In the wake of yesterday’s shocking events, most people seem, unsurprisingly and perhaps even understandably, to be primarily eulogizing Michael Jackson, pop icon and troubled genius, rather than Michael Jackson, accused child molester and all-around weirdo. This reminds me a bit of Richard Nixon’s death, when there was a tendency, at least in the initial days after he died, to emphasize Nixon Goes To China and such, while de-emphasizing Watergate, his paranoia, his racism and anti-Semitism, etc.
It also makes me wonder about O.J. Simpson, who is a reasonably close analogue to Michael Jackson, in terms of being someone who was already incredibly, incredibly famous, and was then accused of very serious crimes. When O.J. dies someday, will he be remembered first and foremost as a great football player (and a terrible actor), rather than as an accused murderer and a convicted armed robber? I sort of doubt it — his criminality has seemed to almost completely overtake his prior public persona, due to the obscenely high-profile nature of his murder trial — but then, I thought Michael Jackson was pretty much known first and foremost these days as a plastic-surgery-obsessed, race-and-gender-confused, child-molesting freak.* Suddenly he dies, and he’s the “King of Pop” again.
*Lest I be attacked by Jackson defenders, and/or accused of speaking ill of the dead, a caveat: this description of Jacko is intended as simply my summation of what I have perceived his public image to be, not necessarily my personal opinion of him. Now, maybe I was wrong about his public image; maybe I watch too much South Park for my own good; maybe I don’t “get it” because the peak of his music-based fame was before my time. But, right or wrong, that has been my perception.
On the other hand, maybe Jacko’s situation is different from O.J.’s, because a) people just aren’t as convinced that, notwithstanding his acquittal, he was really guilty, as they were with O.J. (even before the armed robbery trial, which I think is really a minor blip — Simpson’s reputation was cemented long before that); and/or b) Jacko’s pre-criminality fame was simply more transcendent and massive than O.J.’s ever was.
As an aside, I looked up O.J.’s Wikipedia entry in the course of writing this, and I love its first sentence: “Orenthal James ‘O.J.’ Simpson (born July 9, 1947), nicknamed ‘The Juice’, is a retired American football player, actor, spokesman, and convicted felon.” That’s almost poetic, somehow.
Anyway, back to Jacko. Today is one of those days when it’s kind of fun to look at newspaper front pages. Newseum has a Top 10, as well as an archive. Here are a few selected ones:
Jacko also made the front page, above the fold, of the New York Times. (“All the Nose that’s fit to print,” indeed!)
But the most shocking to me, by far, is this:
The Wall Street Journal?? Really?!? … [shakes fist] DAMN YOU, RUPERT MURDOCH!!!
(At this point, I think it would be appropriate to repeat yesterday‘s self-deprecating “conversation” with the voice-in-my-head “editor”: [Yeah, and what’s the top post on your blog right now, buddy boy? -ed. Shut up.] Heh.)
One final note, as a follow-up to my post yesterday about the L.A. Times homepage and its focus on the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, to the exclusion of any prominent stories about, among other things, the uprising in Iran. In comments, B. Minich wrote: “A quick rejoinder to your complaining about the headlines – I agree that the Iran situation should be more prominent. But for the LA Times, at least, celebrity deaths are huge local stories.” I responded:
I actually agree with you, B. Minich. If I were the editor of the L.A. Times, I would have made the same editorial judgment, at least roughly. (Though I’d like to think there would be SOME story about Iran in there, perhaps above the Shaq trade.) This is more a broad commentary on the values of American society and American journalism in general — and, even more broadly, a bit of implicit grousing about human nature — than a criticism of the L.A. Times in particular. They just made a convenient foil. 🙂
It’s also relevant that there was no especially significant *new* news out of Iran yesterday, or at least no news could be confirmed independently. Trying to cover that story is a monumental newsgathering challenge, because it’s an incredibly important story that we have very limited ability to gather reliable information on. You obviously can’t trust what the regime says; just as obviously, you can’t trust something just because it’s posted on Twitter; and you can’t find out for yourself because the regime will arrest you if you try. Unfortunately, the mullahs pretty much have the world journalism establishment by the balls in this situation. It’s incredibly frustrating. Totalitarianism sucks.
Relatedly, I’m pleased to see that the Iran did actually make the front page of the L.A. Times print edition.
I think different generations will remember him differently. Those who are our generation (roughly 30 and up) will most likely remember him for his music. Many of us are, after all, the MTV generation. And the rest will certainly have grown up with him as a member of the Jackson 5. Generations like (I daresay) my sister (who’s 25) and younger will probably remember him mostly for his outlandish antics in recent years.
I think it’s unfortunate that people would remember him that way, but alas, that’s the way the cookie crumbles, isn’t it? Brian and I commented yesterday while watching the MJ music video marathon on MTV that it was highly appropriate that the one person who could bring music videos back to MTV is the one person who made MTV what it was then (meaning when they ACTUALLY played music videos, lol). The one thing you could always count on was for MJ to take his videos very seriously. He had some awesome (and some weird) videos.
The only thing I regret is that I was never able to see him in concert.
Big difference between OJ and MJ – MJ was robbed of his childhood, abused by his father, and surrounded by people who enabled him constantly. I’m no shrink but I think those factor in to his obsession with all things kid.
I’ve been thinking – MJ was staring down the barrel of a 50 date comeback tour. Rehearsed the night before and it didn’t go well. Could this have been a suicide? Maybe? I mean the guy has had a rough last few years to say the least…health concerns out the wazoo, the acquittal/trial, Neverland being foreclosed on, etc. And now they can’t find the doctor that LIVED with him? Demerol is no joke, it’s similar to morphine…when taken in high doses it can create a histamine release which can/will stop your heart. I’m sure he was juiced up on other stuff too.
Either way it’s sad. MJ was an icon. Truly the first cross-generational star of my generation (I’m 26).
I agree with Marty on this one. Michael Jackson went completely freaky, but I honestly think there was no malice behind any of it. He’d led such a sheltered and strange life that I doubt he could even understand why anyone would think badly of any of the things he did.
OJ is hurt by being a sports figure. Sports is always about the now, and no sport better embodies this then the NFL. Who really remembers the accomplishments of Franco Harris, for example? When debating the best QBs in the NFL, how often do we mention Johnny Unitas? (Answer: not nearly enough.) The greats are not remembered as they should be, and OJ was no exception – he was a mediocre TV sideline reporter to most people at the time of the murders, not an NFL great – and this hurt the way people saw (and continue to see) his legacy.
Jackson, however, was in the music world, which builds on itself. People remember the oldies in music with fondness, and there are many who think that the artists of today are STILL dwarfed by the greats of yesteryear. So Jackson’s early career can outshine him today, even though years have passed.
I agree with most of the comments above.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Jackson did SOMETHING inappropriate, but I doubt highly that it was all that he was accused of, and I think it was because he truly didn’t understand sexual boundaries the same way most people do. I don’t think there was any malice or that he was a child predator, etc.
However, I was also very surprised by all the media attention. I found some of it hypocritical actually. The media has been bashing this guy relentlessly for his admittedly odd appearance and behavior for 15 years, and now they are so sorry that he is gone???
I was never really a die hard Jackson fan, but the songs I heard I liked in general and I was amazed by the Thriller video. The guy was a musical genius but also a tortured soul and I hope he is now in peace.
Interesting to encounter the “lost Michael Jackson youth” meme on a blog populated by USC football fans. More on that in a minute. What’s interesting about the meme is that it sometimes suggests that one can be the “King of Pop/whatever” and still have an otherwise balanced life. That may not be true.
As Geoff Colvin argues convincingly in “Talent is Overrated”, pretty much anyone who becomes the King of ____ is going to be the person who puts in the most work. If you never let up, you might become Michael Jackson, “the King of Pop”. If you kick back fairly often, you might become Justin Timberlake, “not bad at Pop”. And so on. Michael’s father Joe could have handled the journey better, but the simple truth is if you want to be king, you have to make a gigantic investment, probably to the detriment of other activities.
I’m with those who think it sad to have lost one’s youth, but that’s in large part because I prioritize a healthy childhood over being “King of ____”. Not everyone agrees, and there are probably a lot of people who regret not being the “King of Pop”, and perhaps they wish they had a Joe Jackson-like dad to have pushed them there.
Oh, and the connection to USC? There’s a USC quarterback who is the textbook counterargument to the idea that one can be the “King of _____” and still do all the things normal people do. Touchdown Todd Marinovich, who had been prepped by his dad to be the “King of Quarterbacks” from birth, discovered typical late-adolescent enjoyments when he got to the USC campus. If one can be the “King of Quarterbacks” while still hanging out and having a good time, assuming that person had an appropriate talent level, etc, then surely Todd Marinovich would have made a much better showing of his career than he did, given all the preparation he put in before he got to USC.
It ain’t easy being king.