Family of a 17 year old Irish Green Day fan who died yesterday are trying to get a message from Green Day

[pieterv]

I'm very sad to hear about this young person's death. but

These people telling him these words aren't enough, only a video would do, sorry you're just acting stupid.

You can't force grief onto people and you can't force people to show that grief in a particular way you'd like to see.

Why don't they just write him a script and ask him to read it on tape if they're going to demand him to react to this terrible news in their favourite way?

[AfterShock]

Jeez, some of you guys are assholes.

RIP, and good on Mike for doing something incredibly kind for someone he never even met.

I don't get why some of you are so bothered; it doesn't affect you either way. Mike decided to do something nice. That's that. There's no point in discussing how pressing of a matter it was or the fairness of it. I think we all should be appreciating that one of our favorite bands is nice enough to acknowledge it. I think that's really freakin' cool

[bri1039]

Woah

[TheJedi]

this was an amazing thing of Mike to do, so nice.

R.I.P :/

[November's Storms]

Mike's a classy guy, no doubt.

Also, can we use this and the Dos photo as absolute, beyond-a-doubt proof that Mike Dirnt, if nothing else, lurks around these parts?

What Dos photo?

I'd like to think he does but this was also trending on twitter, I'm sure he got a lot of messages through the official GD twitter account.

[Sarcasm]

I'm very sad to hear about this young person's death. but

These people telling him these words aren't enough, only a video would do, sorry you're just acting stupid.

You can't force grief onto people and you can't force people to show that grief in a particular way you'd like to see.

Why don't they just write him a script and ask him to read it on tape if they're going to demand him to react to this terrible news in their favourite way?

Because GD has thousands of fans and they're not obligated to record a personal statement of apology every time a fan dies. It's good that it happened but it's not their job and it's just a damper on their life.

[TheJedi]

What Dos photo?

I'd like to think he does but this was also trending on twitter, I'm sure he got a lot of messages through the official GD twitter account.

this one http://25.media.tumb...kdq4eo1_500.jpg

you can see on the top and bottom of it that it's a screenshot from GDC

[Hero_Of_The_Hour]

Another reason why i love Green Day...they care deeply about their fans. That was really really sweet and thoughtful of Mike. Glad he has more of a heart than some of the people on here.

[Yaz.]

Was not expecting a response from them but what Mike wrote was so lovely. RIP Kaelem!

[Alex R.]

I can only imagine how Mike's message is so full of kindness !

This is why I am madly in love with Green Day !

Good on you Mike for doing something for that guy you never even met, which is rare from one of the biggest bands in the world.

Legends are legends !

[pieterv]

I just wrote up a 1500char long post in the GD.com comment field about what I think about these reactions, but then I realized I don't want to post it there.

I guess It's not appropriate to judge these people so harshly while they're grieving the death of a friend, many will probably say I'm a terrible person for posting it anywhere at all instead of keeping it to myself.

But I've been told before that I wasn't acting sad enough about someone's death and I should try harder to express my sadness and it feels really bad hearing that and sticks around in your mind for a very long time.

I'm very sorry but I feel like I need to say this after seeing all these reactions.

It's such a disgrace that you're using the terrible death of young person to harass someone and get a video recording of a them saying what you want them to say.

You got the terrible news to the attention of the band and they reacted to it in a way that they deemed appropriate. Now you're saying this display of grief isn't good enough and they need to try harder, do it different. It's like telling someone at a funeral they're not crying hard enough.

I hope this attitude is limited to Green Day and doesn't extend to people that were closer to Kaelem. Because telling someone they're not reacting appropriately to a terrible event like this while they're trying to process the news themselves can be a very hard thing to hear and deal with, especially when you're already going through very hard times. Everyone deals with events like this in their own way, you can get people to feel guilty and start doubting whether they're sad enough, whether they're a bad person for not crying enough. You can push people that are already depressed by this news into even more depression.

Please just support each other through hard times instead of reaching out to someone for a video that would sadly be almost meaningless because you forced it upon them.

RIP and lots of strength to everyone that knew him.

[farley drexel hatcher]

I understand this is a sensitive subject but i'm a bit shocked that people are still pushing for a video. It seems a bit - for lack of a better word - greedy.

[spark in the night]

So sweet of Mike to do that. I'm happy he did. Poor kid. He's sleeping peacefully now

[DeJennsitized]

Really sweet of Mike to do that. Love him

However I have to say the comments under his post pissed me off a little bit. Okay, I could maybe get behind the idea that the funeral video was suggested as an idea, as something Green Day could do for the kid (even though I don't agree with asking them/expecting them to do it but whatever) - but to insist on a video after Mike's already written to give his condolences is a bit much. Like I said earlier, the support in general for the guy who passed away is admirable, but I don't think asking for the video is. Mike's acknowledged it, shouldn't that be enough?

And at the risk of sounding insensitive - why the fuck do they want a video so much anyway? Just play a Green Day song at the funeral, it means just as much. Moreso, because I imagine it's the music the kid loved, not the possibility of getting acknowledgement of his existence from the band.

[blitzkriegdeb]

Very sweet of Mike to do, and honestly, I like the idea of releasing a statement better than a video.

Quite frankly, filming a video would just be awkward. I don't even know how you go about recording a video for a funeral for someone you don't know? Even the idea of filming a video for a funeral in general is kind of errie, to me at least.

That being said, I send all of my condolences to the family and friends. No one deserves to go that young. Rest easy fellow Idiot, heaven just gained a kid with a great taste in music.

[Hermione]

I understand this is a sensitive subject but i'm a bit shocked that people are still pushing for a video. It seems a bit - for lack of a better word - greedy.

I can't believe people are doing it. Mike's sent a lovely thoughtful message and that should be enough. You're not supposed to respond to someone's message of condolence by asking for another better one....

[Stan Dellone]

Not doing it. Sorry. That'd be nice, but it'd draw too much attention to the family, and what would GD say? "Sorry, I'm sure he was a nice guy"?They didn't know this kid. Everyone dies. Big deal.

Cruel to be kind, but absolutely right. Any message the band gave aside from "I'll always remember that he bought our albums..." would be disingenuous, and pretty morbid in all honesty. The family should be applauded for loving their son so much, but should know better than to set themselves up for such an obvious disappointment... it's just sad all around. Poor kid...

[Daughter.of.Rage.and.Love]

That's really sweet of Mike, and really selfish of people who say a message isn't good enough, only a video will do, because I don't believe they're asking that for the sake of the fan or his family.

[Kaelemsfriend]

Hi Everyone,

I would like to thank everyone here who helped support Kaelems family and friends.

This whole thing started in school the day after Kaelem sadly passed away. My little brother was one of Kaelems best friends, everyone has been so devestated by the sudden loss of a close friend, this "campaign" has helped them deal with the situation of losing a friend at such a young age.

His very closest friends were with Kaelem when news of Mikes message was spread. They read it aloud to him and passed on the message to his parents.

I thought you fellow Green Day fans would like to know that the message was recieved, talking to some of his friends this evening, they are so happy with Mikes message, the sense of accomplishment of doing this for Kaelem has filled them with pride and given them something to be happy about in this time of great sadness.

Thank you again for just taking your time to acknowledge Kaelem.

[solongfromthestars]

That was awesome of Mike. Glad to hear the message was received and I think that's enough

[hamza_elyoubi]

That was great

[WestboundSign!]

I just got to know about this.. and I gotta say that Mike's such a generous guy. The boy's story touched me and I don't believe a lot of people are mentioning all this "But every Green Day fan could ask for a message then.." stuff. This boy was a huge fan and lost his life! He deserves this and I'm glad Mike reacted. In this case, I completely agree with this:

To bring up the ridiculous argument of "Well is every dead green day fan going to get a message" is just plain stupid. This poor kid lost his life. It doesn't matter if your jealous of Mike giving him a shout-out. Can you imagine what his family is going through right now? All they wanted was for their son to get his last wish, not a bunch of people attacking their request.

What Mike did was wonderful. He was super nice and did something he wasn't required to do, out of the kindness of his heart. Thank you Mike for being awesome.

[DecanoLP]

I think this thread should be closed now. The message has been sent and everyone has his own opinion about this. There's nothing left to discuss....

[Katarina.]

The fact that there even is a "discussion" is so pointless in my opinion. It's really nice of Mike to get that message out. That's it. How people can ask for a video and whatever else they're talking about, I don't even know. Just pointless. It's like saying something about a speech at a funeral, like it's not creative enough and they need a powerpoint presentation with it. Again, I'm glad Mike made that message and good to know it was well received.

[jacknovella]

I agree that this should be closed, Mike was nice enough to write something and any other discussion after that is pointless. RIP.