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.

Comments

[suigeneris]

Great article -- and a nice antidote to a lot of the nonsense that's been posted about him.

[SBrooksB]

As I see it, Mr. Weber's piece is only incidentally about Michael Jackson. It's really a piece about us -- who we are, and what we value. Michael Jackson, rest his soul, wasn't the first, nor will he be the last, to die for our sins.

[goldcoastsailor]

In the words of Allen Price, "teachers and preachers will just buy and sell you, when no one can tempt you with heaven or hell you'll be a lucky man"

[photochick]

Steven:

You are so right -- and we are all guilty. All of us who raised an eyebrow at his strange behavior or chuckled at his latest adventure. But those closest to him share the most guilt -- that they couldn't see (or worse, that they ignored) over the many years his deep, and heartbreaking lonliness.

RIP, Michael.

[StellaWafers]

Great essay.
We do consume way too much in way too many ways.

[Dennis60]

It's always someone else's fault.

[StuManChu]

Evil profit seeking corporations killed MJ.

[truthbetold99]

I'm already sick of essays dissecting Michael Jackson's fame...but this one was really worth reading. Weber cut through to the truth with wickedly smart writing. "His singularity mass-produced" sums it all up. Way to go, Weber.

[vote-obama]

believe it or not but michael jackson was and always will be king.

[Pantelleria01]

of what, exactly?

[NightOwlCafe]

Steven, thanks for taking the time to shine the spotlight on the greedy task masters and enablers that had as much to do with Micheal Jacksons demise as any drug or health problem did. He was an amazingly gifted, talented and hard working human being.
Rest in peace Michael.

[heydee17]

Steven, as usual you are very perceptive to what lies underneath. Fame for many people is like a drug addiction. All you have to look is at the current state of television and its programming contents of reality shows, entertainment shows and the 24 hour news cycle. Publicity both bad and good is something sought by people afflicted with the drug of fame. Michael Jackson is a tragedy of this drug, something I think he never sought but was intentionally injected. It destroyed his childhood, one he sought back by his interactions appropriate or not with children, his building of Neverland and an odd relationship with Bubbles the chimp. It destroyed his face with the surgeries of altering his look, as maybe he couldn't look at the person he had become unwillingly. These among many other strange endeavors taken by Michael Jackson just add up to the victim he became of the fame.

Michael Jackson was a great talent. It still gives me chills to watch him dancing and singing "Billie Jean" at "Motown 25" in 1983. It also makes me smile to think of my college roommate who used to play the album "Off the Wall" every time he was trying to get laid. Yes Michael Jackson gave me good memories, but he paid the ultimate price of every drug addict who can't be rehabilitated. I think his premature death is what he sought to escape this addiction from his childhood.

[AM02]

Mr. Weber,

You are exactly right.

The parents, the teachers, the cops, the firefighters, the nurse, and dare I say, as a doctor, the doctors. They are the real heros, they should be the real "celebrities".

I have been reading your blogs for sometime now. Please keep talking. We need more people like you.

Thanks.

[Dawn Fratangelo]

In reading this I couldn't help but be reminded of the little speech Julia Robert's character makes in the film, "Notting Hill."
ANNA
The fame thing isn't really real, you
know. Don't forget -- I'm also just a
girl. Standing in front of a boy.
Asking him to love her.

I think Michael Jackson was constantly trying and, in vain, to simply be a boy. Even disastrously, at times, as we all witnessed. Still, he can't be blamed for wanting to be what everyone deserves: that simple yet singularly significant period that defines childhood. Just a boy. Yet how could he be amid all that fame? How could anyone?

[simplysimon2]

A home run! I didn't even need a dictionary! Smart is one thing, accessibility is a another. You have some smarts and many worthwhile perspectives. Keep it simple, let Hemingway be your guide. You're good. I want you better.

[blaqntelligence]

Mr. Weber,
I will admit the title made my hackles rise.
As I started reading I could feel your disgust.
Continued reading reveals exactly who that disgust is directed at.
Thank you.

[ChinaCat]

My sentiments exactly!

Another great article Steven.

And on a personal note, how about a better pic for your profile? You looked better in the old one.

[nyorai]

Clearly the outpouring of grief and love throughout the WORLD-and not just here in the US - was not about Michael Jackson's revenue-generating capacities. It's really annoying how suddenly everyone's an expert on the impact of this man.

[AmericanWarrior]

Amen...

[ignorantwillyharper]

I can truthfully say I know nothing of this person Michael Jackson. He didn't sing country, Zydeco, or Sinatra/Martin. I'm sure, I might have been somewhere his music was playing, but I never really heard any of his music. I'm sure he was talented, but I can not a test to the fact and maybe that's a shame.