Keep in mind, as someone else mentioned earlier, a great part of the reason there was more outpouring of grief and greater attention(kind of like with the Paul Walker passing) was/is because of the manner of death. Not peacefully passing on in old age like Mother Theresa and Mandela here.
I'll end the night with this video. One of my favourites and always emotional to/for me. <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/86DN4lY9M58?fs=1&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/86DN4lY9M58?fs=1&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="560" height="315"></embed></object>
To think he made it all the way to 95 with all the things he's been through by itself is amazing. RIP Madiba.
A great man who changed the life for millions, rest easy now. Also got me through a lot of English essays by just quoting the great man
I'm familiar with Princess Di and Mother Theresa, it's on the news but He was talking about the thread count. Walker died on the 30th of November, 5 days later Mandela passed away at 98. Hence the thread count a little higher in Walker's thread. Besides none of that **** matters, a great humanitarian just passed away.
I hope we will again see someone so positive, so influential, and so broadly respected within the next half century. I tend to think it can't happen, but I can hope. RIP, Nelson Mandela. May the world find tiny ways to continue your legacy.
I apologize if this sounds cold but young people die violently all the time. Yes from what I've heard Paul Walker and Princess Di were good people who did a lot of good things and they died tragically but their importance pales in comparison to what people like Nelson Mandela and Mother Theresa did. From what I remember about the Princess Di death was while a lot of focus was on how she died a lot of the sentiment was how great of a person she was and how tragic such a great person was taken away. I've tried to avoid the Paul Walker death but it seems like a lot of the coverage is about how good of a person he was. I'm not saying he wasn't a good person but I think anything good, or bad, that someone like he did is much more magnified by societies obsession with celebrity.
That is a good point and I guess we will see what happens in the next few days but just from a quick glance at Clutchfans it does seem like there were more posts about Paul Walker's death in the same time frame as there have been about Nelson Mandela's. Yes a great humanitarian passed away but the point of this side discussion is about the relative attention paid for a celebrity who is most known for a series of testosterone laden movies about street racing versus a man who fought and won against an oppressive regime and then was a wide leader.
What you say has much merit, but Diana's case was much more simple, I think. People loved her. Just flat-out loved her. Even if a lot of her story was mythologizing on the part of the media, she was "one of us" (a "commoner", or, as the British press dubbed her, "the people's princess") whose fairy-tale marriage later became a disaster. That she seemed to rise above the media suffocation (even while skillfully manipulating it at times; even so, a stressful task) made her all the more endearing. I think with Princess Di and with Nelson Mandela (who is of another stratosphere than Diana in actual achievement, once labeled a terrorist by the country he would later lead as President a mere four years after being released from prison), the common thread is that they can bring together so many people in positive, embracing emotions. A lot of public figures either emotionally repulse or freeze us. Not so Mandela. It's good he passed on, you can bet he was ready---very old, frail, and sick. But somehow the world seems a little less without him in it because he was one of its few uniters.
All the slaughtered SA white farmers along with thousands of other SA whites that were hacked, gang-raped and tortured to death are smiling today. Why do you tell this poster to STFU when he's telling the truth? Go do some research on SA before you try to silent the truth. Not trying to ruin your lovefest for Mandela or turn this into a debate, I just hate to see another poster being told to STFU for telling the truth.
I hated this. When Mother Teresa died, she should've gotten much more respect in terms of coverage than she received. Princess Di did a lot of good work, as well, but I think most of her death's coverage was just tabloid garbage. Mandela should rank up there with the MLK, Gandhi, etc. for what he did for people and the guts he had. The straight up balls this guy had to do what he did can't even be described. I don't care what kind of coverage Paul Walker gets, because maybe he was a good guy, as well, but damn, we're talking about losing a juggernaut in political, equal, and human rights. One thing is for certain - fifty, one hundred, or more years from now, they'll still be talking about Mandela in history books because he was that badass, so at least he's got that going for him. The other thing I guess is that Mandela's main story arc was several years old while Paul Walker's is current in his movies, so he relates to younger people today, so that part is understandable, I suppose.
The things you mentioned that happened weren't part of Mandela's desires or plans. You may want to do some research about Mandela yourself. The thing that makes him amazing was his desire to not seek retribution for all of the crimes, gang rapes, murders, bogus imprisonment, denial of basic human rights that were inflicted on himself, and black South Africans for decades. He was largely successful in curbing the retributions and he deserves great credit for it. Sorry to poop on your faux "dark side" of Mandela fest.
