(Somewhat) In memoriam: the King of Pop, the prince of Late Night, America’s sex symbol, and oh yeah, 156 Chinese protesters
Over the past week, death seemingly wormed its way into every major headline. First it was Ed McMahon, legendary side-kick to the more legendary Johnny Carson. Sexy pin-up Farrah Fawcett followed suit with MJ moonwalking to his grave just hours later. The Grim Reaper then added Billy “Who?” Mays, Steve McNair, and Robert McNamara to his already sizable collection.
In fact, major news networks struggled to keep up with the slew of celebrity deaths as various planned tribute broadcasts switched from McMahon to Fawcett to the grandiose spectacle that was the Michael Jackson memorial.
There is no doubt that Jackson, McMahon, et al., all had an enormous impact on American culture (High school essay prompt circa 2015: discuss Billy Mays influence on American society) but their deaths overshadowed much greater events. Western China is erupting in near-Tiananmen Square type violence, Iran is still imploding, Honduras is on shaky ground and the US and Russia both mutually agreed to cut nuclear arsenals.
Of course, absolute news coverage on the Michael Jackson memorial was deemed far more important. I can only imagine the outrage that would accompany even the most brief interruption of the memorial service for the purpose of informing the public that yet another Chinese protester had been slaughtered (“How dare they cut away from that brilliant rendition of ‘We are the World!’”; “Can’t wait for Mariah Carey’s performance…wha—what are all these Asians doing onscreen? Don’t they know that the King of Pop just died?”).
Take note, this is not a hate-screed against Michael Jackson. I spent many hours of my more formative years wondering how he could glide so majestically across the stage. I also spent more recent years wondering how he became a ghost.
In any case, I may be beating the proverbial dead horse (or perhaps dead celebrity) but it just strikes me how little our media cares about things that matter. And by that phrase I mean the big picture: things like nuclear missiles that could explode the earth hundreds of times over, the suppression of democracy, etc. Without Michael Jackson the world may have lost a musical icon but is it worth the price of an ignorant public?
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