Michael Jackson Dead

Crapaud

I thought this was a good opinion piece in The Herald yesterday:

Ruth Wishart wrote:

A sad death, yes … but not a global tragedy

Let's be fair, it was a quiet news day. Oh, Iran was still unravelling, sundry economies were still en route to hell in a handcart on which several instalments were outstanding, hostages had been shot, soldiers had been blown up, suicide bombers had committed further outrages and inter alia there was mouth-to-mouth combat in Washington over President Obama's proposals for health care and climate change.

Nothing, then, that mattered more than the death in his own bed of a middle-aged pop icon for whom the adjective "weird" seems somewhat understated. Or so we must suppose from the complete media overkill attending the death of man-child Michael Jackson last week.

That those tabloids which have long since given up real news in favour of breathless "celebrity" bulletins would hand over half their editorial space to the event was dispiriting but entirely predictable. Yet the broadsheets were scarcely less reverential, and Radio Four's flagship news programmes were similarly starstruck: the Jackson demise was their main headline of choice, followed by chunks of comment that reached a nadir when a guest on the Today programme solemnly likened the newly departed to Mozart or Beethoven. That was the point at which, had I not still been abed, a heavy object would have been sought to chuck at the radio.

tI'll cheerfully concede a degree of inter-generational incomprehension here. We all have a soundtrack accompanying our own adolescence and that is obviously down to chronology. But to laud Jackson as an incomparable lyricist or legendary voice is to lose an already shaky grasp of perspective. The second coming he wasn't. His genius, if we must employ that word, was to capture the zeitgeist; to perfect the then emergent art of video promotion in exciting ways; to choreograph his live shows imaginatively; to record material that provided the perfect aural backdrop for an age that wanted to express itself through dance and decibels. Endlessly we heard intoned the statistic about his Thriller album selling zillions, without any nod in the direction of the massive marketing effort which, in part, underpinned its success.

I harbour the dark suspicion that, in newsrooms up and down the land, there sat executives desperate not to appear uncool who fell victim to a bout of temporary editorial insanity. As for the tearful tributes now obligatory from fellow artists: one can only assume the solitary section of the manufacturing industry likely to survive the recession is that producing sick-bags.

The number of people who can claim a deep personal knowledge and love of Michael Jackson is little short of amazing - especially when one of his trademark oddities was his reclusiveness. Little short of strange, too, that the father who allegedly punctuated the star's childhood with beatings in pursuit of selling the perfect cute act is now compelled by his grief to thrust himself in front of every available microphone.

That might be grossly unfair. Maybe attending public functions is the way Jackson Snr copes with loss. I have no idea - and nor do the parade of pundits who now claim intimate knowledge of the family. A product marketed to destruction in life is subject to an involuntary encore beyond the grave.

Everyone still wants a piece of Michael Jackson. There may be a legitimate news story in the manner of his death, but it hardly dwarfs the very real concerns facing the world at the moment. His death was untimely, but less so than that of the millions of children whom we allow to perish through inadequate nourishment, conflict or preventable disease. Is his passing really more tragic than that of a child shot in Gaza in front of his family, or a uniformed teenager blown up by an incendiary device?

The once handsome Elvis Presley became bloated; the once dynamic Jackson skeletal. Both were reportedly dependent on prescription drugs. Victims of their own celebrity. It is sad - as it is with anyone - that they died in advance of their allotted span. But sadder still that those who mourn their passing lose all sense of proportion.

My emphasis.

A realistic and honest summation, IMO.

giant_man

That is possibly the best piece of journalism written about Michael Jackson's death. Basic common sense.

passout

Maybe but his death was HUGE news because he was extremely popular everywhere not because he was a nice guy or musically/culturally significant. He was important because he had millions of fans across the Globe - simple. Remember popular culture and 'high culture' or 'good taste' are not necessarily the same thing.

Crapaud

passout wrote:

Maybe but his death was HUGE news because he was extremely popular everywhere not because he was a nice guy or musically/culturally significant. He was important because he had millions of fans across the Globe - simple. Remember popular culture and 'high culture' or 'good taste' are not necessarily the same thing.

Let's hope that the Bee Gees, Brittany Spears and the Spice Girls live forever then!

'Popular' and 'millions of fans' could apply to many artistes.

jordan_217

Apparently he never suffered a heart attack after all. He was found dead in the childrens ward after having a stroke