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This year I found it hard to watch Channel 7 retrospectives in between my family's deep passion: cricket... On a year of 1.72 million deaths, we are still commemorating a few individuals the networks deem notable.
We see them with their relatives doing noteworthy things and can give them honour. But this year more than any other I've thought on the concept of celebrity.
Anthropology as a discipline seeks to understand the "average" member of a cultural group, and I think there's something profoundly important about the knowledges that are gained by refusing to only look at those deemed extraordinary.
Yes, celebrities can be interesting, & seem willing to open their lives to us. We are intoxicated by following their every move. But this practice corrupts us in various ways to believe the ideals held by those in front of our screens are normative, important and noteworthy.
There are so many important contributions that are left unacknowledged. Tim reminds me, we have to remember that television networks commemorate the people that a) they have footage of and b) people who make their advertisers money.
It all hits a little closer to home this year with so many people I love grieving. So, if you (like me) have a loved one that passed this year, I'm thinking of you, and holding out a flame for *those* extraordinary individuals too.
Every single life is Imago Dei, made in the image of God.
