Michael Jackson: 1958-2009
Michael Jackson’s memorial at the Staples Center yesterday put a surprisingly somber and reflective cap on the week-long hysteria swirling across the Internet, in print and on TV after the pop icon’s death.
Every cable channel from MTV and E!, to MSNBC, FOX News and CNN (did CNN’s entire political team really need to be analyzing this death? What about Robert McNamara’s?) milked coverage of the event for the entire day, showing helicopter footage of the body being taken to and from the Forrest Lawn cemetery to the Staples Center, opining on the nature of the tributes on stage and interviewing members of the crowd before and after the two-hour event.
Of course, the event had moments of true emotion. When Jackson’s seldom seen daughter, Paris, unexpectedly took the microphone to say “Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine… I just want to say I love him so much,” it was a touching and intimate vignette of normalcy put in relief against Jackson’s bizarre life in the limelight. Magic Johnson’s story about eating Kentucky Fried Chicken on the floor some twenty years ago was similarly simple in its method of tribute: the man was a giant, but in many ways he was always just a boy.
Many of the oddities of Jackson’s latter life were refuted by the speakers. Rev. Al Sharpton’s rattling eulogy included an address to Jackson’s children: “There was nothing strange about your daddy.” And Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Congresswoman from Texas and a member of the Black Congressional Caucus reminded the audience that the U.S. Constitution guarantees that people are presumed innocent until proven guilty, referring to the fact that Jackson was never found guilty of any of the charges against him.
Perhaps those speakers “protested too much” on these points. But the takeaway from the event was that despite the circus of media coverage, the fanaticism of Jackson’s following and the utter outlandishness of the whole experience, a genuine portrait of a wonderful performer emerged.
It was a show, and Jackson, in a gold plated casket adorned with red roses, held the audience in rapt attention. The performances were, for the most part (John Mayer?), terrific, but each time a Michael Jackson song rang out, I wished the King of Pop himself had been singing.
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Sidenotes:
The debate rages on. Amanda Peysner of the New York Post exclaims: EXCESS RITES ALL WRONG FOR SICKO FREAK!
Gawker assembles a collage of “moved” cable TV hosts.
Media-ite expounds on Social Media’s triumph. The King of Pop is dead, long live the new King of Entertainment: Facebook and Twitter.
Best Internet project that sums up the multi-generational and international impact of Michael Jackson.
Every cable channel from MTV and E!, to MSNBC, FOX News and CNN (did CNN’s entire political team really need to be analyzing this death? What about Robert McNamara’s?) milked coverage of the event for the entire day, showing helicopter footage of the body being taken to and from the Forrest Lawn cemetery to the Staples Center, opining on the nature of the tributes on stage and interviewing members of the crowd before and after the two-hour event.Of course, the event had moments of true emotion. When Jackson’s seldom seen daughter, Paris, unexpectedly took the microphone to say “Daddy has been the best father you can ever imagine… I just want to say I love him so much,” it was a touching and intimate vignette of normalcy put in relief against Jackson’s bizarre life in the limelight. Magic Johnson’s story about eating Kentucky Fried Chicken on the floor some twenty years ago was similarly simple in its method of tribute: the man was a giant, but in many ways he was always just a boy.
Many of the oddities of Jackson’s latter life were refuted by the speakers. Rev. Al Sharpton’s rattling eulogy included an address to Jackson’s children: “There was nothing strange about your daddy.” And Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, a Congresswoman from Texas and a member of the Black Congressional Caucus reminded the audience that the U.S. Constitution guarantees that people are presumed innocent until proven guilty, referring to the fact that Jackson was never found guilty of any of the charges against him.
Perhaps those speakers “protested too much” on these points. But the takeaway from the event was that despite the circus of media coverage, the fanaticism of Jackson’s following and the utter outlandishness of the whole experience, a genuine portrait of a wonderful performer emerged.
It was a show, and Jackson, in a gold plated casket adorned with red roses, held the audience in rapt attention. The performances were, for the most part (John Mayer?), terrific, but each time a Michael Jackson song rang out, I wished the King of Pop himself had been singing.
--
Sidenotes:
The debate rages on. Amanda Peysner of the New York Post exclaims: EXCESS RITES ALL WRONG FOR SICKO FREAK!
Gawker assembles a collage of “moved” cable TV hosts.
Media-ite expounds on Social Media’s triumph. The King of Pop is dead, long live the new King of Entertainment: Facebook and Twitter.
Best Internet project that sums up the multi-generational and international impact of Michael Jackson.
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