Death is perhaps the biggest question that we as humans have tried to tackle. For millennia, we have asked and pondered: does anything come next? If so, what? And why? Who put it there? Can we delay it? Can avoid it entirely?<\/p>\n
Books have been filled, dissertations written, lives dedicated to death and everything that does (or doesn\u2019t) surround it. But we are yet to agree upon a single thing. And perhaps this is the reason that we so closely adhere to the rigid cultural rituals that we have developed for when someone passes away.<\/p>\n
Unless a person was particularly heinous and evil, there is an unspoken expectation to posthumously celebrate and praise every single achievement and personal characteristic of the person who has died. You\u2019ll often hear that \u2018you mustn\u2019t speak ill of the dead\u2019; it is taboo and often seen to be in poor taste.<\/p>\n
As a result, due to our complete collective and individual inability to have a measured response to anything, we feel the need to valorise the dead and see them as one-dimensional versions of themselves, particularly those who were in the public eye. And this is understandable, especially immediately after a tragic death.<\/p>\n
But that leaves the questions: What about everything else? What about the people they hurt? The poor choices they made? The destruction they potentially left in their wake? And we saw this tension play out after the shocking announcement of basketball star Kobe Bryant\u2019s death.<\/p>\n
There was something about his death that made me recoil into myself. I\u2019ve never watched basketball, sports generally bore me, and, before a few days ago, if you would\u2019ve asked me to tell you one thing about Kobe Bryant beyond that he was a very famous athlete, I would\u2019ve struggled.<\/p>\n
Yet when I heard, or rather read, of his death I felt a wave of great sadness. And I think this is fairly normal, especially considering the suddenness of his death and the tragedy of his 13-year-old daughter – and budding basketball star – dying alongside him. Not to mention the deaths of two of her teammates, as well as their parents, the basketball coach, and the pilot.<\/p>\n
Their deaths prompted an outpouring of grief from fans, teammates, celebrities, friends of Kobe\u2019s, and sports commentators alike. There is something about the unexpectedness of the helicopter crash, of the lost potential of those girls, the youthful defiance and light in Kobe Bryant\u2019s eyes that was abruptly put out. The tragedy is clear. It is palpable and impossible to avoid.<\/p>\n