Jack Layton dead at 61

[Flashmonkey]

I think there's an important difference here between someone like Princess Diana, or Amy Winehouse, and someone like Jack Layton. These other people who die, they are public figures and celebrities, and people have an emotional connection to them, but they are not elected. Jack is a person that people CHOSE. They voted for him, to represent them. No one voted for Diana. She wasn't responsible for making people's lives better. A lot of people had future hopes invested in Jack Layton. He was supposed to do good things for the people that voted for him, so there's a direct connection. With him dying, it's a big disappointment to those who had hoped he would lead in making some real changes. So I can understand that the grief is more real, and not so voyeuristic.

A very good point. Well said.

 

[dpmachine]

I think there's an important difference here between someone like Princess Diana, or Amy Winehouse, and someone like Jack Layton. These other people who die, they are public figures and celebrities, and people have an emotional connection to them, but they are not elected. Jack is a person that people CHOSE. They voted for him, to represent them. No one voted for Diana. She wasn't responsible for making people's lives better. A lot of people had future hopes invested in Jack Layton. He was supposed to do good things for the people that voted for him, so there's a direct connection. With him dying, it's a big disappointment to those who had hoped he would lead in making some real changes. So I can understand that the grief is more real, and not so voyeuristic.

In a way, you're right, and yet I disagree.

People looked to Jack Layton for happiness in a way similar to the way they looked to Princess Diana for happiness. Jack Layton making an appearance at various functions made people happy; watching Jack Layton give a speech made them happy, just as watching Stephen Harper give a speech made them unhappy. Some of this was due to how he campaigned, appealing to young people and establishing a personality for himself. Nothing inherently wrong with that.

There are ways that Jack Layton could have affected people's happiness in a more real and substantive way than Princess Diana could have (you know, creating different policy and all that). But I think that, as a general rule, if you're looking towards politicians, actors, celebrities, etc., for personal happiness, you're doing it wrong. There are millions of people across this country who would have found personal fulfillment with Jack Layton as Prime Minister, even if he did nothing truly substantially different from what Stephen Harper or Michael Ignatieff would have done (which is the most likely scenario). But just seeing Jack Layton give press conferences, hearing "Prime Minister Layton" on the news - that would be enough for them. It's the same thing with Obama; there are people who become enraged on hearing the man speak, and people who are delighted to hear the man speak, regardless of what he actually says. It's not about having an opinion; it's about defining yourself about who you are for and who you are against. As a caveat, none of this is a criticism of Layton personally, and my criticism in general is only tangentially related to Layton. It's the way people tend to behave these days.

I think this is at the heart of this unfortunate trend towards public grieving and mawkishness over the last decade. I think the dignified and appropriate response is to have some personal restraint about it, both for the sake of maintaining one's own dignity and out of respect for the man's family and friends who have clearly not have an easy time of it lately. We can express a decent sympathy for them, we can feel sorry for his loss, but we should still keep our heads in check. I feel the same way with every major death out there: that police officer back in winter, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson, Brittany Murphy, etc. Jack Layton was (deservedly) more respected and better regarded than the rest of them, but when everyone who dies has to be followed by days and days of flags at half mast, news anchors speaking in sober tones and wearing black ties, and wall-to-wall TV coverage, these gestures start to lose their meaning.

 

[short stop]

I've been camping for the whole week. I didn't even know he'd died until yesterday! I was very saddened to hear the news, but after seeing his last public appearance I certainly wasn't surprised. I think it was FMJ who mentioned it - when you've had loved ones die of cancer, you get to know that *look* in someone's face.

I don't have much to add that hasn't already been said. I think almost every Canadian held a deep respect for the man, even if they didn't always fall on his side of the political spectrum. To me, he was one of the few Canadian politicians who actually came across as a human being and not as a predictable politico-bot. I'm not sure where the NDP will go from here, but they certainly have their work cut out for them, seeing as I'm pretty darn sure that many Canadians voted for Jack and not necessarily for their local NDP MP.

I respect Christie Blatchford, but I don't always agree with her. Although there was an ounce of truth to her article on Jack, I think it was overly cynical and simply unnecessary. I think that the fact that many Canadians can even whip up this type of emotion for one of our own politicians is unprecedented and inspiring. Let people have their public gushing of emotion, even if it is somewhat unsightly or unrefined. People will do their thing, and then we'll move on and we can properly focus on Jack Layton's real legacy. I don't see how dwelling on the Diana-esque public grieving process properly respects his family or memory either. It's just another journalist trying to throw cold water on an issue in order to illicit a reaction.