I guess I'm grappling with the concept of death; that of a public figure vs. a private individual. I feel uneasy about celebrating the death of a private individual vs. a public, and that leads to unease in myself; are they different types of humans? That'd be kinda fucked, to think of them as totally separate. And what of unwitting public figures? Where does the Queen fit into this?
She was born into a famous family and her father becoming king was in no way her fault or choice. Though, she chose to keep the monarchy going. She chose to stick to the status quo. While becoming queen may not have been her fault, staying queen may have been.
When I joke about a death like this, I am not celebrating the death of a private individual. I struggle with the balance within myself; a human, a unique woman, grandmother vs. a continuation of a corrupt system, who perpetuated both good and bad within (but how far does the good go if the system is inherently bad?).
I'm sad that a woman died. Human death is inherently tragic. I am not sad that part of a monarchy died, in fact that is worth celebrating. I'm not giddy over Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor dying, I'm giddy over Queen Elizabeth II dying.
When she chose to stay public, and to doom others to that fate, perhaps that is when it was decided her death would be celebrated. Elizabeth and The Queen are two separate individuals within one woman.
How do I reconcile that? How do we as individuals and we as a society?
Maybe that's one of the reasons we turn to humour.
ADDENDUM: It seems that when people get mad at others for joking about her death, it's because they see it as attacking the private individual, whereas the jokesters get mad at people for not joking, because the jokesters are discussing the public figure.
