Why Do We Grieve Celebrity Deaths?

When your beloved celebrity passes away, the loss can sometimes feel too personal, and moving on becomes harder than you ever expected

- Ravi Raj

A strange shock followed by a wave of sadness is what many of us experience in the wake of our beloved celebrity's demise. I've always wondered what compels us to react so strongly to someone's death whom we have never even met in real life. Case in point: When the news of Matthew Perry's demise surfaced, millions on the internet went into a mourning mode, sharing condolences and essays about how Perry's portrayal of Chandler Bing in Friends brought immense joy to their lives. It was a loss unlike anything for anyone who has binged this series.

It's hard to adapt to the new reality the corporeal absence of the public figure whom you had admired for so long. Many Friends die-hards had reportedly flocked to 90 Bedford Street - a six-story building in New York where Friends was filmed- to pay homage to Perry.

Closer home, Varun Kumar, 26, a marketing professional, reveals how the loss felt personal. "Friends was my saviour during my college years. I don't know how many tests I flunked and parties I missed because I was binging on this series. I don't know why but the character of Chandler Bing resonated with me so deeply," he says. Varun, sunk in despair, spent the rest of the days rewatching the series, and Chandler Bing's compilation on YouTube.