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How to Grieve Like a Celebrity

Yesterday, Marie Osmond went on the Oprah Winfrey show to discuss her son's suicide.  This is a mere nine months since her son jumped off a building to his death.

On the show, Osmond sang a tribute to her son and even shared details from his suicide note.

As I watched, I couldn't help but feel like there was something distasteful about all of it.  Perhaps part of it is that it seems like in the past few years, since Osmond received a career bump from appearing on Dancing with the Stars, she's been on talk shows like Oprah every five minutes chronicling every detail of her personal life.

Except this time, I feel like she went too far.

Of course I have sympathy for someone who lost their child, and I can understand that talking about the tragedy can be a step towards healing, but lately it seems like celebrities will auction off any part of their personal lives for a few extra minutes in the spotlight.

It's almost as if it's part of their genetic make-up.

Maybe it's because I was raised in a family where our personal problems were kept between us.  My family still thinks it's insane that I post anything personal online.

So when I see people airing their personal issues on national television, something about it just turns me off.

In addition to the fact that it's someone sharing intimate details of their lives with total strangers, it's the fact that it's dressed up as "help."  The inevitable question is always "Why have you chosen to share this with us?" and the answer is always "I want to help others."

It just always seems so disingenuous, especially when there's a tribute song to go along with it that'll be available for sale on ITunes as soon as the show is over.

I just wonder when it became okay to use the memory of your dead relative for ratings during November sweeps?  If you really want to honor someone, aren't there better ways to do it?

I know I've watched my last grieving celebrity show.

From now on, I'm changing the channel.

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