How ironic. Between the economy and the weather -- seemingly endless rain that has robbed us of half our summer -- many of us New Yorkers have wanted to spend the last few weeks tucked safe in bed with the covers pulled over our heads. But not today.
Just as Annie promised all of us in her Broadway song, finally, the sun came out. So it seems like a cruel joke that on such a beautiful day we were greeted by such ugly news. First the passing of Farrah Fawcett, an American icon, which while tragic, was expected. Then came the passing of Michael Jackson, another American icon, which was also tragic but completely unexpected.
Just as millions of men had the famous poster of a smiling, vivacious Fawcett on their walls, I was one of the millions of young girls who had a poster of Michael Jackson, (circa "Bad") on mine. His death is tragic and unexpected but not nearly as tragic and unexpected as his last few years.
While other acts came and went, often copying the winning formula that first made the Jackson Five and later Jackson as a solo star, a success, Jackson long defied many of the odds facing former child stars. Frankie Lymon, the baby faced lead singer of "The Teenagers" (a predecessor of the Jackson Five best known for their hit, "Why do Fools Fall in Love" when Lymon was just fourteen), was dead of a heroin overdose by 25. The list of child stars who flounder in adulthood, with often tragic consequences, goes on. For every Jodie Foster there are dozens of Gary Colemans, but Michael seemed like he just might defy the odds.
There was Off the Wall, one of my favorite albums and songs, and then there was Thriller, which not only transformed Jackson from mere star to superstar, but transformed American music forever. Not only did it go on to become the highest selling album of all time, but it broke another barrier when Jackson's now legendary videos from "Thriller" became the first by a black artist to be aired on MTV.
And then there was Bad, which was anything but. I saw the tour live as a child and later discovered as an adult that I had gotten a two-for-one deal. A then unknown Sheryl Crow served as one of Jackson's backup singers, often dueting with him on his hit "I Just Can't Stop Loving You."
There was "Black or White" and one of my all time favorite videos, "Remember the Time." Yet again, Jackson broke a major pop culture barrier. The video was one of the first depictions of Egypt in American popular culture that actually featured black people, including Eddie Murphy, Iman, and Magic Johnson. I had classmates who never noticed that Egypt was on the African continent before then.
But then something began to go awry. There had been some hints along the way (remember Bubbles the chimp?), and then Jackson's seemingly endless legal woes. It was almost as though somewhere in the last decade and a half a flip was switched and all of Michael's childhood baggage began to finally weigh him down. Some have compared his later years to a train-wreck. I actually think it's been much more painful to watch. It's been slower, like watching someone disappear into quicksand as you can only standby helplessly, too far to throw a life preserver.
He didn't have much of a childhood but he certainly made a lot of ours better. Perhaps his life, but more importantly his death, will serve as a cautionary tale for other children born and raised in the spotlight: Britney, Lindsay, even those poor Jon & Kate kids whom I had never heard of until a couple of weeks ago.
In the meantime, I'm going to climb back into bed and pull the covers over my head and hope that tomorrow when I wake up, the "Bad" dream will be over and there will be sun, or at least some better news.
www.keligoff.com
*This piece was originally published on www.theGrio.com
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Michael Jackson was a celebrity whose best days were in a previous century, and whose life came to an over-hyped tragic end just as many of us were (finally) beginning to be able to forget the excesses of it. I am frankly dismayed at the comparative lack of coverage of Farah Fawcett's passing, which happened on the same day. Fawcett spent the last year of her life showing women how to cope with cancer, while Jackson spent the last half of his life as a perfect example of what not to do if you ever become rich and famous.
I don't deny the man his accomplishments, but let's face it: Michael Jackson was, at most, the king of pop. This wailing and gnashing of teeth is more appropriate to the passing of a Pope. Do us all a favor and let him go quietly.
The brew-ha-ha over MTV's racism was engineered by record executive Walter Yetnikoff to get his artist Michael Jackson's videos in heavy rotation. Both MTV and Michael Jackson benefited greatly with their symbiotic relationship.
God bless his children and family
You describe these last few days as a 'bad dream.' For me, the reality keeps hitting in waves, and every time I think I've digested it, I wake up the next morning to find, once again, that I haven't. Every few hours, or especially when I see a poignant photograph of Michael with the caption "1958 - 2009," it hits me all over again. I simply cannot believe he is gone . . . and with him, a very large and wonderful symbol of my childhood. It would be an understatement to say that as a child, I adored Michael. Adored him, loved his songs, and was sure I'd marry him.
I'm grateful for the musical legacy he left us. I'm grateful that, although his childhood was not joyful, he brought so much joy to mine. And I'm especially grateful that Michael Jackson provided the soundtrack to my youth.
I feel worse for those kids killed in Iraq serving out country with dignity and honor making less in a year than Jackson spent in a week for pet food.
All three network news broadcasts devoted their entire half hours to the demise of a pop star who had massive insecurities about his appearance and questionable morals regarding young children. Step back for a minute.
This fawning, self indulfgent and manufactured grief is despicable when innocents are being slaughtered in Iran for fighting their oppressors. Where was the coverege for that while Katie Couric was balthering on about Jackson?
His death is significant in terms of popular music but that's all. It does not measure up to real loss for the world and many others have deserved such tribute in the wake of true accomplishment.
MANY of us give him his due where he proved to BE a real talent , but many were equaly turned off by other foilbles that got too often bizrre and displayed and played. Others of us find the coverage to be ad nauseum and far too much and rather just a marketing to help take care of debts even after his death. Look for MJ TRIBUTE TOUR to replace the "comeback extravaganza "one his death caused to be paused and reconfigured !! Another celebrity myth etended well beyond FULL reality going on !!
MJ did disappear into some solitary parallel universe. I personally found it hard to watch, so I quite literally wiped him from my consciousness.
Then a couple of years ago a DJ friend left an old Off The Wall LP at my flat after a party. I played it on the Sunday morning and I was shocked to be reminded just how fantastic the songs were. The hangover was gone in minutes.
The saddest thing is that life of one of the most talented performers of all time has become a cautionary tale. A vivid reminder to every beauty pageant mum and over competitive baseball dad that they are their child's guardian, not their owner. A child are not an empty canvas on which you paint your own aspirations.