July 08, 2009
Can we promise to never speak about this again?
Judging by the number of heartfelt posts on Facebook and various news and celebrity sites, I'm apparently in the minority when I say the Michael Jackson Staples Center/Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Memorial Tribute is the single least significant event in the history not only of this universe, but all parallel universes, too, of note only for what the wall-to-wall coverage says about our so-called culture and the dead-man-walking mainstream media.
However, if there was room for improvement, I think the folks at IDLYITW have their finger on the pulse of what MJ was all about.
When they transport his body to the Staples Center, I think a good idea would be for them to put him on a float made of Demerol and cotton candy and let it be pulled down the street by a hundred 5-year old boys in bedazzled Peter Pan costumes riding Big Wheels. And then a group of 7-year old boys dressed like 1940's sailors would bust out of the top of the float and perform a synchronized baton twirling routine to Man in the Mirror while candy and bubblegum rained from the sky. I mean, he's only dead. That doesn't mean he wouldn't want to enjoy the party, too.
Now that'd be something to see.
Posted by Mike Lief at July 8, 2009 08:09 AM
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When Alistair Cook (Letter from America) died they said he had been asked by the Manchester Guardian to do an obit for Joe McCarthy at the time of his death. Cook declined, saying that his mother had taught him not to speak ill of the dead.
I shall therefore say nothing of Michael Jackson nor Robert McNamara.
Posted by: andrewdb at July 8, 2009 01:54 PM
What's revealing about the anecdote you recount is what it says about Cook, something both deeply unflattering and -- unfortunately -- unsurprising.
As a journalist, it should have been an unremarkable assignment, writing an obituary of a controversial public figure, presenting an evenhanded account of his life--without editorializing about the merits of what the subject had done during his lifetime.
That Cook didn't think he could do just that is disappointing and sullies Cook's reputation for journalistic integrity.
Posted by: Mike Lief at July 8, 2009 02:25 PM