The Death of Michael Jackson

The Farrah post I wrote previously was one of shock and sadness for an incandescent beauty who died too young, someone who seemed too vital to go. Now, on the same day, within hours of Fawcett’s death, pop icon Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50. There are notable similarities in the passing of these two: both shared the distinction of being—for a time, and in their own specific eras—the biggest celebrities in the world. Both were lauded for their looks and talent, and both shared a very public downward spiral. They both had a major influence on the world of popular culture, our perceptions of sex symbols, and they were both merchandised into legends.
The similarities end there, however, for the death of Michael Jackson is historic. The shockwaves of his passing have only begun, and I anticipate that the flood of mourning will be nearly overwhelming as the reality is slowly absorbed. This was no one-time star who had fallen out of the public’s (and media’s) notice. Jackson transformed the landscape of popular culture, music and entertainment with his Grammy-winning albums, sell-out concerts and astonishingly singular dance style. His childlike demeanor was made all the more fascinating by his at times very adult videos, where crotch-grabbing, innuendo and titillating dance moves all converged to produce the feel of a sexually supercharged star who could seduce any woman. And indeed, Jackson had more female admirers during his greatest heights than anyone else I was aware of in my lifetime. The 60’s had the Beatles appearing on Ed Sullivan, the 70’s had the Bee Gees and their disco-dominating soundtrack for ‘Saturday Night Fever’, but there is no doubt that Michael Jackson’s performance on ‘Motown 25: Yesterday, Today and Forever’ literally changed pop culture overnight. Moonwalking, spinning and finger-snapping his way through ‘Billie Jean’, the world stood still for just a moment as we all watched, transfixed by this version of the ‘little’ Michael from the Jackson 5. Following this up with his legendary Thriller video, and the second-biggest selling album of all time, ‘Bad’ (Thriller, of course, being the first), Michael seemed untouchable, a singular source of magic and slickness.
Years later, shortly after the release of his excellent album, ‘Dangerous’, the star was suddenly saddled with accusations of child molestation, excessive plastic surgery, and generally bizarre behavior. Previously, these claims of strangeness could be brushed off, for they were fairly innocent in nature. But with the allegations of misconduct with children, Michael’s spotless image began to tarnish. As more and more people began to come forward (almost all looking for ‘financial restitution’), he seemed to slip further and further into a state of denial and reclusiveness.
I was contacted by my friend Karen Faye, Michael’s personal makeup artist (who has been with him since making him up for the ‘Thriller’ album cover), to potentially do some masks for the ‘Ghosts’ segment of his upcoming tour in England, but things fizzled when it became clear that there wasn’t enough time to do them properly. I had a feeling then that this show was possibly going to end disastrously, but I had no idea what level of disaster was waiting the beleaguered star only a month away. It is still hard to comprehend the scope of this thing, and I have not come anywhere near facing its total impact. But I do know that the ramifications are enormous, America’s version of the Princess Diana tragedy.
Many years ago, while Michael was going through the terrible trial that would ultimately result in self-exile for a time from the United States, Karen asked if I wanted to perhaps send a sculpture to Michael. My answer was an emphatic ‘Yes!’. But I told her I wanted to do something really special for him, something that might take a good deal of time. He disappeared almost immediately after the trial to the Middle East, but not before I was able to have Karen pass on a book of fantasy art, one that contained a few images of mine in it. He graciously sent back a collection of his music and videos, with a hand-written note on the cover. I will treasure this forever, because I was—and always will be—an enormous fan of his. It is hard to put into words all that he has meant to so many, and what he may have given us in the future had he only been able to live a little longer. Michael, thank you so much—you have inspired, amazed and dazzled us all for over forty years, and you can now, finally, be at peace. You, of all people, deserve a good rest.
—–Jordu

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 25th, 2009 at 5:20 pm and is filed under Off Topic. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.