It was a
little after 4.30pm in Los Angeles on Wednesday when Twitter went into overdrive
after Variety and the Hollywood Reporter confirmed the death of James
Gandolfini.
On holiday in Italy, the actor,
who was just 51 years old, had apparently died suddenly from a suspected heart
attack. The outpouring of shock, disbelief and despair that the world had lost
this genius of a man was immense.
Gandolfini is best known for
playing Tony Soprano, a capo of the New Jersey-based DiMeo crime family in the
HBO drama, The Sopranos (from series two, he was the acting boss). First
broadcast in January 1999, it won a multitude of awards, including five Golden
Globes and 21 Emmys - three of the latter for Gandolfini. In its time, it was
considered the most financially successful series in the history of cable
television (and remains HBO’s highest rating series ever), and in 2013 the
Writers Guild of America named it the best-written series in television
history.
Its success (and ongoing success thanks to box sets) is in no small part
down to Gandolfini’s performance, which is strong, warm, funny, frightening,
tender – and he brings to the character a complexity that, despite the violent
themes, makes him immensely likeable, especially to women. An unlikely sex
symbol (overweight, overbearing, cruel), Tony’s struggle is trying to balance
his life in the Mafia with a complicated family life and his bouts of
depression. Visits to his psychiatrist, Dr Jennifer Melfi (Lorraine Bracco)
complicate his life still further, owing to the sexual tension between the pair
(although the good doctor never openly shows or acts upon it). He is that
lethal but attractive combination in a man – powerful and vulnerable.
At first, people thought the news
of his death was a hoax; Twitter is renowned for some sick individuals
announcing the sudden passing of celebrities. I recall on the day that Michael
Jackson died, I was in the gym and a friend texted to say that he had just
heard that Jeff Goldblum had been killed while filming. That, thankfully,
turned out to be a hoax.
For the next couple of days after
Gandolfini’s death, it was as if the whole world united on Twitter to send
their condolences to Gandolfini’s family. People who had worked with him spoke
about his kindness and warmth; all proclaimed his incredible talent.
It is at times like this that
social networking operates most successfully, providing a platform for people
to share their thoughts and emotions. While Twitter has its fair share of
trolls, whose personal comments cause great distress, and while it is also a
platform for rumour-mongering, it still provides a great social service.
With increasing numbers of people
having to work away from home (I spend most of my time on the other side of the
world, over 5000 miles away from most of my friends and family), social
networking stems the feelings of loneliness and isolation that are often felt.
More so than Twitter, Facebook shares photos, stories, TV and movie clips, book
extracts – anything that people have enjoyed personally or professionally that
they think others might, too.
Through Facebook, I have touched
base with incredibly talented people the world over whose work I would never
have known had it not been for this online contact. I rely on Twitter for most
of my news, as it reaches the Twittersphere long before it reaches traditional
broadcast and print routes. The problem with this is that it might not be
entirely accurate but, for the most part, it is.
I keep up with famous court cases
and have learned a great deal about the law as a result of comments and
discussions on Twitter. I have been directed to TV shows that have never
reached my radar. Twitter and Zeebox have also resurrected the pleasure of
watching live TV, as Tweeters share comments while a show is actually on the
air. The disadvantage if you have recorded the show is that social networkers
have a habit of giving the game away, thereby ruining that night in front of
your stored programmes you were so looking forward to.
But social networking has
undoubtedly changed the way we look at the world and our communication with it.
Just think, if it hadn’t been for social networking, you would not have just
read this blog.
And that really would be tragic.
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