Spare us the teddy bears

Theodore Dalrymple bemoans the reaction to the death of British soccer star George Best, who received the biggest public funeral since Princess Diana.

In the immediate aftermath of a man’s death, we should doubtless overlook his faults for a time or at least treat them with charity. But it is surely disturbing that a man who possessed for only a few years a major talent at a minor accomplishment, and whose subsequent life became a prolonged descent into squalor, both physical and moral, should have provoked such a public outpouring of emotion over his death. It is a sign of deep shallowness and emotional emptiness.

I had the same reaction to Diana's demise. Who were all those people crying on street corners and festooning the streets with teddy bears and flowers? I have a hard time believing that people were that upset over the death of a person they knew from the cover of a magazine.

And don't get me started on that Elton John rewrite of "Candle in the Wind" It already exceeded the maximum allowance for maudlin when it was about Marilyn Monroe. It became unspeakable when it was rewritten for Diana.