Assignment 3: Current News

"King of Pop" Michael Jackson dies at age 50

On the afternoon of June 25th, the world lost a great yet often mocked idol. He started his career young, and though he gave the music world some of the most well known songs of the 70's, 80's and 90's (most memorably likely being 1982's Thriller followed by Billie Jean, Smooth Criminal, and of his more recent works Scream with his sister Janet and Black or White), and was the pioneer of the long-form music video with Thriller's movie-esque plot and setting, something that had never before been seen on MTV.

On the other side of that, though, he was a man surrounded in mystery and controversy. His actions often garnered negative media attention, and a law suit and molestation charge nearly brought his career to a halt. Over the years the outraged cry of parents turned in to the mockery of the internet and media age.

I've had several talks with both friends and family about Michael, even prior to his death. My mother, father, and step mother in particular were fans of his music, and my father would often play his records around me as a child. I grew up watching Moonwalker repeatedly and imagining what it would have been like to meet him in person. Back when I was a child, no one really seemed to care that he was often around children himself. No one gave two thoughts to him building Neverland Ranch. It wasn't until I was a young adult that any of these things began to come up as an issue for anyone.

When having these discussions with other people, a common theme came up: that Michael was a sad and likely disturbed individual from his child hood experiences growing up in the spot light and never really being taught how to deal with life, having reporters constantly hounding him and mocking his actions in life. Couple this with a dependency on pain killers due to the accident that burned him horribly during the filming of a Pepsi commercial plus several other medical complications, he was really little more than a man trying to make a career while barely able to live his own life in some semblance of normalcy.

I still adore his music, but rather than hate him as so many do, or ridicule him as others do, I honestly felt sorry for him. He was a musical genius and yet he had no chance to be an average joe at any time in his tradgically short life span.

Say what you will about him, but I do believe he will be missed, and June 25th has become a sad day in pop culture indeed. This blogger only hopes that some peace for him can be found now that it's all over.