Blog response - The MJ Memorial

This morning one of my friends posted about the Michael Jackson memorial service. The post is here but I'll put the whole thing below as well. I wanted to reply to his blog directly but you have to join Multiply to do it so, no, I'm not going there. Here's his post:

Michael Jackson's exit from his last stage performance reflects the lunacy of the people who surrounded him and the blatant hypocrisy of the elitist media in America.

In short, yesterday's memorial service for Michael Jackson was not about him but the people involved in the show. The musical performances were less than stellar - and quite inappropriate. Mariah Carey's song in particular seemed lackluster and lifeless. Their appearance - while probably a sincere attempt to express their appreciation for Michael - seemed motivated by their need for media attention. The two media whores, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, looked old and their message filled with the type of racist bigotry that Michael hated. Too many people turned a solemn opportunity to celebrate the life of a great entertainer into a political pulpit.

And of course the Lamestream Media (h/t to the Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler website for that term) were there to lap up all of this shallow drivel like a starving man at a Golden Corral. I heard some talk radio host yesterday trying to give the media a pass on the whole mess, claiming they were only reporting what the culture wanted. Nonsense! During the Civil Rights struggle in this country, the people of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas were clearly against integration and the freedom for all qualified Americans to vote. Did that stop the reporters from showing images of non-violent protesters being water hosed by Birmingham firefighters or Mississippi Klansmen raging around a Black church? The truth is that the Lamestream media show the images they want others to see. They - like the rest of our ridiculously superstar-driven culture - love both the opportunity to worship and destroy media figures for their own pleasure and even financial profit.

The whole Michael Jackson death, media coverage, and memorial service were a commentary on how shallow America has become, how ridiculously hypocritical the media are, and why the cult of celebrity should be shunned and ridiculed for the source of idiocy, immorality, and psychic pain that it is.

Here's my reply.

I am astounded at your uncharitable reaction to this. I think it’s in poor taste to question the motives of people at a memorial service to mourn a friend and imply they did it for the exposure. What should they have done? Not attended the event? Not participated when asked? Michael Jackson did have some impact on the civil rights struggle and even if you don't like Jesse Jackson and Sharpton (I'm not a big fan either) it seems perfectly appropriate for them to speak if that's what the family wanted.

What about the songs performed was "inappropriate"? And I have to say that criticizing someone's performance at a memorial service as "lackluster and lifeless" is, oh what's the word? Dickish? Douchebaggy? No, dickish is the word.

I don't think your point about the media is well made. What are you suggesting the "mainstream" media should have done? Not covered it? Was there some other story they should have been covering at that very moment? What didn't they show that you wanted to see? Your charge of hypocrisy has me baffled because you didn't explain it at all. It sounds to me like this is a stock anti-media rant you've pasted on to these circumstances. (BTW, is Fox News included in your assessment?)

Estimates are that a billion people watched the event on-line. Clearly MJ was a major artist of the last half of the 20th century, perhaps the greatest artist, and a huge cultural influence. He was also involved in some great humanitarian campaigns. I’m not a fan of his and the last 15 years of allegations certainly make me ambivalent about him, but I can't deny that he had a huge influence on our culture. I'm not at all surprised that his death caused such a stir and would certainly expect the media to cover his death and the funeral. It literally is NEWS.

Finally, the existence of the cult of personality is hardly surprising or shocking. It's just human nature to idolize someone who's obviously talented and created art that's impacted your life. Why get all bent out of shape over humans acting human?

What's interesting about it is that the cult of personality has even infected the Protestant church in America. Back in the day, Jesus was the son of god and part of the Trinity, more father figure than anything else. Over the past 20 years or so he's become a rock star, best friend and pal, obviously through an attempt by the church to attract and keep youth in the church.