Sunday, June 28, 2009
Sunday Reflection: Death of an enigma
Friday morning I had the pleasure of a visit from Dustin Benham, with whom I have worked and had many adventures. I'm so glad that Dustin is and will be teaching at Baylor Law. Dustin said the most insightful thing I have heard about the death of Michael Jackson, and I am going to repeat his observations here.
Dustin had taught that morning, and some of his students reacted to the news that Michael Jackson had died with some derision-- obviously, they were not Michael Jackson fans.
Dustin's reaction was to remark that if you have a problem with Michael Jackson, then really your problem is with our dysfunctional media-driven society as a whole-- because Jackson was the personification of so many of the problems we have created in our culture. Racism? Check-- Jackson obviously tried to get away from being black by changing his appearance. Sexualization of children? Check. Financial irresponsibility? Check. Narcissism? Check.
In other words, Jackson embodied much of those parts of our culture that pull us away from a spirit-filled life. His death makes me sad, in part because he never did redeem himself, and neither did we. The forces that created him are still powerful among us, and we do too little to turn away from them.
Comments:
<< Home
How unfortunate all of those things will take center stage of our memory of MJ along with things like Thriller.
I think you are right and probably all that bad influences and elements the he seemed to surround himself with again and again are still there. I fear for his children now, but then I honestly feared for them when he was alive too.
Pretty sad and weird and scary that a person with SO MUCH talent can also be so completely damaged, even if the damage was in part self-inflicted.
All these people who are now on TV exalting his talent and telling the media to ignore the bad scary side of him? Where were YOU when he needed you the most, when he was prescription shopping for schedule three narcotics and buying ferris wheels and having all this inappropriate contact with minors?
The saddest thing of all really was that he sang beautiful songs that may have helped heal people and lift their spirits - I mean, The Man in the Mirror, for example? That is a beautiful, gorgeous uplifting hopeful song, but there was no one to sing these kinds of songs to him.
I have chosen to celebrate the best parts of his life and career.
Pretty sad and weird and scary that a person with SO MUCH talent can also be so completely damaged, even if the damage was in part self-inflicted.
All these people who are now on TV exalting his talent and telling the media to ignore the bad scary side of him? Where were YOU when he needed you the most, when he was prescription shopping for schedule three narcotics and buying ferris wheels and having all this inappropriate contact with minors?
The saddest thing of all really was that he sang beautiful songs that may have helped heal people and lift their spirits - I mean, The Man in the Mirror, for example? That is a beautiful, gorgeous uplifting hopeful song, but there was no one to sing these kinds of songs to him.
I have chosen to celebrate the best parts of his life and career.
In case you missed it... What I hate is that there is just no coverage of him... hahaha but this is a GREAT song and this is what I will think of when i remember him:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGeZYednWtI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGeZYednWtI&feature=related
...and yet he was so incredibly talented. My brother Greg is seven years old, and never heard of Michael Jackson until he died, and MTV decided to start playing music videos again. Greg's an avid dancer and is trying to memorize/imitate all of MJ's routines. My mom saw him and (trying to encourage him) said "Remember, Greg, he was once a little boy like you and went to dance classes like you to learn that." Greg looked up at her very earnestly and said "You can't teach that."
Even a little kid could recognize his talent. It's too bad no one could recognize whatever it was that was wrong with him, and he couldn't get whatever help he needed.
Even a little kid could recognize his talent. It's too bad no one could recognize whatever it was that was wrong with him, and he couldn't get whatever help he needed.
I think a lot of people were making money from him and they did not want that to stop. You can sort of tell when a person is surrounded no one who ever tells them the truth.
Agreed Tyd!
I listened to a retrospective of the J5 and MJ yesterday afternoon on WNCU - Durham. It brought back a lot of memories.
I listened to a retrospective of the J5 and MJ yesterday afternoon on WNCU - Durham. It brought back a lot of memories.
I thought Bob Schieffer's comments today on FACE THE NATION were exceptionally insightful:
"Finally today, a society is defined by what it honors, who it chooses as its heroes.
"There is no better way to understand America than to reflect on the holidays we celebrate or, better yet, to walk among the monuments of Washington which are, after all, an index of American values.
"The Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial explain who we are because
they tell the world who we admire, who our heroes are. We put the World War II Memorial there so others would know we appreciate a generation willing to risk its lives for those beliefs.
"So what does the wall-to-wall commotion over the death of Michael Jackson tell us?
"Yes, we recognize his talent and that his music had an enormous impact. When he was young and I was
younger, I took my children to one of his concerts. It was a fine show.
"But his tortured existence, his devotion to excess, celebrity, and, for want of a better word, “weirdness” would seem most of all to be an example of how not to live one’s life.
"Down through history, those who have produced great art or accomplished great feats have not always been great people. The artist Caravaggio was a murderer. Van Gogh was insane. Barry Bonds hit a lot of home runs.
"There is nothing new about separating art from the artist, celebrating one without necessarily approving the other. But even as I tried to think of it in that way, the events of last week still left me feeling
uncomfortable about the whole thing.
"Pop icons and American heroes are not one and the same."
"Finally today, a society is defined by what it honors, who it chooses as its heroes.
"There is no better way to understand America than to reflect on the holidays we celebrate or, better yet, to walk among the monuments of Washington which are, after all, an index of American values.
"The Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial explain who we are because
they tell the world who we admire, who our heroes are. We put the World War II Memorial there so others would know we appreciate a generation willing to risk its lives for those beliefs.
"So what does the wall-to-wall commotion over the death of Michael Jackson tell us?
"Yes, we recognize his talent and that his music had an enormous impact. When he was young and I was
younger, I took my children to one of his concerts. It was a fine show.
"But his tortured existence, his devotion to excess, celebrity, and, for want of a better word, “weirdness” would seem most of all to be an example of how not to live one’s life.
"Down through history, those who have produced great art or accomplished great feats have not always been great people. The artist Caravaggio was a murderer. Van Gogh was insane. Barry Bonds hit a lot of home runs.
"There is nothing new about separating art from the artist, celebrating one without necessarily approving the other. But even as I tried to think of it in that way, the events of last week still left me feeling
uncomfortable about the whole thing.
"Pop icons and American heroes are not one and the same."
He didn't rock.
I didn't care then and I don't care now, other than the fact that I am always sorry when someone dies.
I didn't care then and I don't care now, other than the fact that I am always sorry when someone dies.
# posted by 
: 10:00 PM
: 10:00 PM
People are screwed up.
I mean all of us.
Jackson was a larger-than-life figure, and I'm sure that exacerbated any personal failings he had and made them public, made them spectacle.
He grew up in the public eye; that's not normal, and (surprise!) it doesn't produce normal results. Our obsession with fame makes tin gods out of mortal men, but then again, hasn't it always?
Having heroes means having let-downs, as long as you expect people to be more than that. It's easy to romanticize things. That's why myth endures when cultures fail. We need perfect heroes; the world can't provide them.
Post a Comment
I mean all of us.
Jackson was a larger-than-life figure, and I'm sure that exacerbated any personal failings he had and made them public, made them spectacle.
He grew up in the public eye; that's not normal, and (surprise!) it doesn't produce normal results. Our obsession with fame makes tin gods out of mortal men, but then again, hasn't it always?
Having heroes means having let-downs, as long as you expect people to be more than that. It's easy to romanticize things. That's why myth endures when cultures fail. We need perfect heroes; the world can't provide them.
<< Home
