stupid dalliance in drugs or alcohol or any of the myriad of other ways to die, the fact is, it is a tragedy. Of course, when a young celebrity dies, this somehow brings things into greater focus. For some reason, seeing a young entertainer die seems somehow more tragic. We have seen then grow up on screen, perhaps, and now are left to wonder what they might have done later on had they been allowed to grow old.
The sad fact is that no matter where or what celebrity status the young person had, it is still a tragedy. Countless young men and women are putting their lives on the line and, perhaps, dying in wars around the world as I type this very sentence. All of them are just erased. All that is left is the memory and people search to find meaning in those deaths, and perhaps give it something beyond its senselessness, but you don’t have that person back. Would they have invented something important for the world? Would they have gone to medical school and found some cure that the world desperately need? Would they have come home and fathered or mothered a child that would have done one of those things? All of this is gone and we can never know, and that is the sheer hell of it.
I am approaching forty. People tell me I am still young, but most people really know the truth. By the time most people reach this age, they have really already made some mark on the world. I am still trying to make mine, but most of the marks I made already are what people judge me upon. When a younger person dies, they have yet to make their mark. They are still, generally speaking, a clean slate, and what they might do has yet to happen.
We like to demonize and we also like to deify. Most deification comes after that person has died. John F. Kennedy was not very popular on that day in November when he died and shocked the world. Only now, years later, through the haze of the past, is he covered in the sepia-toned glow.
The fact is none of us is a demon and none of us is a deity. We can become either, however. We all have the same chances of either doing great evil or doing great good. Doing great good is much, much harder and often not as rewarding. This is why there is so much evil all around us.
But there are those who choose to do good. They, like me, believe it is worth the struggle. Hopefully that inspires those behind us. Hopefully, however, those who come behind us are allowed to live the lives they deserve. Hopefully, their lives are not cut short through war or violence or drugs or illness. That is what we should all strive for, no matter what our political views.
-Clint Eastwood as William Munny
“Unforgiven”
When someone young dies, it is almost always a tragedy. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and remove the “almost.” Even the most heinous of young people, should they die, is still a tragedy. They should never have been in a position of becoming to evil and had society done something to stop it, he or she might not be dead because of it.
Whether that person is killed or dies from some stupid dalliance in drugs or alcohol or any of the myriad of other ways to die, the fact is, it is a tragedy. Of course, when a young celebrity dies, this somehow brings things into greater focus. For some reason, seeing a young entertainer die seems somehow more tragic. We have seen then grow up on screen, perhaps, and now are left to wonder what they might have done later on had they been allowed to grow old.
The sad fact is that no matter where or what celebrity status the young person had, it is still a tragedy. Countless young men and women are putting their lives on the line and, perhaps, dying in wars around the world as I type this very sentence. All of them are just erased. All that is left is the memory and people search to find meaning in those deaths, and perhaps give it something beyond its senselessness, but you don’t have that person back. Would they have invented something important for the world? Would they have gone to medical school and found some cure that the world desperately need? Would they have come home and fathered or mothered a child that would have done one of those things? All of this is gone and we can never know, and that is the sheer hell of it.
I am approaching forty. People tell me I am still young, but most people really know the truth. By the time most people reach this age, they have really already made some mark on the world. I am still trying to make mine, but most of the marks I made already are what people judge me upon. When a younger person dies, they have yet to make their mark. They are still, generally speaking, a clean slate, and what they might do has yet to happen.
We like to demonize and we also like to deify. Most deification comes after that person has died. John F. Kennedy was not very popular on that day in November when he died and shocked the world. Only now, years later, through the haze of the past, is he covered in the sepia-toned glow.
The fact is none of us is a demon and none of us is a deity. We can become either, however. We all have the same chances of either doing great evil or doing great good. Doing great good is much, much harder and often not as rewarding. This is why there is so much evil all around us.
But there are those who choose to do good. They, like me, believe it is worth the struggle. Hopefully that inspires those behind us. Hopefully, however, those who come behind us are allowed to live the lives they deserve. Hopefully, their lives are not cut short through war or violence or drugs or illness. That is what we should all strive for, no matter what our political views.
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