Y’know, I was just gonna let the whole Michael Jackson thing die a quicker death than the mainstream media will. But holy shit, I’m absolutely sick of hearing about it already. Five days after his death, they were still running a non-stop marathon of Jackson videos on VH1 Classic as of 8:00 PM Eastern on Sunday, and every 15 minutes there’s a new headline over at FoxNews’ website, highlighting some new and improved macabre aspect to the death of someone who lived a rather strange life.
Are they only treating his death as a circus because his life was a circus? His last number one single was in 1995. His last single was in 2003, and that made it to 83. Granted, he was a pioneer of pop music and music videos, but his relevance to pop music had seriously waned. Let’s say, for example, that if it had been Jackson’s idol Liz Taylor who passed away, would there be a non-stop marathon of her movies for 5 days straight and everyone making it a spectacle? I mean, she’s a legendary icon and has had her bouts of media circus chicanery too, no?
Is it because he was only 50? Are we that shocked that someone died so young? Noted TV pitchman Billy Mays passed away this morning at the same age of 50, but I really doubt that HSN or QVC will be holding any 24-hour infomercial Billy Mays tributes.
I think what bothers me the most though about the media hypefest is that those two noted leeches of the black community, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, have crawled out from the woodwork to get their faces in front of the TV cameras. Who appointed these two media whores the Official Spokesmen of All That Is Black in America? I mean, shit, anytime something happens to anyone of African descent in America, and providing that it’ll get them 15 more minutes on TV, there they are.
Granted, I think that Jesse is an old family friend of the Jackson clan, but he can’t have been a friend to everyone else he has to get on TV for.
No, I fear that neither of them have completely altruistic motives here. I think that both of them are rabble-rousers on the scene to point fingers and babble for the media. No sooner was Jackson's death announced than Sharpton was on the streets of Harlem, waving an old black and white photograph of himself with Michael and then off to Los Angeles to consult the Jackson family about plans for simultaneous worldwide commemorations, and the hugely profitable television rights that are likely to be sold with it.
Jesse might actually be trying to help the family sort things out, but I really think Al is just there because of his almost OCD-like need to be in the spotlight. I bet his ass has a team of straphangers to photoshop his face into pictures of famous people so that when they die he can wave around a picture of them together and call a press conference.
Al Sharpton with Queen Elizabeth II of England
Al Sharpton with Korean nutbag Kim Jong Il
Al Sharpton crosses the Delaware with his homeboy G-W
Al Sharpton at the last supper with Jesus. They was tight!
to answer your question, yeah i think al and jesse both take credit cards.
ReplyDelete