Just How Much Detail Are We Entitled to Surrounding Celebrity Deaths?

The sudden passing of singer Whitney Houston came as a shock to many, and as a sad and inevitable conclusion of a tragic life to others. There is no question that for a time at least, Houston was the gold standard by which all other female pop singers were judged. No one had her grace, elegance and sheer vocal power at the height of her career. By the time Whitney was in front of an audience of millions singing the national anthem before the Super Bowl in 1991, she was beloved by many, a shining example of where hard work and talent can take you in this life.

Her public struggles with substance abuse eventually took her out of the spotlight, but she was never forgotten, as evidenced by the outpouring of love seen on the Internet and elsewhere since her passing. It's obvious that despite of her struggles, she and her enormous talent were never forgotten. However, as more and more details are released about the events surrounding her death, we are all faced with the question of "How much information is too much?"

The public's fascination with celebrity deaths probably goes all the way back to the age of Kings and Pharaohs. For instance, the sordid details of Marilyn Monroe's death has been the subject of debate, speculation and titillation for decades, and yet as much as we know or don't know about the night Marilyn died, it will never change the fact that the world lost someone well before their time. The same can be said for so many stars who've died under tragic or suspicious circumstances.

Is it too much to expect of societal evolution to allow for more privacy in the wake of a star's death? Are we too naive to think that one day it won't matter exactly why someone like Amy Winehouse died, but more that the world was robbed of her talents far too soon? These are questions everyone must ask themselves.

In Houston's case, there might yet be more shock down the road, when the results of her toxicology reports come back. It'll be then that so many people's suspicions and theories about why she was found submerged and unconscious in her hotel room's bathtub are either confirmed, rebuked or just further speculated on.

What we all must ask ourselves is whether the cost knowing every dirty detail of a star's passing is worth it. Does it make a celebrity's death any more or less tragic if we know exactly why they died? Or is the tragedy simply in losing the star, and their ability to entertain us all forever?

The answers to those questions will tell us all a lot about ourselves as individuals and as a society.

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