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Let him go quietly.
The death of Michael Jackson is tragic. So many stories of his life are tragic. What is beautiful is the music and the timeless universal cross-cultural appeal of the brilliant entertainer.
They say he was a tortured soul.
Because of that, I ask:
Must his death be a major production? A frenzy of controversy? Must we re-adjudicate his sordid past? Must the media play over and over again the speculation about his sexuality, his cosmetic surgeries, his bankruptcy, his family difficulties? Do we have to televise the people around him who will be fighting for his remains? His money? His child?
Must we hear about the seagulls descending to collect every shred of what he's left behind?
Can the media give his soul the peace in death they couldn't offer it in life?
They say he was a tortured soul.
Because of that, I ask:
Must his death be a major production? A frenzy of controversy? Must we re-adjudicate his sordid past? Must the media play over and over again the speculation about his sexuality, his cosmetic surgeries, his bankruptcy, his family difficulties? Do we have to televise the people around him who will be fighting for his remains? His money? His child?
Must we hear about the seagulls descending to collect every shred of what he's left behind?
Can the media give his soul the peace in death they couldn't offer it in life?
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"Can the media give his soul the peace in death they couldn't offer it in life?"
This is what they asked about Lady Di also.
The answer was, she traded on her fame, sought it, sought to expand it. So it's hard to argue later that the people she got all worked up should suddenly shut their traps. Why would they?
His case is even simpler: He's directly in show business -- show business was his life and fans were his income. Those records have royalties that will pay off his debts (including, yes, his drug debts, his spendthrift debts, and his sorry-I-statutorily-raped-your-child-and-here's-some-cash debts). There may be even enough left to possibly benefit his children. Only if the records are popularized, though.
There may also be some social benefit in jailing the doctors that fed his drug habits so the next quacks don't succumb to the same criminal get-rich-quick scheme and possibly tightening laws.
So I think the answer to your question, for several reasons unfortunately, is a simple and straightforward, no.
June 27, 2009 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I share your sentiment, but the answer as I'm sure you realize is no. There will be no peace here on earth with respect to MJ's death. As with Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, the circus has only just begun, the marketing, kitsch, sacharin sweet adoration, myths, half-truths and misconceptions have not even begun.
June 27, 2009 3:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
There's an oldness to the whole MJ story. A media tiredness to it.
I can't explain it that well. It's different than when Princess Diana was killed. That was more of a shock somehow.
IMHO, Jackson's death, while tragic, seems less fresh, less large, less jolting. Even though he was planning a tour, he hasn't been current for a very very long time. His passing and the stories that accompany it feel like a rerun. That's just IMO.
I feel like he died a long time ago.
June 27, 2009 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
He did, for me at least.
I am kind of bewildered by the response
June 27, 2009 8:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I totally agree - the uproad over MJ's death is beginning to be like a three ring circus which is a shame that a person can't pass without some sort of decorum and peace. I compare this to Farrah Fawcett who, of course, had none of the popularity of Michael but who set such an example of courage and faith. She fought a valiant battle against her cancer and is an inspiration to use all. I fully realize that MJ is a world wide phenonenom but the media frenzy is beyond belief.
June 27, 2009 4:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well said, tpm. I wish that people would remember him as an artist, rather than a celebrity.
June 27, 2009 4:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
tpmg,
AGREE. I swear to God that if nuclear war had broken out in the Middle East the networks would have never noticed.
MJ was a genius and not really that different from a lot of other gifted people we all know.
Does anyone else suspect Mark Sanford was at least marginally involved somehow?
Gee that last sentence was kinda cold maybe I should dele
oops... hit submit before I could fix it...
June 27, 2009 5:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
Maybe one way to "let him go quietly" would be to put all comments on one blog, rather than continuing to add new blogs on the same subject.
June 27, 2009 6:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
Would you prefer that I take this blog down, CD?
June 27, 2009 6:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, but it is just one more of many; I am not the one who asked to let him go quietly. I am sorry; I shouldn't have responded. You bring much incite here, and I appreciate your thoughts and ideas.
In honor of your request I will be quiet about Michael Jackson.
June 27, 2009 6:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Insight, dumbass.
One less child molester in the world.
June 28, 2009 12:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
A hundred people died in auto accidents today and another hundred of gun shot wounds.
A thousand people died today from complications related to cancer.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
June 27, 2009 6:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why shouldn't we mourn when an artist dies? They make life bearable for most of us.
June 27, 2009 8:50 PM | Reply | Permalink
they do make life bearable, Bev.
June 27, 2009 9:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
...go quietly, i think not, not in this age and time, the whole thing is beyond sad.
June 27, 2009 7:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Michael worked for world peace. He was a musical genius who reverberated worldwide. I wish we could let him go at that, but the other will also be with us, like it or not. RIP Michael.
I agree with your quietude. Thanks for the thoughtful post.
June 27, 2009 8:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Must his death be a major production? A frenzy of controversy?
It must be a major production because the media always makes money off of someone's life and death; and I understand there is symbiotic relationship between the media the celebrity which is negotiated out of the sight of the public.
Still the media will lift someone up just to tear them down only to resurrect them after they are dead. It must be done one last time for that last drip drop of a dollar; they wring every ounce of publicity out someone's cold dead body.
June 27, 2009 10:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I was 16 when The Jacksons made their debut. I wasn't impressed then with their music style and all throughout MJ's career I found it quite easy to change to another station.
His whole career was one of always looking for aceptance. He definitely suffered from a lack of confidence in himself. It shows in everything he did. Everything was screaming for attention and approval. In short, he never grew up. Both his family and the media saw it. He was a mealticket sent from heaven so long as he never grew up.
June 28, 2009 10:16 AM | Reply | Permalink