Why Fans Feel as Though They've Lost Someone They Knew
There is an interesting phenomenon surrounding celebrity grief.
People sometimes wonder why they feel so emotional about the death of someone they never personally met.
The answer is familiarity.
If a performer appeared on television for years, viewers may have spent hundreds of hours watching them.
They may have seen the performer laugh, cry, argue, celebrate, and comfort fictional characters.
That creates a sense of familiarity.
The viewer may know nothing about the performer's private life, but they recognize their face immediately.
They recognize their voice.
They know the characters they played.
They remember how those performances made them feel.
When that person dies, the brain connects the news to all those memories at once.
The sadness isn't necessarily about a personal relationship.
It can be grief for an era, a memory, or a feeling.
