One of the problems in today’s society is that with twitter, facebook, and everything else, news events get sent through the echo chamber many more times than before. It used to be that you’d see something on TV, or you’d read about it in the paper, but today, arguably 90% of the facebook updates that I’ve seen have had something to do with Michael Jackson.
There’s no doubt the man was a cultural touchstone. His music was popular around the world, and his lifestyle was tabloid fodder for many, many years. But to idolize him the way so many people have been gives me the willies. This was a man who paid several families settlement money for his behavior. Sleeping in the same bed with kids is not something a healthy-minded 50 year old man should be doing unless he has to. The fact that it was always boys is a bit bothersome as well; can you imagine the hue and cry and immediate action from the police if it were a young girl in a similar situation?
While I’m sorry that he’s gone, the question of what musically had he done recently comes to mind. His most recent albums were compilations, and everything seemed to point to a magical time for him with Thriller and Bad with not much in the tank after that. His lifestyle overshadowed his music at that point and continued to do so until yesterday.
The most I can say about him was a line heard on a local radio station, “it’s amazing that he was a child prodigy that never wanted to be anything but a child.”
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Serbia, the Congo, North Korea, and other places are spots where the only music is shrapnel flying through the air and the only lyrics are the cries of the innocent. Those songs should matter more to us than “Beat It”, but I fear they never will.