Poll of the Day > How often does a celebrity whom you've never heard of pass away?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I remember when Robin Williams passed away, I remember how everyone on PotD and on a bunch of comment forums, and everyone at school was talking about it, and I'm just like "Who the fuck is this guy that everyone is talking about"?. I mentioned my confusion on PotD and someone told me to go fuck myself in response, and I'm thinking as to what the fuck is going on?

I even mentioned that I didn't know who he was at school, and a bunch of other students got mad at me for not knowing who he was.

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Yeah kids are cruel its especially difficult when you're that young you probably wouldn't have heard of him since he wasn't in any prominent roles for a while at that point.

Depends on how you define "celebrity".

Actually famous actors, musicians, etc? I'm pretty good at knowing the name, even if I don't really know the person all that well.

"Foreign" celebs, or people I otherwise wouldn't really be expected to hear about constantly as an American (like soccer players)? If they're a big enough name I probably recognize it, if they're not there probably isn't going to be that much of a response when they die.

More niche celebs, or "Internet Personalities"? Way more often, because I mostly don't give a shit about those people and don't really relate to the same references and nostalgia as most people online. So I don't really give a shit about the same YouTube influencers or Twitch streamers that younger people grew up watching and caring about, or eSports figures, or people from meme videos, or whatever.
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Okay but seriously how the hell would you have not known who Robin Williams was

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thedeerzord posted...

I remember when Robin Williams passed away, I remember how everyone on PotD and on a bunch of comment forums, and everyone at school was talking about it, and I'm just like "Who the fuck is this guy that everyone is talking about"?. I mentioned my confusion on PotD and someone told me to go fuck myself in response, and I'm thinking as to what the fuck is going on?

I even mentioned that I didn't know who he was at school, and a bunch of other students got mad at me for not knowing who he was.

There comes a time where it really doesn't make sense to not know who someone is. It doesn't make sense that you didn't know who Robin Williams is.

Humans are instinctively tribal, for you to not know who someone so incredibly huge as Robin Williams sets you as an outsider. I'm not going to say whatever treatment you got was "right" but it is normal for outcasts to get poor treatment.

faramir77 posted...

Okay but seriously how the hell would you have not known who Robin Williams was, ok?

If you're posting here, you're old enough to know who Robin Williams was. Sounds sounds like TC is just willfully ignorant, ok?

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Probably pretty regularly. Depends on what you quantify a celebrity as.

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thedeerzord posted...

I remember when Robin Williams passed away, I remember how everyone on PotD and on a bunch of comment forums, and everyone at school was talking about it, and I'm just like "Who the fuck is this guy that everyone is talking about"?. I mentioned my confusion on PotD and someone told me to go fuck myself in response, and I'm thinking as to what the fuck is going on?

I even mentioned that I didn't know who he was at school, and a bunch of other students got mad at me for not knowing who he was.

I mean he is one of the most noteworthy celebrity deaths of that year, not knowing him is like not knowing Arnold Schwazrenegger, Brad Pitt, Sylvester Stallone or Tom Hanks or something. He also was a case of dying pretty young he had a lot of movies even into his final year or so.

almost never.

A lot, since I don't follow the performer behind the work. So unless it's somebody with decades of material to their name, or has garnered tons of media attention, there's an excellent chance I'd never heard of them.

The Black Panther actor, for instance.

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BlackScythe0 posted...

It doesn't make sense that you didn't know who Robin Williams is.

I had remembered as a kid seeing him on the cover of Flubber, and since that movie was revolting to me, and I avoided any movies starring him because he reminded me of that movie.

Although I didn't know his name, I had watched films with him in it such as Alladin, and Night at the Museum. Though I never knew his name. So when I heard that he had died and was seeing everyone's response, I was just confused as to who he was considering that I barely watch movies at all with the exception being occassional comedy and superhero movie.

And at the time of his death, I already knew about most of the big time stars such as Morgan Freeman, Jim Carrey, Chris Rock, Jackie Chan, Will Smith, The Rock, Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Samuel L Jackson, and Johnny Depp.

There are probably a couple of other stars that I couldn't name, but if I were to see a picture of them, I could probably name a movie that they were in.

But hearing about Robin Williams suicide was the first time I had ever heard about him. Only by doing some research about him a few years later did I realize that he played in Aladdin and Night at the Museum.

Monopoman posted...

I mean he is one of the most noteworthy celebrity deaths of that year, not knowing him is like not knowing Arnold Schwazrenegger, Brad Pitt, Sylvester Stallone or Tom Hanks or something. He also was a case of dying pretty young he had a lot of movies even into his final year or so.

I know who Arnold is, but I have only till this day have only heard of Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks. I have no idea what they look like.

And I've never heard of Sylvestor Stallone.

faramir77 posted...

Okay but seriously how the hell would you have not known who Robin Williams was

Because I barely watched movies when I grew up and when I did, I never really bothered trying to figure out what an actor/actresses name was.

Also, I only watched 2-3 films with Robin Williams while growing up. I was never exposed by my family God tier films like Good Will Hunting.

And to this day, I have still only seen 4 films starring Robin Williams. And that was Night at the Museum, Alladin, Good Will Hunting, and this other movie that took place in the medieval times or something.

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KJ StErOiDs posted...

A lot, since I don't follow the performer behind the work. So unless it's somebody with decades of material to their name, or has garnered tons of media attention, there's an excellent chance I'd never heard of them.

The Black Panther actor, for instance.

Yeah, If I saw a picture of him, I would see that he was the guy who played Black Panther. But only now after finding out that he died of cancer did I manage to find out that his name was Chadwick Boseman.

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I find it pretty easy to look up who the celebrity was before I go into topics to say "Who?"

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I don't really know pop culture. And I'm band with most names of people. I would probably recognize them if they said what movie or showed a picture, though. But I think Aculo is right about you being willfully ignorant or stuff...

While I didn't know Chadwick's name, I knew who he was... But that's understandable not to know...

To say you didn't know who Robin Williams or Sylvester Stallone is could be considered weird. I guess it's fine if you know who Brad Pitt and Tom Hanks are, even though you don't know what they look like. But stuff like that will make people see you as weird for not knowing. I mean, they are big names that have played in a ton of movies. It seems hard not to now who they are. And people you went to school with probably grew up with movie the Robin Williams played or starred in.

Tbh, people probably thought you were being rude when saying you didn't know who Robin Williams was. Like making a bad joke or something...

Sarcasthma posted...

I find it pretty easy to look up who the celebrity was before I go into topics to say "Who?"

Also, this. Anytime someone says the name of someone I don't know, I look them up instead of comecting "who" a thousand times. And I definitely don't think I would say "who" after it was already answered like some people do for some odd reason...
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Yep looking up people is easier than it's ever been before. It's not like not knowing who someone is in the 80s then having to hope that the set of Encyclopedias has that person listed or someone you know knows the person.

2 minutes on Google and you have tons of info on that person especially if they were super famous.

All the time, I don't really pay attention to celebrities.

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Who?
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Aculo posted...

If you're posting here, you're old enough to know who Robin Williams was. Sounds sounds like TC is just willfully ignorant, ok?

Yeah, I would have understood not knowing other famous comedians from that time like Bobcat Goldthwait, who kind of fell off the face of the Earth by the early 90s, but Robin Williams actually had staying power. He was very relevant right up to the day he died.

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Probably more than we know but with the internet it's rare not to know when someone passes away no matter how obscure.

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Aculo posted...

If you're posting here, you're old enough to know who Robin Williams was. Sounds sounds like TC is just willfully ignorant, ok?

I think you hit the nail on the head.

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The vast majority of the time a celebrity passes i imagine. I rarely watch movies or tv(and even then i dont watch credits), dont watch or read the news, and dont use stuff like facebook and twitter for anything let alone for keeping up with people i do not know nor care to know.

There are some that people have brought up in conversation enough that im not likely to forget but definitely not a large percentage.

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I don't think it's bad to not know who someone is even if they were extremely popular but I find all the 'Who?', 'Why should I care?', 'Why are you sad if you don't know the deceased personally?' posts to be really dumb

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thedeerzord posted...

someone told me to go f*** myself

Good advice, tbh

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It's usually about 50/50.

For every Prince and Michael Jackson, there is a rapper or b-list actor.

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It's happened a few times for me. I think it also depends on your background, culture, and what you're into.

thedeerzord posted...

I mentioned my confusion on PotD and someone told me to...

I even mentioned that I didn't know who he was at school, and a bunch of other students got mad at me for not knowing who he was.

Sorry people treated you badly. Many people tend to think that everyone knows certain people and things when that is not true. Even when someone or something is popular, there will still be some people who don't know about them. I am not a sports person, and years ago people were talking about some famous athlete. When I didn't know about it, some Gamefaqs members attacked me. Are you not a movie person? That could be a possible reason why you didn't know who Williams is. Behaviors like those are one reason I can't trust people, and see people as evil until they can each individually prove to me that they're not.

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I typically am not familiar with any sports players that pass away

even I was really shocked and sad when Kobe died though

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He was in like 70 movies and famous for 40 years.

What do you occupy your time with where you would be completely unaware of one of the most famous comedic actors ever?

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Sarcasthma posted...

I find it pretty easy to look up who the celebrity was before I go into topics to say "Who?"

This.

There is literally no excuse

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kangolcone posted...

He was in like 70 movies and famous for 40 years.

What do you occupy your time with where you would be completely unaware of one of the most famous comedic actors ever?

Video games, and even more video games.

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Which raises the question how somebody could go through their entire lives and *not* know somebody as big as Robin Williams. I can only assume that the person would have to be younger than 20 but they'd know the name if they were alive during the 90s.

It's weird not to know certain names, even if you haven't seen anything they're in.

ParanoidObsessive posted...

Depends on how you define "celebrity".

At any rate, this. Plus I don't always remember a celebrity by name, but I'll generally know the movie. Chadwick Boseman was a "who?" up until I heard Black Panther. Same for Alan Rickman before hearing Snape from the Harry Potter films (and he obviously did other famous stuff, I just remember him best for Snape)

For musical artists, I'm generally at a loss, even when they mention a song associated with them. However, there are countless musical artists.

And nobody can be expected to know "celebrities" like YTers (even the best-known YTers aren't as well-known as a lot of b-list actors) and famous-for-being-famous people.

thedeerzord posted...

And I've never heard of Sylvestor Stallone.

...wtf? That is kinda weird. You probably have heard of Rocky and Rambo, though.

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Zeus posted...

I can only assume that the person would have to be younger than 20

This assumption is correct

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Zeus posted...

..wtf? That is kinda weird. You probably have heard of Rocky and Rambo, though

I also have not heard these people.

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thedeerzord posted...

I also have not heard these people.

Thats because theyre fictional people from movies... But its still weird you havent heard of them...
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That's impossible to know since I don't follow celebrity news except what gets posted here. I know some deaths get posted here but do all the deaths get posted? Also, I watch a fair amount of movies and tv shows while exercising and are familiar with many actors. But there would be celebrity musicians I don't know that have died.

Also I'm not familiar with famous people in other countries.

It's safe to say that it's often someone famous dies, that someone didn't know was famous.

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thedeerzord posted...

I also have not heard these people.

There reaches a point where people are truly unable to suspend a sense of disbelief you know?