It hasn’t been a great week, has it? First, very sad news about David Bowie and then Alan Rickman.
Many people took to social media to mourn the loss of and pay tribute to both men. Including Emma Watson.
Emma tweeted a photoof her Harry Potter co-star Rickman, who played Severus Snape and died from cancer yesterday, bearing the quote, ‘There is nothing wrong with a man being a feminist, I think it is to our mutual advantage.’
While many have responded to her tweet positively, so far it has had 63,500 retweets and 98.500 likes, not everyone was happy about it.
Several people started trolling Emma as a result of the ‘feminist’ quote.
On Twitter user accused her of ‘using his memory for propaganda’.
Another said, ‘Yeah I’m not keen on how hamfisted the agenda pushing is in this considering the circumstance.’
And someone else chimed in ‘I’m all for feminism, but it’s a little low class to use his death to push your agenda, no?’
One used defended Emma, however, saying, ‘I agree with it I’m also a feminist man. So sad of this lost [sic], RIP Half-Blood Prince!’ **
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On Facebook Emma wrote, ‘I’m very sad to hear about Alan today. I feel so lucky to have worked and spent time with such a special man and actor. I’ll really miss our conversations RIP Alan. We love you.’
This week has divided people, however, into those who mourn on social media and those who won’t. It’s also exposed confusion around the etiquette of online mourning. Neither Rickman nor Bowie made public announcements about their illnesses, meaning that their very private deaths were met with very public expressions of grief and loss from friends, family and fans alike.
We can’t see anything wrong with Emma choosing to share something to express her grief and mourn the loss of a colleague, friend and inspiration.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.