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Enemy of the Week
Jackson Five Plus One
Much like his reaction to Iran in revolution or the Honduras in coup, Barack Obama's reaction to Michael Jackson's death hasn't exactly shone. He's let Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Larry King fill the emotional void. It's been his Katrina moment, his Diana moment, his Marie Antoinette moment. We really don't know what he's feeling, if he's even able to feel anything, about this latest disaster to befall the world of high culture. Perhaps our president is simply a philistine. Look, some might counter, he actually a snob. Oh, well.
A few days before Jackson's final injections Mr. Obama reassured us that his ears-- and thus by inference the rest of him -- aren't related to someone named Spock. We should have believed him. As reaction to Jackson's passing has confirmed, we know full well who the alien among us was, dancing in reverse into and out of our lives, having thoroughly colonized and mentally warped an entire country and indeed an entire globe. "Never can say goodbye," he warned in an earlier life, and we can now see what he meant: The world will never finish saying goodbye to him either. And as owner of the Beatles' songbook, Jackson is doubly protected -- he'll say goodbye, and we'll say hello, back and forth. We'll never get back to the moon, but we've gone back to the moonwalk. The thrill is back in Thriller.
Fan reactions speak for themselves. Larry King's correspondents channeled a "few of the sentiments from outside the UCLA Medical Center." One unidentified male was asked about what connected him to Jackson. He replied: "Michael, him as a person, not too many people is like Michael. But I don't know nobody who has so much funds who will go out to a regular kid and just try to touch him and help them out. Help him, physically. Like, if I have a problem and Michael came to me, that would be an honor." Reactions in the New York Times were, as you might expect, a bit more pretentious, as for example in the case of Veenchel Ednilao, who is "a performer who goes by the name Vice and sings at weddings." "If it weren’t for MJ and my parents making me moonwalk across the living room floor," he told the Times, "I wouldn't be the entertainer I am now." Verlyn Klinkenborg, who may or may not sing at weddings, was very pleased that at one point Jackson "re-sexualized" his voice "in a way that you could never really mistake -- then -- as androgynous." (That "then" must have pierced the heart of Frank Rich, who spent his Sunday lamenting the plight of those who, "40 years later," remain "second-class citizens" -- but one thing at time.)
Sexual confusion remains a dominant theme in the Jackson reactions, as for instance in the poetic dabblings of MJ specialist Margo Jefferson, doing standup at the Washington Post: "His skin was growing paler…his aura more feminine.…Some fussed about his gender fluidity. I saw him as a post-modern shape-shifter.…the macho and the girlishness. He was a male and a female impersonator." Aren't you glad you only have Mark Sanford to worry about? With Jackson, Jefferson semi-concluded, it all came down to his talent and artistry, which weren't "a well-matched pair." Unlike presumably what Sanford focused on, according to our voyeur of the week, Ms. Maureen Dowd, as she quotes from pilfered Sanford pilfered e-mails regarding "two magnificent parts of yourself." We'll leave it, and what remains of Mark Sanford, at that.
The Jackson sendoff is bound to produce new surprises. Already we've had this scary moment at the NYT. Turns out when Jermaine Jackson sounded his sendoff to his brother, he didn't say "May our love be with you always," as the Times reported. He said, according to the correction the paper ran, "May Allah be with you always." Mr. Obama isn't home free after all. Who of the Jackson Five helped write his Cairo speech?
Comments
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Vic| 6.29.09 @ 6:26AM
Michael Jackson's life proves America is still the land of opportunity. Where else could someone be born a poor black boy and die a rich white woman?
James| 6.29.09 @ 6:46AM
Overheard from an 8 yr old boy - "He used to be a negro."
Darin| 6.29.09 @ 7:18AM
North Korea. Iran. Iraq. Afghanistan. China. Russia. Coup in Honduros. Economic slump. Health care laws being passed without debate (or even being read). Energy laws being passed without debate (or even being read). Car companies being taken over by the government. Financial institutions being taken over or controlled by the government. Unemployment rates rising. Unemployment benefits falling. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid seeing growing financial stability problems. National infrastructure crumbling.
And yet all we hear about is Michael Jackson. Compared to the above list (and more), he's important why???
Thanks, Vic| 6.29.09 @ 8:23AM
Thanks for the laugh, Vic. Too funny! He was the ultimate American idol, and I don't mean that as a good thing.
mike b| 6.29.09 @ 9:10AM
I was out of town when MJ died. I got home Sunday and asked my young daughter what she thought about his death---I was rather surprised--"another child molester gone"
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 6.29.09 @ 9:16AM
And yet we are left to ponder, would the public option on health care have saved him?
Paul Kotik| 6.29.09 @ 10:28AM
Good riddance. What took him so bloody long?
Ryan| 6.29.09 @ 10:30AM
Michael Jackson is best understood as an American tragedy - the victim who never overcame his victimhood, the near-savant who couldn't - or wouldn't - understand the world outside himself.
Much like Elvis, but with an air of criminality.
One wonders if Jackson ever truly understood right from wrong.
Trotter| 6.29.09 @ 10:30AM
Vic, you owe me a new keyboard.
The fact that a sizable % of this country exalted a circus sideshow freak is sadly telling of the current condition of our country and culture.
cuban pete| 6.29.09 @ 10:58AM
Michael had something in common with the Chicago Cubs' left fielder Soriano. Both wore/wear one glove for no apparent reason.
janet| 6.29.09 @ 11:10AM
I would much rather hear about the tragic suffering of Farrah Fawcett and her ordeal that lasted over 2 years then hear anything more about this man/boy/girl/child abusing drugs FOR YEARS which culminated in his own demise. Enough with hearing about this loser. RIP, Farrah.
Big Leo| 6.29.09 @ 11:36AM
Androgynous doesn't cover it. Trans-racial doesn't cover it. He was a monster masquerading as a human being.
LarryK| 6.29.09 @ 11:37AM
BREAKING NEWS - This just in...
Michael Jackson is still dead.
JJ| 6.29.09 @ 11:50AM
Ryan queries, "One wonders if Jackson ever truly understood right from wrong."
What? There's a right and wrong? Hmmmmm...
Foreshadowing?| 6.29.09 @ 11:51AM
Foreshadowing perhaps.
What other iconic figure, rock star, adoring fans, confused if not angry individual do we know? How much ager is bubbling under that surface? What kind of effect did hard-core drugs have on the central nervous system.
What is it with the 95% quitting cigarettes? While lecturing others? Are women 95% pregnant?
What details do we have in his health?
Laughing at kidney failure jokes invites all kind of karmic experiences.
My uber-liberal inlaws were laughing at a neighbor they spotted buying adult diapers (he's a Republican) and couldn't wait to telephone it all over the place. I think they did even after I suggested they no as he was probably already dealing with an illness. But what do you expect from a liberal?
Now one of them is losing their eyesight. Karma perhaps?
Reveling in someone else's affliction------what did they expect, a prize?
Mattled| 6.29.09 @ 11:56AM
LarryK,
I said the EXACT same thing last night when I turned on the local news.
BTW---I have been turning off the local "network" news more lately. Watching more local Fox news.
The ABC Obama-we-so-love-you-forget-me-nots -Special last week was about the last straw.
WilliamInWien| 6.29.09 @ 12:04PM
The problem might be that almost everyone has an opinion on MJ and if you didn't before, the media will help you form one. On the other hand, having an opinion on Iran, Cap & Trade, or GM may require some reading and understanding. It is amazing, I guess, that the media can devote hours to the death of an "entertainer" and "I only have a few seconds left, but what do you think of Obama's Health Care Plan?" Finally, is it not amazing what doctors can do for you, plastic surgery, prescriptions, etc.?
Oldefarte| 6.29.09 @ 12:50PM
I mean, WHO REALLY CARES! The world [of especially sub-teen males] is a MUCH BETTER PLACE. My sympathies are solely with his children, and I hope some caring soul[s] will now adopt and love them appropriately. As to Obama, it's amazing that he sends a letter of condolence to the jackson family, but not to the McMahan or Fawcett families [that speaks volumes]!!!!!
the-gunslinger| 6.29.09 @ 1:13PM
MJ was unique and a huge talent. Like him or not, he was a worldwide phenomenon. And he deserved the fame, because he was that good.
He was also a sad mess. The classic tragic figure.
If Shakespeare was alive, we would soon have a new play..."The Tragedy of Jackson, King of Pop"
Pingback| 6.29.09 @ 1:23PM
Got Tea? Where are the jobs? « Jim Blazsik links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:
Il Gecko| 6.29.09 @ 1:50PM
And so, the world is just a bit less wierd
Memento Mori| 6.29.09 @ 3:03PM
If Michael Jackson was a real star he just cooled down from a white dwarf to a black dwarf. Or as the Prophet might say, "from whence he came."
Aaron| 6.29.09 @ 4:10PM
Like him or not, where else but in America can a person give himself a title like "King of Pop" and everyone in the world knows who you are speaking of when you say it. Oh, and speaking of spreading the wealth around, Obama has nothing on MJ.
ds80| 6.29.09 @ 4:28PM
I was gonna post something but couldn't get past the :
Bill Hussein O'Stalin: "And yet we are left to ponder, would the public option on health care have saved him?"
Hoooooo (wipes tears from eyes). Chuckle. Guffaw. *snort* Thanks, B.O'S !
Meh| 6.29.09 @ 4:34PM
Eh, who cares?
At least we didn't have Obama shoved down our throats.
RIP Michael.
Alan Brooks| 6.29.09 @ 10:02PM
he molested not one but TWO children, separately, years apart; you'd think he would have learned after paying off the first child's family.
and now he is a great hero?? if you or I were serial molesters we'd be in prison right now or be registered sex offenders.
TJ| 6.30.09 @ 10:07AM
Watching the "news" coverage of Jackson's death, one thing continually struck me as odd. Almost every "journalist" noted how surprized they were.
I for one, and I suspect most everyone else, wasn't surprized at all. This has been a long time coming. The only surprize to me is why it took so long.
Yes, he once was a great entertainer, but for the last few decades the only entertaining he has done was allowing us a perverse parlor game, watching him spin out of control with surgery after surgery, odd-ball children's names, accusations of child molestation, showing up to court wearing pajamas, and (generally) becoming a mockery of a human being.
I'll go out on a limb and predict that in the final analysis, his death (perhaps on purpose, or perhaps accidently) will have been by his own hand.
Mary Keeler| 7.1.09 @ 4:51PM
Say what you will about Jackson as a human being - he lived a bizarre life, he most likely engaged in immoral behavior with young boys, he treated his chidren like toys, etc... But let's give him some credit for two things. One, when Paula Abdul was having an affair with his married brother Jackie, Michael sided with his sister-in-law and tried to stop the affair. His relati0nship with Abdul was icy cold after that, I'm told.
Also, Michael's song "Man in the Mirror" was the most conservative song I've ever heard - and far more reflective of social conservative sentiment than patriotic slop like "God bless the USA" I don't claim HE was a conservative, but this SONG sure was. I guess its the old " even a broken clock is right twice a day" theory. Here the the lyrics:
"Im starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer. If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make that change."
What do you think? Would Burke have loved these lyrics? Haven't conservatives always said that you have to start with yourself and then work your way out to the "little platoons?"
James c Strickland| 7.3.09 @ 11:37PM
When any of you right wing bigots die no one will give a damm.
Youngerfart| 7.5.09 @ 11:45PM
I agree with J C Strickland. And just where is your proof that MJ molested young boys? And how do you know what kind of father he was? I agree that we are now awash in Mj fever and maybe enough is enough (and I'm a fan). But we were awash in Princess Diana & Anna Nicole; this happens all the time. I feel bad for the loss of Farrah Fawcett, Carl Malden, Ed McMahon and Bill Mays too, they were a part of the American fabric. And this world is still have it's Marilyn Monroe and Elvis moments. But hey, MJ made an impression on the world. Too bad he was such a tortured, mixed up individual. It doesn't lessen his contribution to the world. And by the way, this President like others before him are still people. What he chose to do in this affair is his business, based on his feelings. Does anybody question who you mourn and maybe you sent flowers to this neighbor and not that one. Let the man be a regular human being, at least at a time like this. The MJ thing will run it's course and die down but, his impact will never go away. Get over it.
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