what if lindsay lohan dies tomorrow?

i immediately thought of that question even before i finished reading E online's "would any other celeb death be such a big deal?" story today on its website.

now, isn't that interesting? i can't think of anyone right now (except for lindsay) who could command the same global media attention and immense outpouring of grief from fans and non-fans alike for two weeks (and counting) than michael's death have. well, i thought, princess diana's death would be the biggest thing there is until michael surprised millions with his death.

leslie gornstein's article supposes what would the public reaction be if some stars do die suddenly; she doesn't think madonna, barack obama, or bruce springsteen would elicit the same sentiment from the public.

"at first you might think of a bruce springsteen or madonna or whatnot. or even a barack obama, who certainly is credited with, you know, making hope spring anew, and all this," she writes. "but then again, maybe not. lots of people are record-ripping hitmakers or worldwide hope generators, but I doubt we'd see the same collective hair tearing over mariah carey or nelson mandela."

"one of the reasons people are dissolving into such sanctimonious hysterics over M.J.'s death is the image of loneliness and vulnerability he had in life," she adds. "madonna's image is more hardass, but jackson's was all about vulnerability, more like marilyn monroe—fans wanting to take care of a person seen more as a victim, someone you would ferociously defend. when someone like that dies, fans feel like they've failed. and then they react accordingly—with an outpouring of love and adoration that isn't necessarily proportional to achievement."

the writer presented the case of princess diana and judy garland whose respective deaths generated widespread outpouring of emotion and grief.

"people who induced a collective public guilt because we, as fans, somehow didn't do more to protect them from all that sad... that eliminates obama, who, if anything, can handle himself. and springsteen, being a champion of the working man and whatnot, doesn't quite embody helplessness."

the writer doesn't think oprah's death could be bigger than michael's either...

God forbid, what if lindsay lohan does die tomorrow? we can safely gauge how people will react to that by studying how people reacted to heath ledger's untimely death last year. heath is not an american and not really that much of a household name yet his death caused a media firestorm that also lasted several days.

so much for morbid discussion.

let's talk about life, shall we?

this saturday will be the 11th edition of the annual celebrity chronicle achievement awards. some of the awardees include german moreno, willie revillame, patricia javier, jet montelibano, and bb. pasinaya 2009 sarah lazatin.

also, my friend joseph gelito will be featured in a series of shows soon. i will post a story on that sometime this week...