Michael Jackson vs. The News
Do you want to even compare? Do you dare even try? Don't you already know the outcome? Of course you do.
You already know which kind of event, which sort of dramatic happening, which kind of ill-fated death and historic melodrama we as a culture value far, far more than any other. You already know which will hold us in thrall for days and months on end, which causes more tears and heartbreak and which kind of event will spawn books and movies and tributes and earnest memories by the million until we ourselves pass on to the hereafter, smiling and dancing and humming a desperately catchy tune.
Hint: it's not the new Iran revolution. It's not, say, the young and idealistic Neda Agha Soltan, that iconic Iranian protester shot to death by militiamen on the streets of Tehran and then made into a near-perfect martyr, mostly because she was beautiful and photogenic and light-skinned and her horrific death was caught on video and spread all over YouTube, and therefore makes ideal, bloodstained copy for news agencies and political movements worldwide.
It's not President Obama's historic push for health care reform, currently being beaten to death in various congressional back rooms. It's certainly not yet another aging white Republican politician weeping to the TV cameras about his love of God and family and irresistible Argentinean vaginas. Like that ever truly matters.
Who the hell cares about any of that? Who needs it right now? Pop culture just died. Didn't you hear?
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No question, Michael Jackson was one of the sanest human beings of the 20th century.
What about the allegations of child molestation ?
First, I never believed them.
Second, remember they were brought to you by the same wonderful folks who gave you Saddam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Third, the world over children, women and others who are not certified members of the power structure are treated with varying degrees of brutality. Those in power are quickly handed a cloak of invisibility by the media.
A case in point.
How many in India know that the Vatican has paid out close to a hundred million dollars to compensate for victims of child sexual abuse by albeit "a small minority" of priests.
The Indian media has barely reported that story.
Was the media's heinous silence an act of concern for Indian children or a hideously wrongheaded act of "secularism" ?
Michael Jackson, there are many in India, who rooted for you since your Jackson Five days.We are shocked and grieve your untimely passing.
But you will always be with us.
Welcome to : Hemanta Da! Madan Mohan! Michael Jackson ! Amar Rahe !
Narcissistic India's Gratitude Deficit.
http://spriteleesathya.blogspot.com/2009/06/hemanta-da-madan-mohan-saab-michael.html
How many times and in how many way can you say that an icon has died? Ask CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the news media. I had heard enough of the repetition so I switched channels to BBC. Surely, they wouldn't be talking about Michael Jackson. Wrong. Well, I knew for sure PBS' Jim Lehrer report wouldn't be talking about that. Wrong. News of the world has been suspended until further notice.
Yes, it's frustrating. I tuned into MSNBC hoping to see Rachel Maddow, and they were still jabbering about Jackson, with no new info than was available hours earlier.
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