Pop Goes the King
The "King of Pop" is dead.
But while the man may have mattered, his self-anointed royalty is just another example of the superficiality of our pop culture and its rotating cadre of paper-thin ambassadors.
Michael Jackson was yet another personality prized more for his ability to generate massive revenue than for meaningfully impacting peoples' lives. But yes, much of his music can still cause a body to move or transport one back to wistful youth; "ABC", "Got to Be There", "I Want You Back": blowing the world away on Ed Sullivan; crackling and popping on our Fold N' Play's; making our AM radio's twitch, buzz and jump; "Billie Jean" and "Thriller" arguably cultural touchstones, inspiring legions to mimic MJ's schmaltzy military fetishism and walking on the moon long after NASA deemed it financially unfeasible.
And yes, we look back on the innocent boy himself, pop prodigy, revelatory mini-dynamo, sporting all the moves, wielding the pure tones and the perfected 'fro of a truly singular talent, a velve-pre-teen idol, a bona fide Motown miracle.
And then over time we watch silently as the smiling strangers take the kid by the hand and lead him down a path a certain dysfunction, where money and fame are substituted for affection and affirmation.
A life of candy ensures decay.
Michael Jackson, the King of Pop is dead. And it's really not a big deal in itself, since scientific studies have proven that over time people do indeed die, whether by natural or unnatural causes. But as the super famous live unnatural lives, their similarly unnatural deaths seem, well, natural.
And while leading what must have been an extremely unhealthy life the real tragedy of it all is that perhaps it could have been saved, had he not gone down that damning path of fame. His handlers (read: parents) might have been able to prevent a life of exploitation and untethered eccentricity were they not themselves besotted by ambition and greed and yoked their children to a life of servitude disguised as gleeful performing.
At every opportunity for the young man to disembark from the one way fame train he was caught by the collar and pulled back on. Eventually he did this to himself, unconsciously mimicking his handlers' subliminal suggestions to eschew normalcy for commerce.
And he is not alone. So bombarded are we with comparable examples of what is supposed to constitute Success, where the only worthwhile life is lived in public, new generations are raised thinking "This is life's imperative. You only live if you're seen." Like the light inside the refrigerator.
The fame pandemic leaves a trail of broken bodies and fractured dreams, so much landfill for ever newly laid pavement. The funeral will be the best business in years, not since Anna Nicole. In lieu of humble admissions of culpability and/or introspective mourning, to hail the money-making/sexual deviant/pop icon with what will no doubt be garish, televised spectacles of calculated, high-profile grief, the "I'm A Celebrity, Hear Me Keen" reality show will be a ratings bonanza.
But by all means dismiss and underpay the teacher, the cop, the people who handle our endless refuse and when they die, give them no more than a backward glance, an absent "oh, yeah -- they kicked. Did you see the new iPhone?". It is such misappropriation of concern that leads to an unnatural life and its naturally unnatural death.
In fact the measure of one's existence should not be in dollars and cents, nor is life unimportant if not observed 24/7 by millions of paying subscribers. The recent spate of showbiz deaths only points to the fact that life, no matter how opulent or in debt, no matter how famous, infamous or unobserved is short and not always sweet. Why even Farrah, riddled with cancer, had the business acumen to maximize her commercial appeal to the end, filming her slow, tortuous demise when she might just have easily fought her fight in dignified privacy. Corporations and all who subscribe to their profiteering approach, seem to think that if they churn out cheaper and cheaper products and ever disposable cultural totems they will ironically, as the song in a certain film says, live forever.
Michael Jackson was another soul in torment who had his talent exploited, his singularity mass produced, his place in the natural order disrupted by greedy, insatiable masters. The king, it seems, was really just a pawn.
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I think your comments are overly cynical, though you have a better perspective on this then I. I thnk his fame was well deserved, his fall tragic, but earned and his demise more his fault then others. But he had noone to help him. Yet every one claims to love him now.
You might know a thing or two about fame in Hollywood, but something terrible happened to this guy. Some how his "loving family", friends or trusted business associates did not bag this kid up and cart him off to the farm before he built that insane ranch, died himself the color of Rhonda Fleming, adopted a monkey and built a front yard zoo. Friends don't sit idle while you have a anesthesiologist drip you to sleep. It is worth risking a friendship to keep a friend alive. Where was this guys real friends, brothers and sisters?
There is a lesson here. You need to be in touch with people who life in the "real world" or you loose perspective on the world you came from. The problem is when you are as big as this guy, it can become a money and fame in exchange for exploitation thing. No amount of talent will save you. But a modicum of common sense can, sometimes even if you are not the owner of it.
There is a line which few should cross.
The phase "Michael is up there with Elvis" has more connotations then we can easily contemplate.
That is a bit too Cynical Steven.
Mr. Jackson was not self-annoited "King of Pop". I believe the phrase came from his former neighbor and friend Elizabeth Taylor. You tend to own these things when you are insecure and stone. His "Ike Turner-like" father forced him and his brother and sisters (Any one remember Reba?) in to show business. When he was old enough to make his own choices, he was brimming with talent and didn't know anything else. Trapped, really.
His use of rhythm was unique. His style of dance was inventive and eclectic at once. His innocence was at first genuine, though later probably forced. He posessed talents that few of us saw and others that everyone saw and admired. He emerged at the right time and took the world just as MTV was emerging and frankly filled with Madonna ( Star light, Star Bright), Cyndi Lauper (Time after time) and Hall and Oats (Out of Touch, I think. Something about airplanes at opposite ends of the US...). Because he was visual, he was noticable. Boom Star. Now then...
But then, that is the entertainment business.
Michael Jackson's death seems the logical culmination of twenty years of bad press. I have never understood,(or made real effort trying) the sick, voyeuristic,and rabid adulation or scorn alternately heaped upon MJ.
America is the #1 pop culture addictive nation in the world, among other # 1 addictions too, However, as Step One, of my Twelve Step addiction program: I will no longer read any one of your post, again, why?
because you, sir, are by definition. a Pop Culture individual - actor- with blog time on this Capitalistic, commerical Post, and I should and need to - end. my. addiction. to Pop Culture. Don't you think.
Shoot, the only thing on TV I watch now, is LOST and ESPN, and LOST is ending soon, so no more TV for me, ever, and no more post from you. Hey, what is the point of commenting, if you cannot be honest, right?
To Digress, according to you, - I think Michael Jackson was - beyond Pop culture addiction.
See Steven Weber's Profile
am proud you. also, try read book. help with other skills diminish by you Pop Culture addiction.
Michael Jackson was much more than a Pop icon, more than a great performer. He was an artist with a complete vision of his craft, a master singer, composer, dancer and legitimate Soul R&B singer long before he was a solo Pop star.
The music speaks for itself about why he attained fame. That music that "still cause a body to move" has more impact on people than you realize, and it's also as true an art form as any other, be it music, theatre or otherwise. Say what you want about the gossip if that's what you're about, but give the man his musical creds as the best there ever was.
See Steven Weber's Profile
Postscript: I'm sure many of you have by now seen the clip from last night's BET tribute to Jackson where his grieving father Joe took the time on the red carpet to hawk his latest venture, some Blu-Ray thingamajig.
And now there are reports that Jackson's parents are trying to get custody of the gloved one's children. Only a cynic might see this as less an act of affection and more of a prudent business move, ensuring a continuation of the Jackson® brand. Or someone with their eyes wide open.
If some of the blinkered responses to my recent post are any indication, these gestures will not make a dent in those pop-culture addicts who lauded MJ as a god and ignored the patently dysfunctional life he led.
Steven,
It seems that there are just so many tragedies surrounding MJ's life. A tragedy of youth, parenting, success, circumstance, family and fatherhood.
Speaking of his children, the Huffpo front page is showing the story of Debbie Rowe not wanting Michael's non-biological children. So the tragedy continues and is now apparently passed on to another generation. And it will be interesting to see if the "brand" continues in them.
By the way, my wife and I thought it was great meeting you Saturday after the performance. I hope the final show went well. Looking forward to see what is written next or performed. -(Bob's brother)
Mike Tyson is the example of someone who was exploited. The story of Michael Jackson is much more complicated.
It is evident that Joe Jackson drove his family and himself was a self-absorbed stage father. He served up his talented family and all were able to cope and adjust except Michael who could not deal with the reality of life and adulthood.
What made Michael Jackson tick is a mystery. He was associated with talented people in the entertainment industry many of whom were themselves were maladjusted.
It is clear that Michael did not rely upon his mother and father or were his mother and father either appropriate roll models or Michael was uninterested, who knows. I just saw a clip of Joe Jackson at the BET awards, self absorbed as usual with a statement read by a posse representative that was written by PR people and lawyers.
In the end it appears Michael died much like Elvis, death by life. It will be interesting to see if the medical reports reveal an underlying ailment that helps explain matters.
Right now Wacko Jacko may be the proper epithet.
R.I.P. Michael Jackson.
"(Death is) really not a big deal in itself, since scientific studies have proven that over time people do indeed die, whether by natural or unnatural causes."
So true!
Michael Jackson Mania expands upon his demise. Commentary tides say more about our culture than him. No surprise when not a soul intervened during his formative years as his dad brutalized him. Amazingly Plastic Surgeons kept operating without conscience and nobody stopped his self mutilation, medication of emotional pain with drugs designed for the physical and other crazed behavior, preferring to brand him "Jacko the Wacko" as it boosted tabloid revenue streams. Where were the authorities as we all watched this slo-motion suicide? The poor get locked up but a famous Song & Dance Man Extraordinaire is allowed his eccentr!city!
Showmanship!
Imagine being the victim of a borderline sociopath, trying to control you through beatings, insults and humiliation. Think of the stinging insults coming from your own father. He’s ugly…his nose is too big. ADOLESENCE! And the pressure to get it right or get an ass-whippin’. He had to deal with pressures of the spotlight…coming out of the civil rights movement…struggling with your identity when so many signals from the world and from your own people (THE MOST PAINFUL) say that your image is subpar. I think Michael needed so much love. That’s why he worked so hard. The music and dancing was his salvation from total dispair.
I must admit to being fustrated by his choice to do that to himself in front of the world. I hope we all understand that Michael suffered from *Body Dysmorphic Disorder. I would get angry at the thought of people getting a rise out of Michael’s skin and nose jobs. Because some people tend to be lazy thinkers with short term memory. Too lazy to ask why? ...what pain caused this? Can we have an intelligent conversation about the toll colonization’s had I people of color around the world, Africa, India, the Americas…
I’m still on the fence about the allegations. But I can not deny the showmanship of this incredible performer.
thank you. A voice of reason and an attempt in understanding in ocean of popcorn-eating, short-attention-span, ever-consuming misunderstanding public.
Thinl about what would happen if a 12 year old male was subject to a series of hormone treatments to keep his voice counter-tenor? Puberty, goodbye.
The kid was trapped in a prepubescent world and just never grew up, in his head.
Very sad indeed. I guess it proves that money can not buy happiness. Of course it can rent it for one heck of a ride though.
Very well said Steven.
"This is life's imperative. You only live if you're seen." You see it reflected everywhere. Why else the obsession with reality shows? The people who participate, often cast with celebrities out of the spotlight and since there's no longer a "Love Boat" on tv to trot them out for cameras anymore, why they'll just let you peek into their livingrooms, or bedrooms. Take human beings who've never known fame and put them in a ridiculous situation and people will watch them in a ridiculous situation. Suddenly they're famous and if sitting on an Island eating bugs will get them that - then bugs they will eat.
Michael Jackson breaks my heart. You focused in on his family and I think that's where all roads lead when trying to understand what happened to him. Because the world has always been a tough place, sometimes ugly, and it's a parents job to guide their child through, not cash in on it.
I've been watching some videos of Michael as a child, Michael in the 80's. A talented child, a handsome young man. And then he began to carve away at himself, operation by operation, and I can't help but wonder if his ultimate goal was to finally just escape by obliterating himself. Not building - demolishing.
Brilliant stuff Weber, you nailed it. I have read some of your writing before and it often felt
like there were a few too many words, too much Mailer influence. Not here. Thanks.
I was 'famous' for 4 years on t.v. Its bull crap. Thats all I have to say about it.
dear wordsmithie,
another soul poking when we need one.
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