Michael Jackson died. Oh, you heard? Farrah Fawcett also passed away. You might have missed that one, since her death occurred earlier on the same day and was therefore quickly subsumed by the Jackson coverage in the print media and on the cable news networks. The latter immediately became consumed with Jackson’s life story, completely ignoring other events of the day and week, as the “Jackson news” absolutely flooded the airwaves, and, to only a slightly lesser extent, the print media. (Even the New York Times devoted several front page stories to it, thereby rivaling, if not equaling, the depth of coverage usually reserved for the deaths of former presidents and Nobel Peace Prize recipients.)
Jackson’s death was cloaked in intrigue, or at least the cable news networks would have you believe it was. He was only 50 and had no known history of heart trouble. Whether he died of natural causes or from some drug-induced episode may be uncovered by pathology reports, but the cable news folks couldn’t wait to jump on all the sordid possibilities.
But the post-death hype about Jackson even exceeded the trumped up mystery of how he had died. One cable commentator stated emphatically that he had been more important than either Elvis Presley or John Lennon. Excuse me?
Jackson was a talented performer who, by my count had a run of four or five years of mega-stardom, peaking with his “Thriller” album in the late 1980’s. His popularity probably exceeded his output, which is certainly no crime. But let’s keep things in perspective. As a pop musician he was a trendsetter who soared briefly and then became more a curious recluse than a creative genius.
His later years, meaning the last ten, at least, were marked by scandal and mystery, and he was hardly even missed as an artistic force when he died, so long had it been since he had made any major contributions in that regard.
Ms. Fawcett’s death was the more noteworthy as a legitimate news event because, in her battle with cancer, she had become a hero to many, as she championed the good fight and offered hope to millions similarly afflicted.
In addition to burying, pardon the pun, Ms. Fawcett’s death, the Jackson story also pushed the crazy tale of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford off the front pages (and cable news broadcasts). Sanford, who in his own way is even more bizarre than Jackson had been, is the guy who a month ago was at or near the top of many short lists of possible Republican presidential candidates in 2012. He had even reportedly been under serious consideration for the VP slot on John McCain’s ticket last fall, which suggests that Sarah Palin was actually not the most controversial possible pick for that job.
Sanford’s revelation that he had been having a year-long affair with a married woman in Buenes Aires, Argentina came less than a week after the disclosure by another Republican, Nevada Senator John Ensign, that he, too, had been violating his marital vows in an adulterous affair. Scandals like those are becoming too commonplace to garner much attention in the press anymore, although the Sanford meltdown was almost too deliciously absurd to ignore.
Still, the Jackson death took over everything, making presidential press conferences (Obama held two last week) seem trivial and everything else almost irrelevant.
One such irrelevancy did manage to creep onto the front page of some national papers last week (albeit below the fold, as they say). The Times’ headline read, “New Border Fear: Violence by a Rogue Militia.”
The story behind the headline is disturbing, to say the least. It seems that a rogue group engaged in “citizen border patrols” was responsible for the killing of a man and his 10-year old daughter in Arivaca, an Arizona town. The three alleged killers are members of a group calling itself Minutemen American Defense. It is a Washington-state based offshoot of the Minutemen movement that consists of individuals who roam the country’s southern border looking for illegal border crossers.
The Minutemen have not been known to extend their patrols into vigilante actions, but the group involved in last week’s story feels no such compunctions. The killings were perpetrated by the group’s leader, Shawna Forde, and two others. They were reportedly after drugs and money that they intended to use to finance further vigilante activity. The home they entered had been occupied by the deceased man, his wife and their daughter. The wife survived the attack by firing back at the intruders while she frantically called 911.
Ms. Forde and her cohorts are now facing murder charges and may be spending the next few decades in prison, but the incident raises larger questions, a few of which might even be as important as how Michael Jackson died.
For openers, are groups like Ms. Forde’s all that unusual? It may be that hers is the only such group in existence and that her two confederates, along with her, constitute the entire anti-immigrant vigilante movement. My guess is they represent just the tip of a fairly large iceberg, and that the anti-immigrant violence represented by the killings last week may become a major law enforcement concern as the economy continues to put more low income Americans out of work.
But a larger issue also suggests itself, and it is represented by acts of domestic terrorism such as occurred at the end of May with the assassination of Dr. George Tiller, the doctor who had performed late term abortions in Kansas. He was killed by another rogue vigilante, albeit this one was apparently acting alone.
The acts of these individuals may be singular anomalies of no consequence in the grand scheme of things. If so, then the media’s fixation on Michael Jackson’s death does no great harm.
But if, on the other hand, this recent anti-abortion, anti-immigrant vigilante activity is evidence of a new form of lawlessness in the country, one that claims ultra-patriotism and/or religious purity as its motivation, then perhaps the silent masses that crave the coverage of Michael Jackson’s demise are being poorly served by their media.
Good job, Ed! Speaking of media, I only discovered RSS a couple of months ago and was enthralled, but since I discovered Twitter, I’m bored with RSS (and I’m 66 yrs old, so I shld still just be reading newspapers…) Anyway, I posted a link to your article on Twitter, hardly anyone listens to me, but maybe someone will pick it up. In another death-of-Michael-Jackson event, the whole “Twitterverse” went to bat for Adam Savage of Mythbusters last week when AT&T charged him $11k data fees for using his cell phone in Canada. But also the whole world follwed the Iranian uprising. I bet you can get more readers on Twitter than through RSS. I’m just saying. @ellen_schwartz
Ed: another good job. I noticed you couldn’t pass up a shot at the Republicans though. Farrah Fawcett was a good looking actress who battled breast cancer publically helping to keep the battle public was a nice thing to do and i respect her for doing so. She was not a hero.
You mentioned “the wife survived the attack by firing back at the intruders while she frantically called 911.”, in passing. That should have been the Headline. Not Micheal Jackson.
I guess I’ll be the outlier here and fan the flame.
As a child of the ’80s, I understand the fascination with Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. And let me just say, I’m not one of these star struck people. In fact, I find most celebrities to be nothing more than blowhardy sacks of wind.
Let me preface: I’m not condoning the All Michael Jackson All the Time coverage, ad nauseum. I’m not convinced that it is right or even okay–especially at the expense of other, probably more newsworthy topics (Iran, Farah Fawcett, Billy Mays, abortionist killings, border patrol violence, budget crisis, et al). Oh yea, and the politician who was stepping out on his wife–although that hardly qualifies as “news”, but I digress . . .
However, to treat Michael Jackson’s passing as more tabloid fodder, as though it were nothing more than a squabble at the sorority house or to dismiss him as just another silly celebrity pop star–somehow doesn’t sit right with me either.
When I was young, my parents couldn’t stand my taste in music. Most of my selections had my grandmother clutching her pearls. And it’s the rare person who had a WASP-ier upbringing than me. But the one thing my family could all agree on (sometimes the ONLY thing)–was Miichael Jackson.
He brought harmony in my home when my parents were going through their divorce. I still remember tearing up when he performed “Heal the World” And being mesmerized by the Smooth Criminal music video. His music comforted me through all sorts of difficult periods of my childhood.
I still remember the first time I heard those first few beats of “Billie Jean”. I was three. My dad bought me Thriller as a gift. I was hooked. It is the first record I ever owned. And I listened to it over and over.
At the risk of sounding trite, it changed my life—that first album introduced me to the power of music. And that was a real blessing. Michael Jackson inspired me to pursue many things in my own life. He influenced my relationship with music more than any other singer or entertainer. And that relationship with music and the arts is still with me today.
And I’m not the only one. Almost everyone has their own Michael Jackson story. And almost everyone is at least familiar with his music.
I guess this is my point. His music resonates with people of all ages and from all walks of life; from all over the world. It transcends race, culture, national origin, and socioeconomic status. He broke through racial barriers. And let’s not forget all of his contributions to the industry.
Look, I know he’s no saint. And I recognize that he was nuts. Yes, he had a lot of issues. His issues had issues. And I understand the root of most of his problems.
I’m not excusing his bizarre behavior or anything he may or may not have done. And I haven’t forgotten how icky he made me feel over the years. Yes, I am referring to the sex abuse allegations.
And yes, I do “get” just how heinous sex crimes are. For two years, my job had me working solely on CA P.C. 288 (a) cases. Believe me, I get it.
So my relationship with Michael Jackson is also complicated.
But I’m not going to apologize for being a fan of his music. Nor am I ashamed of the fact that I own every single one of his released albums. I can separate the man from his work.
And while this isn’t the only story, it is still sad and there is a story here. For one, just how profound the damage from early childhood abuse/trauma is on an individual.
Plus, he had a huge following and he influenced many with his talent and philanthropy. No one can deny that he left a huge impact on the world.
It is understandable that many of us need a few days to process our own feelings towards the loss of Michael Jackson–the man, the myth, the celebrity, the defendant, the philanthropist, and the phenomenal entertainer. Michael Jackson had as many labels as he did faces.
Be that as it may, Michael Jackson’s death, like his life, is a tragedy. And it is news.
I really enjoyed this post, Ed. It covered a lot of subjects and wove them together, to show the rather out of whack priorities of our news (especially cable) media. Ashley, I LOVED your post. I agree with everything you said!!
Though logically I know it’s not the most important thing going on right now, I have found myself inexplicably drawn into the Michael Jackson story. I can’t get enough of it and am following it obsessively on TV and the internet. Something about this story of tragedy, celebrity, drugs, Hollywood, apparently bad doctors, an eccentric but brilliant person on the verge of a huge comeback, all comes together for a compelling and always-changing story.
Personally I do not believe he was a child molester. I think he was very childlike and thought of himself as “Peter Pan”, because he didn’t have much of a childhood himself. His abusive father and pressure in the spotlight from age 10 caused him to take on some very eccentric personality traits. I listen to a song like “Heal the World”, his gentle and beautiful voice compelling people to make the world a better place, and cannot reconcile that with a pedophile.
And oh, that talent! I have been watching some of his videos on YouTube and have been re-awakened to the amazing talent he had in the 80’s and early 90’s, before the freak show aspect of his life took over. Watch “Smooth Criminal” for some of the best staging, production and dancing ever seen! Pure genius in song and dance in many of those older videos.
I am saddened that he was apparently in such bad shape physically and emotionally that he thought he needed anesthesia-level drugs just to sleep. There is something very wrong here, and I hope one or more of these leech enabler doctors pays for what he has done in facilitating Michael’s death. Just because Jackson wanted a drug used only in operating rooms does not mean he should have gotten it! It’s a terrible tragedy that leaves his beautiful children (no matter who the biological parents are) without their dad who, according to all reports was a good and loving father.
It also hits hard because we are almost exactly the same age. He was 50, I am 51. From age 10, Michael Jackson music has been part of my life – starting with his amazing talent in the Jackson 5. It brings home our own mortality when someone our own age passes away. So I will follow this story intently until I feel it has run its course – but I do hope there is justice done if it is found that implicates his doctors in acquiring drugs for him that should never have been given.
The Mark Sanford tale has been so hilarious it’s like a bad soap opera. The poor lovesick schmuck should resign and put everyone out of his misery. His wife should kick him to the curb, not talk about “forgiveness”, especially when he called his mistress his “soul mate” -hello??!
The only story big enough to knock off 24/7 Jackson coverage occurred yesterday with Sarah Palin’s unexpected resignation as Gov. of Alaska in the middle of her term! I think she brings the crazy in a whole new way. It is my opinion that some big scandal is about to drop and she is doing a pre-emptive resignation. It is very strange that two of the “bright hopes” for 2012 look to be out of the picture (Sanford and Palin). I think by resigning before her term is up it sends the message that she is a quitter, unable to fulfull her obligations, and certainly would not be up to the stresses of the Presidency. I have never cared much for her and with every strange new twist I am more convinced that she will NEVER get near the presidency. She may appeal to some “base” conservatives but no way to moderates. Good riddance I say, if her political career crashes and burns.
Let me end by directing attention to a more positive person! Today 7-time winner Lance Armstrong started the Tour de France with Team Astana – at age 37! This is highly unusual – most riders peak by age 32 or 33. He’s been training for months at altitude in Colorado. He rides not for himself as much as to bring attention to cancer research and funding. He is in incredible physical condition -my husband went to watch him ride in the Nevada City Classic and he LAPPED the field riding to a huge victory there. Go Lance! He is a true survivor and hero!
http://www.laf.org
Take care and Happy 4th!!
Judy