What On Earth Is Driving the Melodramatic, Histrionic Michael Jackson Coverage?
July 7, 2009The 24-7, wall-to-wall press coverage of the life, death, music, clothing, vitiligo, sex life, "dearest friends" and plastic surgeries of musician Michael Jackson raises the question, "What the heck is going on?"
Why are hairdressers wearing black and weeping into our curls? Does Larry King really care what Jermaine Jackson thinks about anything? Michael had how many locks on his bedroom door? (Five) Have we all gone mad?
Scholars at the University at Buffalo offer a few observations.
UB sociology professor Mark Gottdiener, Ph.D., is the author of the breakthrough book "The New Urban Sociology" and several other important and award-winning books in his field, including "The Theming of America: American Dreams, Media Fantasies and Themed Environments." Gottdiener says:
"This public circus arose out of the fact that the Jackson family turned Michael into a meal ticket when he was 10 years old and they will work to keep this up so they can bleed his celebrity for the rest of their natural lives.
"Neverland is not likely to be the final place for the Jackson memorial, by the way. He likely will be buried in the location that offers maximum profit. This public spectacle is really all about the 'green.'
"It also is all about the media, of course. Iran has quieted down. There are no good visuals available and TV media outlets are visually obsessed, so the Jackson situation is automatically more newsworthy than it might be otherwise, particularly for television. Michael Jackson is nothing if not the source of unending video. They can't just play clips, though, so it seems that every grief-stricken fan or passerby in the country is being offered a chance to say something -- anything -- to the camera.
"Here, too, it's about the money. Jackson's death is perfect for TV news and commentaries. Everyone has something 'newsworthy' to say. There is no way to assess whether they even know what they're talking about, but it doesn't matter because whatever they say takes up time and time is what advertisers buy.
"Finally, this is also being portrayed as of great importance to African Americans. A lot of energy is being poured into keeping this famous black entertainer's death alive. Ironically, it appears he wanted to be white, and serious questions about his pederasty and child molestation remain unanswered."
UB librarian and cultural historian Judith Adams-Volpe is the author of "Technology and Values in American Civilization" and "The American Amusement Park Industry," which, like Jackson's life, focuses on technology and thrills. Adams-Volpe says:
"Michael Jackson represented and continues to represent the culture of celebrity and the desire to abandon our 'selves' -- our individual identities -- and become artificial/fake/virtual chimeras.
"His behavior in life demonstrates this, but he represents many people today. Think 'Second Life,' or think Las Vegas, which proudly advertises itself as a place to go to lose your identity and transform into a creature of excess and exoticism.
"We live in a culture of transformers. Fake is the new 'reality.' As for the 'Jesus' imagery employed by his family and others to describe Jackson, in a culture in which transfiguration, not resurrection, is the ultimate desire, he truly is the savior people are looking for."
Provided by University at Buffalo (news : web)
Jun 26, 2009 |
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Nick
A little less personal feelings and a whole lot more science is required here!
Could this be Physorg.com's attempt to join the fracas?
My conclusion is that people who worship him are just as crazy as he was. But we live in a society that worships fame. Those that say they love him dont know what love is. Love is two ways. While he loved his fans adulation, money, attention, he cared less for any of them. Love that flows only in one direction is not love, but obsession.
I like some singers a awful lot. But I dont love them, nor do they love me. (If they loved me, I could call them up, they would help me, they would know my name).
So why so much media attention? Because the biased media is liberal, and liberals have been selling us all a lie about what love is. The liberals say love is a feeling, an emotion. But the truth is love is action. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
As I said earlier, it is sad that MJ is dead, he had so much talent, fame and fortune, but he wasted it. It is so much sadder to me when a soldier, policeman, fireman, or just a hardworking family person dies. But the media doesnt care when these people die for they died for the love of their country and love of their fellow man or their family. Now if they died for a feeling, they would get more attention.
when the press no longer covers the most important items and reveals lies and things, then the way to know whats going on is by what the press is pushing off the plate by over representing something on the plate.
micheal jackson focus is more about the manufactured inner world where we live and do not pay attention to the outer world. over representing him, and pushing off issues with korea, iran, russia, and other real serious things, is over representing in the inner manufavtured reality over the outer empirical reality.
In the uS, the media is JUST about money - no more, no less. Any societal benefit that may arise from the predominance of poorly researched and biased "reporting" is purely accidental.
they would bust everything they could find, crack open every bad politico, etc.
the one magazine or newspaper that did that truthfully, would make a HUGE amoint of money, because it would make people happy.
instead they think that the public is stupid (because we dont do anything), and try to entertain us to make us happy.
but the truth is, that when we want entertainment, we dont want to turn to the news...
the lion the witch and the wardrobe made a lot more money than the golden compass.
one was openly christian by a christian theologian.
the other was being foisted on parents in a tricky way to get the kids to watch and be curious to get to the other books. so they cleaned it up for the parents, and then put it out there. but its a negative story where the main character eventually kills god.
see the difference?
watch the 1950s 60s versions of childrens shows and literature and toys. willy wonka was great, then became some germphobic mental. dr doolittle was darling, but became a farce...
go back and watch mr limpet if you want to see early green propaganda... in the movie there is a line where he tells the girl fish that he was an evil human.
ah well..
we all have short memories... except a few of us.
thanks for your point... but if we are becoming communist, then it cant be about the money... its about teh power.
As for why the media is going nuts? Everybody wants their 15 seconds of fame. To be "involved" in something with high emotional content. Just look at the global warming articles in PhysOrg. Jackson and global warming are both cheap shots, where anybody who can construct a sentence can express an opinion. That adds up to media interest, and revenue.