An article on the BBC site confirms something I’ve been saying for a few years now. The mass outpourings of public grief in response to Princess Diana, Jill Dando, the Queen Mother or even the Soham murders are examples of “manufactured emotion”.
The article describes these phenomena as “recreational grief” and “mourning sickness”, both of which ring true… watching the TV footage of Diana/Jill/Liz-the-Queen-Mum mourners, my overwhelming impression was that these people were there to bring some ersatz “designer tragedy” into their lives.
It’s just another aspect of the growing tendency to Infantilism among middle class adults… opt out of the real world, ignore all the boring nasty stuff on the news, encase yourself in a safe life of primary-coloured leisure activities and satisfy your cultural needs through ‘Friends’ and ‘I’m a Celebrity…’. Refuse to take responsibility for your own life… if anything goes wrong, it’s not your fault; it’s some global conspiracy run by Tony Blair. That’s what happened to the lovely Diana, and that’s why you love her so much… her tragedy speaks to you.
Yeah, right.