No public service to whitney.. what do you think?

i think its a family decision. people make the same decision all the time. the public will just have to suck it up.

I can see their point, honestly. There was a lot of negative discussion about how she was a junkie, she wasn't nice, it was bound to catch up with her, etc. so I'm sure they don't want to invite that energy to her final resting ceremony.

I think that how funerals are conducted are such personal choices so I don't feel that I have any voice about how her family chooses to honor her and bid her farewell.

Good For them, famous or not every family has the right to mourn In privacy. Trust me people won't impose because security will be out in force al around that church.

The memorial service will be at a church in Newark, NJ and is by invitation only. They are thinking about doing a public memorial at the NJPAC center in Newark for fans.

Will it be broadcast?

yes it will be broadcast. The today show is talking about it and they JUST said there will be one camera in there!

I have a lot of respect for this, and I think that it's very reasonable. I enjoyed her music in her early years, I didn't agree with a lot of her lifestyle choices, and I stopped really following her career / listening to her music a long time ago.

But the thing is, in the end, even for her fans, her death is not going to be as traumatic, or have the same kind of impact for her fans as it is for her kids, her other family members, and her personal friends.

After all, would any of us want the funeral of one of OUR loved ones broadcast, open to thousands of people who may or may not be respectful, who may or may not be disruptive, talking heads reviewing it and picking apart every tear, every hug, every outfit, every comment made about her, etc....

Her career might have been public, and she might have chosen that. But her funeral is for those who are left behind, and it's up to them if they want it private or not.

cont

After all, it's sort of like when Micheal Jackson died - he always kept his kids lives private - even going so far as to hide what they even looked like for how long.... Yet there they were, at their dad's funeral, unable to grieve in private, their words being recorded, analyzed, and dissected... I can't imagine that this is something that Micheal himself would have wanted...

Or, another example, when Princess Diana died. One of her sons wrote what is assumed to be a letter, it was on her casket and addressed to "Mum". There was so much speculation about what was in that note, when it was such a private thing, between, when it all boils down to the point, was a boy and his dead mother. It wasn't any of our business, no matter how famous they are.

We might "own" their celebrity persona, the experience of their music, etc, but we don't "own" them, and they have the right to some private moments, kwim?

I am glad its not public. I am sick of hearing about it, and she should be mourned by her family privately.

The family must be hurting and drawing in on themselves for comfort. They may feel that a public service would be an extravaganza and not the dignified, solemn occasion that they want.