Deaths of Four With Varying Degrees of Fame
June 29th, 2009
Within the last week we have heard the news of the deaths of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and pitchman Billy Mays.
Each of these people was special to their families and friends, and the degree of their fame did not or should not have made any loved one feel less saddened or more saddened than the loved ones of the others. And that’s where I have the problem.
President John F. Kennedy died in Dallas, TX, on November 22, 1963 at approximately 1:30 CST from an assassin’s bullet(s). This was a Friday afternoon that I will not forget as long as I live. He was the leader of the Free World and had been wiped off the face of the earth in an instant.
I watched the coverage of his death and his funeral throughout the weekend. Back then television stations signed off at midnight with the playing of the National Anthem.
I watched the body come back, the swearing in ceremony of Lyndon Johnson, the arrival of the body, the body being taken to Bethesda Naval hospital for autopsy, the long driveway of the White House, the honor guard, impromptu parade at the day of his burial, the funeral mass and the burial of his body.
Kennedy died on a Friday afternoon and was buried on Monday after that. We stopped viewing constant coverage of his death at 11:00 pm on Monday night with a recap of the previous four days while we worried about his small children and our country. This was truly a death of great world significance.
Now we have 24 hour news channels and the internet, and I am so sick of turning on a television set or going to the internet to read about a man who apparently mistreated his body so much that he died while preparing for a singing and dancing show.
I’ve seen his family trying to make hay while the sun shines on the death of their loved one and have been shocked that the birth mother of two of his children is so cold as to not want to fight for her children who do not appear to biologically belong to Michael Jackson.
I had an unpleasant run-in with my German Shepherd/mix dog Saturday night whereby I stepped on her feet in the dark in a room I didn’t expect her to be and she bit my foot in a pretty serious way. I say this by way of explanation of why I had a television on so late last night and early this morning. I was unable to sleep. I put the TV from History channel to Fox News channel when the infomercials started on the History channel.
There sat Geraldo Rivera in his conspiratorial best describing which of his four death theories on Michael Jackson made the most sense. (Natural death and suicide were ruled out, but accidental overdose and murder were left open) I got physically sick to my stomach and turned off the TV.
Yes, the Jackson family are grieving their loved one’s sudden death, but no more than any of my family grieved the loss of their son or brother. He was better known than they but he is just as gone as they also.
It’s time to stop this circus surrounding this one death and concentrate on the cap and trade bill passed by the House last week and the upcoming health care fight we are going to have.
Iraq is soon to be without our soldiers in their cities, Iran is going through a massacre, we are engaged with a war with the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, Honduras has had a military takeover of its government, N. Korea is threatening to hit us with a nuclear bomb, people all over the world are starving and infected with disease, and all our networks can talk about is Michael Jackson’s death.
It’s time to put things into perspective and force that family to recede into the background without the Revs. Jackson and Sharpton holding news conferences about something they know nothing.
It’s time to lay his body to rest and let us get on with living. I care about his family. I especially care about his children, but I’m sick of all this fawning coverage of the death of a man who was no more significant to his family than Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Billy Mays were to theirs.
Written by Jeanette
Posted in Give it a rest
3 Responses to “Deaths of Four With Varying Degrees of Fame”
I’ve chosen to avoid the news as of late. I read what is of interest in world affairs, etc on the net and simply avoid all the overkill of the Michael Jackson story.
We may not ever (nor do we need to) know all the facts surrounding the death of any “celebrity.” If families choose to go public with information, so be it, as it is a free country, but I am also free to ignore the attention grab.
As for Geraldo…well he and Shepard Smith became nothing more than entertainment gurus during Katrina. They were both then and have remained a disgrace.
You spoke of JFK. I too remember each and every sad moment beginning with his untimely death. I also remember President Nixon’s funeral as well as the many days tribute to Ronald Reagan.
Part of what I believe we are experiencing right now is the emotion of some in a generation who somehow feel a personal loss due to the death of Michael Jackson. Perhaps they now recognize that their youth is falling away, I don’t know.
My children are of the Jackson generation and they also feel this overkill is just too much, but I am sure there are others who feel differently.
I can only speak for in saying that death is different for each individual. Those who hang on every detail of Jackson’s death must have a reason. It’s not one I understand or wish to participate in, but to each his own.
I read this post on Monday and was going to respond then but, I was too offended to do so. I reread it today and was still outraged that I now feel compelled to write. Yes, the media is outrageous in their coverage. Yes, it is dragging on unnaturally so. However, no one has said you MUST watch the coverage! You have every right to change the channel or turn it off! Maybe, if you had, and say, listened to music, you would know that Michael Jackson is to pop music- the music that formed the 80’s, changed a generation and broke racial barriers on television- what Elvis is to rock n’ roll. The fact of the matter is, Michael Jackson is the all time best selling artist. Michael Jackson was the first artist of color to perform on MTV- a channel that, to the 80’s kids, was our American Bandstand or Ed Sullivan. You cannot deny that Michael Jackson changed the face of music- you don’t have to like the music, you don’t have to like the life he lived. If you are going to compare deaths- which in itself is morbid- compare this to Princess Diana or Elvis- where the cause of death is unclear and completely a surprise. To the former kids of the 80’s this is the loss of our first icon.
Amy,
Thank you for your thoughtful comment. I sincerely apologize for upsetting you in my bluntness.
I, too, was complaining about the over-coverage of his death to the point of telling us things on pure speculation and things I don’t need to know.
It wasn’t as though I watched these programs because I did change the channel, but whenever I went to a news site on the web it was splashed all over the place and I had to dig deeper to read news stories.
I understand Michael Jackson is a pop icon for the Gen Xers and later. My children listened and listen to him also. I too like some of his music, but I feel so sorry for his sad life and even worse for the three children he loved so much and who loved him unconditionally.
Again, my apologies and I would like to invite you to write a post telling us what Michael Jackson meant to you and to your generation. Please consider it and let either Sue or me know if you are interested.
Thank you again for your thoughtful and heart-felt comment.