I debated doing a post on Michael Jackson's death, since it has been massively covered everywhere, to say the least.
But it has been on my mind, and when I started this blog I said it would be for me, mainly, to get the 'flotsam and jetsam out of my head'. So, this may get sappy, but now you've been warned.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have been listening to his old music, watching old videos. Essentially, I guess I am dealing with the loss of the Michael Jackson from my childhood.
This quote from John Mayer in Time Magazine sums it up pretty well:
"There's just one Michael Jackson now. We don't have to reconcile the Michael Jackson we love with another Michael Jackson. In a way, he has returned to pristine condition in death. We can be free now for the rest of our lives to love the Michael Jackson we used to love."
I was saying something similar to my wife. I think, for many of us, we are grieving the Michael Jackson that was lost to us about 15 or 16 years ago. And we hadn't been able to do that until he died, since, obviously, it wasn't possible to mourn a man who was still alive. He was still out there, with the ever-present cloud of doubt. And wondering what would come next.
It wasn't possible to say good-bye to someone who wasn't gone.
But he is gone now. And I guess a part of me is sad for the Michael Jackson of the past. I am sad for his children, his family, his friends and even his fans. But I am also sad for the Michael Jackson who could have been.
In listening, really listening, to his music, I have a deeper respect for the musician he was. Some truly great songs in his catalog. He was an artist.
And his videos remind me of the time from my childhood when videos were a big deal! Not only did they showcase his dancing skills, but they also were innovative for the time. Mini-movies, sometimes.
Ah well, I don't really know where I am going with all of this. Like I said, just trying to reconcile it all in my head. Pop culture has always been a part of my life, and in the 80s, when I was a teenager, music was a big part of it. Michael Jackson wasn't my favorite, but he was heard a lot thanks to my brother and a cousin who were big fans. And really, was there any celebrity bigger than MJ in the 80s?
It helps me understand the media hoopla now a little better. Even if the King of Pop being mourned has been gone for a long time, he was called the King of Pop for a reason.
I hope his legacy is more than suspicion and doubt and bad jokes (of which I am just as guilty of). I hope it is his music, his charity and, most of all, his children. I truly hope they have the amazing life he would surely have wanted for them.
Okay, so I have been out of the "blog-loop" since Sunday, except for occasional peeks to see what was going on (and to keep my Google Reader from imploding!)
Okay, so arguably, Carradine is the recent death that kicked off this boom-boom-boom month of deaths. Carradine was someone I recall from childhood, mainly due to my mother's fondness for him and his role as Kwai Chang Caine on "Kung Fu" and "Kung Fu: The Legend Continues". To me, his best role was in the "Kill Bill" films.
But his weirdest role, and the one I will always think of now, was in "Sonny Boy", a small budget wack-a-doodle of a film from 1989 in which he played Pearl, who was either a man in drag living as the wife of another man, or just a strange, homely, lonely woman. So bizarre, I don't know what I could say to describe it other than "odd".
Out of the Angels, I was always a "Sabrina Duncan"/Kate Jackson fan. But who didn't know Farrah? She was more than just an actress, she became sort of the symbol of the 70s beauty. She was adored by millions of boys (and men) and copied by millions of girls (and women).
I was one who bought into the weird side of her, due to her appearance on Letterman a few years back. But the recent special that aired prior to her death showed a different side of Farrah. She was a woman who was battling a deadly disease with courage and a sense of humor. I am sad she is gone, but glad she is no longer suffering, as well.
Wow. Even though he had been out of the major spotlight for so long, he was such an icon that he would always be one of the "big ones". In the 80s, was there ANY celebrity bigger than Michael Jackson?
I feel bad his life went so, so far off-track towards the end, and then I have to wonder how much was damage he did to himself and how much was the end-effect of the strange path his life had been on? But, as I was shown with Farrah, maybe we will just never know the really true life of Michael Jackson.
I have been able to listen to a lot of his music over the past few days, due to the radio tributes. When he was good, he was very, very good. Sad that it all fell apart.
Not much for me to say about this. Sad he died so relatively young and full of life. I feel bad for his family. He seemed like an energetic and fun guy.
Not really too familiar with this older actress, I remember her more from a role on a episode of "Murder, She Wrote". I watch plenty of TCM, so I am sure I will come across more of her movies, and I am looking forward to it.
Not too familiar with Travalena, but he was a face I remember seeing here and there over the years, and usually always involving a laugh. I guess I probably heard him more in many of the voice-overs he did in TV and cartoons, including The Jetsons, The Smurfs and Scooby-Doo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, my thoughts, not that they matter much. I think Dolly Parton summed it all up pretty well when she did this little piece about Jackson's death:
Don't believe in people "resting in peace", since I don't think you are "resting" (or anything else) after death. A fellow blogger came up with a different acronym: L.I.M. - which stands for "Live In Memory". I like that better!
