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Do you think the worldwide mourning of a famous person death i.e celebrities is just mass hysteria?

I do.  I imagine that this question was generated in response to the response to Michael Jackson's death.  Celebrities have always been part of a cult, receiving adulation far beyond what (I think) they contribute to the general good.  And this is not a specific response to Michael's death.  I was a much bigger fan of Luciano Pavorati and miss his contribution to my entertainment, but there are plenty of recordings of his (and Michael's) greatest work, and I suspect that their best days were behind both of them.

But my point is more specific:  these people, no matter how talented, are just entertainers who have made great contributions to pop music/opera; but we need to get a grip on their significance in the grander scheme of things.

(My apologies in advance to Jackson/Pavorati fans.)

I do. When I see people crying for people they don't even know, I can't imagine how they would feel over the death of their own for parent or child.

Absolutely.  I recall news stories of Lincoln's and Kennedy's deaths, although I wasn't born yet.  I remember the deaths of Elvis and Princess Diana vividly...the hoards of people who wept on TV and who gathered to leave their flowers and momentos was incomprehensible.  Now, Farrah Fawcet's and Michael Jackson's deaths have superceded the important news like John and Kate's divorce.  Wow!

I hate to seem like I'm belittling the grief these people's families and friends feel, but for the general public, I don't understand it.  It is almost like they put so much emphasis on this news so that they can temporarily forget their own personal issues. 

What is important is the state of the economy and how we're going to get out of the mess we're in when China all but owns our nation and we're so dependent on foreign oil for our energy.  I hate to think about socialized medicine and what that will do to us since we already know it doesn't work in Canada and Europe...otherwise, the ones who live in those countries who can afford to seek medical attention in the US wouldn't be here for their surgeries, etc.

While these entertainers have certainly blessed us all with wonderful music, movies, and other worthwhile contributions, and there is no question they will be missed, this is not what we need to focusing our complete and undivided attention on today. 

Well, I looked up "mass hysteria" to see how it is formally defined. Definitions vary, but the common thread seems to be strong emotion of some type (classically, fear) beginning with a small group and then spreading to a large body of people, feeding upon itself as it grows. So, is the mourning of celebrities a spontaneous outpouring of grief, or does it feed upon itself and grow larger, in our time through media coverage? Probably both, but for whom do people mourn?

I suppose it is possible for some people to feel as if they know someone they have never met, but how strong would that identification have to be to provoke weeping? Amazing to me. But if the "who" is removed from the equation, maybe what many people are mourning is instead a "what." What life was when this celebrity and I were young together? What this celebrity reminds me of in my own personal history? What might have been? Maybe losing a very famous and enduring celebrity is the loss of the past, evoking strong personal memories. Combine those feelings with music (powerfully evocative) and a mass response might be more understandable.

A few weeks ago I saw an Elvis tribute show, ninety minutes of Elvis's music, one song after another from rock to ballads to gospel. I'm a people watcher, so I watched. Around the room, different people came alive when different songs were played. Some smiled or went "ohhh." I saw one "senior citizen" reach for his wife's hand. Later, through a show of hands, it became clear that every person in the room remembered where he or she had been when Elvis died. I think it wasn't just a celebrity they mourned.

To say that "mourning of a famous person death is a mass hysteria", is an objective and correct observation, but saying "mourning of a famous person death is just a mass hysteria" seems to imply that this mass hysteria is something frivolous. I don't see the justification of considering it frivolous.

If large number of people feel some link with a person and mourn his or her death, why should others. who don't feel the same way, belittle feeling of others, even if their observable behavior may have been partly shaped by behavior of others. Even in death of close relatives and friends, people breakdown and cry when they see others doing so.

In reply to #7: Thanks for the great responses. I wasn't posting the question with the intent of implying histeria was frivilous or to belittle the feelings of others. Yes the question was asked mostly because of the recent death of a well known celebrity. I do find it hard to understand how someone can be so upset and not have known the person personally, I mean how do these people react when a close family member passes away? I do however understand that maybe the celebrity reprensents a part in someones life through music or film etc, but shouldn't we seperate the celebrity persona we know from the real life person we don't?

In reply to Post #8 I would like to state that emotional ties need not necessarily be weak between people who have not met personally or interacted with each other in some other way. It is quite true that personal interaction provides greater opportunity for development of emotions such as like. dislike, love and hate. But such emotions can develop without personal interaction also.

I'm not sure my example will fit the 'worldwide mourning' intensity of your topic, however the day that Jerry Garcia died, 8-9-1995 (a man I never met) did have a profound effect on me, I was beside myself. The Grateful Dead did have a unique following, fans would go on 'tour', so I think it does have relevance to your topic. Over the years I've thought about why his death had such an impact on my life, considering I never met him face to face. This is my educated conclusion: Jerry Garcia's music filled a hole in my heart. Omitting the sorted details of that hole just know that when I heard his music at 16 years old, I felt better. The irony of it all is that  I was lucky, in the 5th grade I was given a test to see if I had musical potential by the  Board of Education. At the age of 11, I began playing the violin. I learned how to read music and started playing the guitar. The musical education I received in the N.Y.C. public school system allowed me by 16 to play the music I loved at the time I needed something to believe in.  Playing music, be it the school orchestra, or later singing the songs of Jerry Garcia  gave me the strength to perservere. It pains me to say that while it is true that Garcia fought his 'demons', he was liken to an angel to me, life is funny that way. One man gathers what another man spills...  There is that old saying... as long as you remember them... they are always with you...