Are "they" better than us??? in From the mouth of madness

Store clerk, a young single mother of 2, killed while working by armed robber. Man found dead of apparent heart failure. 3 month old infant dies of SIDS. Jane Doe dies of natural causes at the age of 102 We see headlines just like or similar to those above on a daily basis. We see them or atleast hear of them for a moment only for them to become a quick faded memory unless of course their passing affected us on a personal level. With that being said, how is it possible that the lives and/or passing of entertainers seems to take precedence over that of us, the general population, especially if their passing was due to acts of drug/alcohol abuse or other careless actions??? Take the recent passing of Phillip Seymour Hoffman for instance. He was found dead from an apparent drug overdose, in a bathroom, with a needle still in his arm. He had a history of drug abuse and died as a result of it by his own hands. He is still making the news a week after his passing and probably will still be for the next little while. How many people of non-notoriety died of an overdose, accident or other causes were reported in the news at the same time as Hoffman??? The answer is more than likely slim to none.
Why is it that people of fame seem to be placed on a higher pedestal than the rest of us making their lives more important than ours??? Is it because we like to live vicariously thru them or are they truly better than us??? The whole thing is asinine in my opinion. In the great scheme of life, we are all the same No one person is better than another. Some just might live in a better environment so to speak but that still doesn't make them any better. I guess what I am actually trying say or what point I'm trying to get across is that nobody is better than you or me and nobodies life is more important than anothers. No matter what our social/economic status might be, we are all equals in life and we will all die.