Originally Posted by
West Coast
That's asking humans to forego natural reactions to such an emotional event. An attempt to do so would also be a reaction to the event and equally obvious.
I can't agree with you, in the uk at least it was rare, but not unknown, to see such public displays of emotion prior to say the death of Princess Diana 20 odd years ago. At the time the events we saw unfolding were largely unseen in the uk, a term was even coined for it at the time - 'recreational grieving'. That sounds very crass I know.
I saw a scene on the tv news a couple of nights ago, a mother and young daughter placing flowers at some Manchester memorial site. Mum places her flowers down, young daughter then places her flowers down, steps backs and looks at Mum with an expression that says - Why am I doing this Mum? A totally meaningless gesture. I'm sorry to sound so cruel, but I do not believe these things are a natural reaction, I do believe they are a modern media driven reaction.