Friday, June 26, 2009

I guess I'll talk about it too


I guess everybody's writing about death today.

I'm too young to have really known much about Farah Fawcett, and I wasn't allowed to watch TV when I was a kid so I never saw Charlie's Angels. Charlie's Angels to me is Drew, Lucy and Cameron. But I know enough to know that boys everywhere started their journey through puberty because of her.

And Ed McMahon I'm way too young for. I didn't really watch Johnny Carson because I wasn't allowed to stay up past 9. Actually I did stay up past 9 but it was usually to read. Because I'm a dork. And I wasn't allowed to watch TV. But I appreciate how much Ed McMahon entertained Americans for years. I may have even caught a few episodes of Star Search.

But Michael Jackson, that's the one that blows people away. His influence spans generations. When I came around BAD was the album you had to have and I loved every song on it. I had Dangerous too, when that came out. I don't know what happened with the kids. Only two people know what happened in each case. Kids lie, and adults do some fucked up shit, so there's no way to be sure.

It's weird to invite kids to your place and sleep with them, but when you look at a man who became globally famous at 5 years old, it's not really surprising that he'd be weird. His emotional growth was stunted at 5, so I get why he wants to hand with kids. He probably feels like he can relate to them more than adults. But did he touch them? I don't know. Maybe.

What I do know is he was a genius. I didn't think about this much when I was a kid because he was already a genius by the time I knew who he was. Yesterday I told somebody "Smooth Criminal" was the best video and I was met with shock at omitting "Thriller." Don't get me wrong, "Thriller" is terrific. But it was already out when I learned to pay attention. I wasn't blown away by its newness because it wasn't new. So from a pure story standpoint, I enjoyed "Smooth Criminal" more. But it's pretty amazing the effort the man put into making his videos tell stories through dance.

Regardless of what kind of man is was off stage, you could tell he loved performing, and he was damn good at it. If he didn't touch those kids, it's a tragedy that he spent his last twelve years avoiding the one thing he loved most. If he did touch them, well I guess karma got him.

3 comments:

  1. "so I get why he wants to hand with kids" that's one of those all time great freudian typos........ :)

    Basically, yeah, brilliant in his field but huge grey clouds hanging over his personal conduct. Without the kids he would have been a fun, wierd eccentric.

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  2. I told my sister the other day that Jacko's death is probably the biggest celebrity death since Princess Diana suddenly died in 1997. Heath Ledger doesn't count, because most older people (above the age of 35 at least) never heard of him, and he's not as recognizable as Jacko.

    Jacko was/is HUGE in India. I haven't been able to check out the Indian media's take on Jacko's death but his influence was HUGE on Bollywood.

    I'm still in shock, somewhat. Can't believe he's dead.

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  3. When I get famous, I promise to keep my sanity.

    I hope you will as well.

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