On October 14, 2019, Sulli, a famous Korean public figure, committed suicide. April 20, 2018, Avicii, a Swedish DJ, committed suicide. July 20, 2017, Chester Bennington, a famous American singer-songwriter, committed suicide. Why do these people commit suicide? Although it’s not proven for fact, the public assumes that they committed suicides because of the extreme hate they have received.
Why do people leave malicious comments on certain figures? I believe people are jealous of the fame that these figures have the privilege to have. In reality, most “haters,” as the internet world has began to call them who leaves profanity, have low self-esteem. As a result of this low confidence, they cannot speak face to face with the person. However, their mentality is altered once they start typing on the keyboard. Yes, they are hypocrites. As haters leave these malicious comments they get to have the feeling of superiority over the figures.
The funny thing is that these hypocrites are generally the same people who act as if they express compassion for the death of public figures. I believe it’s not to look like he or she is feeling sad, but it’s to mock their death. Behind their sympathetic comments, they have a smile on their face laughing at the death not knowing that they themselves are the murderers. For example, most of the comments on Sulli’s instagram posts were sexual harassments. In reality many reactions to her death contradicted these derogatory comments on articles that notified her death, people told her to rest in peace. When select usernames were compared, many were the people who criticized her before the death. This sudden remorse, following her death, seems to be fake and publicly pitying her. In my opinion, these commenters appear to feel no guilt in the figure’s death and do not recognize that they are the indirect contributors to the figure’s death.
“Yeah, I drive myself crazy ‘Cause I can’t escape the gravity” is a line in Heavy by Linkin Park. Linkin Park, the band that Chester Bennington is associated with, wrote this song before Chester’s death. However, the underlying subtext reflected his extreme feelings of darkness, self-hatred, and the immense pressure of being a public figure. In hindsight, this may have been the foreshadowing of his imminent suicide. The line “I can’t escape the gravity” shows how Chester felt pressured and overwhelmed by the comments and hates he had received from the haters.
Now, a message to these harmful commenters:
Haters, you may want the fame and attention the public figures are receiving, and the fact that you may want to feel superior than them. However, think about it. Celebrities are receiving all kinds of hate and animosity from not only people like you, but all the other people. Your blind desires do not justify your hateful comments. Do you think you, or anyone for that matter, can effectively handle that if you were in their shoes? Do not think they are too weak to handle your comments. Think how you would feel as the hated, and think once again before pressing the enter button.
Featured Image via Milos Mrden/Dreamstime.com