XPost: edm.general   
   From: doctor@doctor.nl2k.ab.ca   
      
   In article ,   
   Matthew Kruk  wrote:   
   >OMG, Michael Jackson died: a look at the coverage surrounding the death of   
   >Michael Jackson   
   >July 9, 2:41 PM · Lisa Westerfield - Kansas City Literature Examiner   
   >   
   >It's raining Michael Jackson. Everywhere you go, despite if you are a fan or   
   >not, despite if you thought he was a pedophile or not, there he is staring   
   >at you usually from a photo taken circa 1986ish. All decked out as if he is   
   >a general off to serve his unicorn based country in a glitter war campaign.   
   >What is more amazing to me than the coverage is how all over the map the   
   >American public (dare I implicate the world in this, I suppose I will) is   
   >over the treatment of Jackson's death. It's like the most left winged and   
   >right winged personas are suddenly in agreement that Jackson's death is much   
   >ado about nada while God fearing folks and vegans living on some seaweed   
   >diet are weeping gently in each other's bosoms over the loss of a fifty year   
   >old man/boy named Michael.   
   >   
   >Here are some undisputable facts. Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009.   
   >Earlier on that very same day Farrah Fawcett died after a long battle with   
   >cancer. She had been in the news for the last month or so because she had   
   >made her condition public. When she died the pop culture presses were ready,   
   >the eulogies were written, the orbits waiting for someone to press   
   >publish.then Michael Jackson ups the press coverage ante by also dying. His   
   >death seemed to come out of left field and for that reason it was shocking.   
   >I imagine even his most devoted fan must admit that the man must have gone   
   >under the knife more than once or twice to alter his appearance so. Further,   
   >there had already been some allegations of drug use in the tabloids so the   
   >idea of Jackson dying wasn't as shocking as say someone who appears to be in   
   >perfect health, but nevertheless it was shocking.   
   >   
   >Jackson was in the last stages of rehearsal for fifty sold out concerts to   
   >be held at the O 2 arena in London which were to take place from July 13,   
   >2009 to March 6, 2010. I am not even going to guess at Jackson's financial   
   >status at the time of his death because reports are all over the place. From   
   >the various sources I have read, these concerts would have cleared Jackson   
   >of his debts and given him a substantial profit margin unless his spending   
   >got out of control or something tragic happened.like his death. As it stands   
   >presently I am sure his family, friends, and the world public are going to   
   >hear about the hashing out of the Jackson estate until his youngest child,   
   >known commonly as Blanket, is in his 80's.   
   >   
   >All that I have written above is news worthy. I don't think anyone would   
   >dispute that Jackson's passing should have been one of the headlines of that   
   >day but the day after and the day after that? This is when things start to   
   >get murky. As far as myself, my breaking point with the Jackson 24/7   
   >coverage came fairly early, like four hours after finding out about his   
   >death. I was doing the craft thing at a friend's house and we turned on CNN   
   >for a few minutes. The general feeling I got was that CNN was treating   
   >Jackson's death as if the world populace attended the same high school and   
   >there was a school shooting therefore CNN was letting all of us know that   
   >there were therapists available to tend to our grief. The whole, please tell   
   >us what Jackson meant to you by e-mailing us, quickly got on my last nerve -   
   >as I think it did others as well.   
   >   
   >I've heard Michael Jackson described as a musical, dancing, and entertaining   
   >genius. I really am not in a position to declare anyone a music or dance   
   >genius since I have never displayed much knowledge or ability in either   
   >category - although I believe Jackson was talented in both areas. I do think   
   >he was a genius (either intended or not) in staying relevant in the public   
   >eye despite having his musical/dancing heyday peak in the 1980's. I am sure   
   >that he didn't welcome all of the relevancy in that part of the reason he   
   >remained in the headlines was because of alleged child sexual abuse of non   
   >related children of which he was never found guilty of in a court of law.   
   >There was also the fact that his appearance drastically changed throughout   
   >the last few decades. It was claimed he suffered from vitiligo which may   
   >have explained the change in his skin color although his ever shrinking nose   
   >appears to this laywoman as something that could have been caused by too   
   >many rhinoplasties and not enough cartilage. Of course there was more, but   
   >you can read all about those from a million other sources and a billion   
   >other blogs.   
   >   
   >Here is the crux, it has been two weeks since his passing and Michael   
   >Jackson is everywhere! His music is dominating the airwaves, his image was   
   >on both 'Time' and 'Newsweek' magazines along with a tabloids and special   
   >tabloid editions. The questions of his estate, who will get custody of the   
   >children, and if the children are his biological children are all being   
   >asked and probably will never be answered much to anyone's satisfaction   
   >(assuming you are in the category of those who want answers to those   
   >queries). Here's an interesting observation, billions watched the live   
   >coverage of his public memorial service (nope, I wasn't one) which cost an   
   >estimate 1.4 million dollars. (On the flip side of that, the service itself   
   >probably generated income in different sectors so I don't know if even the   
   >staunchest Jackson hater could write it up as a total waste of taxpayer   
   >money.) Also within that service his daughter Paris went from the girl   
   >behind the veil a mere month ago to saying a tearful and gut retching   
   >goodbye to her father in front of the world (yes, I saw the clip).   
   >   
   >I am perplexed by how some public and private personas, that I respect, have   
   >almost claimed the death of Jackson as something worthy of the honor of   
   >Julius Caesar being eulogized at the Roman Forum. I don't know if it has   
   >something to do with me not being a huge fan of Jackson's in the sense I   
   >liked some of his songs but never purchased a Jackson CD.or if there is   
   >something more that I am missing? I've heard people talk about his charity   
   >work and such, but honestly a lot of people give to charity and usually they   
   >do it without much fanfare. Is it because the bad economy, terrorism, and   
   >everything Sarah Palin are much too depressing and the world needs something   
   >distracting like an over the big top celebrity send off? If the recent death   
   >had been one of Jackson's contemporaries such as Prince would the outpouring   
   >of grief and coverage be the same?   
   >   
   >One thing is for sure, the whole Michael Jackson is dead phenomena is making   
   >strange bedfellows. I am not a citizen of New York, I am definitely not a   
      
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