The End of An Era

I will get to my random thoughts on last night's rather mundane NBA Draft later in the week. For now, a few words on the loss of an icon.

We live in an era where it doesn't take much to be famous. Today's pop stars are pulled off of YouTube videos, fixed reality singing competitions, or Disney Channel after-school specials. Perhaps Michael Jackson's passing is even more significant during these times because, unlike today's starlets, he was famous for actually being talented. His innovative dancing continues to be emulated by up-and-comers nearly twenty years his junior. In a modern pop culture that chews up and spits out its idols quicker than Stephanie Pratt at a Beverly Hills bistro, Jackson cemented his iconic status by perhaps being the last remaining entertainer whose music will stand the test of time(with U2, Aerosmith, and maybe even Billy Joel, also strong candidates). An example of Jackson's greatness? Jackson's album, "Dangerous", which was released in 1991 might be the best album of the past two decades, but is considered by some to be Jackson's third or fourth best piece of work(Behind "Bad", "Off The Wall" and, of course, "Thriller"). Bill Simmons made the point in his recent article that Michael Jackson might be the only artist where you remember where you were when you first heard his music. Quite simply, he was the greatest performer/artist/singer/dancer/entertainer of any era, any genre, in any country. Period.

That being said, the about face America has done on The King of Pop since his untimely death has me a bit disgusted. Perhaps no man, famous or otherwise, has taken the public relations ass-whooping that Jackson has taken since Jackson's child molestation charge in 1993. Gone was all the happiness and joy we got from listening to Jackson's endless amounts of hit songs. Nearly two decades of pop culture dominance was washed away by a child's dubious allegation. He was no longer the King of Pop, he was Pete Townshend with a white glove. The 1993 extortion, er, child molestation charge was such a deadly killshot to Jackson's career, it could have appeared on the Zapruder film with Kevin Costner echoing "Back...and to the left" over and over again.



In the oddest of coincidences, yesterday was also the two-year anniversary of the death of pro wrestler Chris Benoit. Like Jackson, the first 24 hours of Benoit's death was celebrated with an extravagant remembrance with the WWE changing its usual two-hour Monday Night Raw into a Benoit tribute. When news broke within a week that Benoit's death(as well as the deaths of his wife and son) was indeed the result of a murder-suicide, the WWE distanced themselves from Benoit the same way MTV distanced itself from Jackson nearly a decade and a half ago. Benoit went from fallen legend to steroid-abusing murderer and his case became the spark that blew the doors off of a long-standing inquiry over the effects of steroids in pro wrestling. When the World Trade Center was destroyed on September 11th and nearly 3,000 people were killed, Americans flooded the streets with American flags and candles as a show of patriotism and united support. By Halloween, the flags were stashed away in the closets and we went back to business as usual. We live in a society of fad-jumpers. We do what seems hip at the time and the minute the sensationalism dies out, we jump to the next big thing like we're hopping from Facebook to Twitter.

The same holds true over the past 24 hours of Jackson's death. Demand for Jackson's albums has sky-rocketed, this despite the fact Jackson hasn't produced a new album in nearly 8 years! MTV, which hardly ever airs music videos anymore, has taken time out from its regularly scheduled heavy dose of shitty, scripted "reality" TV shows to remember the time with a marathon of Jackson's old videos. It's sickening. For the past 16 years, America treated Michael Jackson like a freak show who deserved his own episode of "How To Catch A Predator". He's been the country's longest standing punchline for nearly two decades. Even Sasha Baron Cohen's new movie, Bruno, supposedly has a scene taking a swipe at Jacko. It makes you wonder: Was the last 24 hours a remembrance or repentance? Do we have a broken heart or a guilty conscience? When people say they "miss" Michael Jackson, do they miss Michael the person? Do they miss the man they made synonymous with touching little boys? The man who, after numerous plastic surgeries and skin ailments, started to look like Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight over the past few years? Or did we miss Michael Jackson the musical genius? The man who sold 100 million copies of "Thriller", the highest selling record of all time and a record that will probably never be broken? Do we miss the man who made music videos cool? The man who gave birth to the careers of guys like Usher, Ginuwine, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown? Because, to me, the latter Jackson passed on somewhere around 2001. Furthermore, why would "fans" rush out to buy up Jackson's albums after he died? Shouldn't they have them already? Or are they just trying to turn a buck while Jackson's spirit is still hot? There were talks that Jacko was making a comeback, but I guess the one bright side in his passing is that the comeback never happened. Did we really want to see the most iconic figure of the past 30 years doing duets with Lady Gaga? Perhaps through all the harsh criticisms of Jackson we lost sight of what made him noteworthy in the first place: the music. That's the truest testament to Jackson's legacy, his music can make you forget anything.....except where you were when you first heard it.

--Dave