I Finally Caved

No, I didn't join Twitter, but three loyal readers (I didn't know I had that many either) have asked why I haven't written anything on the passing of Pop Icon Michael Jackson, so here you go. In the days following his death I decided that it was a topic that I didn't want to comment on for a multitude of reasons.

For starters I knew that the national media coverage would be so over the top that everyone's appetite for Michael Jackson related stories would be soured. In fact, I would argue that most of you have been so oversaturated with articles remembering the King of Pop that you are blowing through this article like Paris Hilton under a green light.



While there's no doubting Jackson's musical genius, I think that the peak of his success was a little before my time. Thankfully music is timeless so I can still enjoy "Man in the Mirror", "Thriller", and "Billie Jean" whenever I damn well please, but Michael Jackson was not a considerable influence in my life. This is similar to my argument about the real MJ, Michael Jordan. Jordan retired (for the second time) in 1998 when most of us were 11-13 years old. There is just no way that we, at that age, could have fully appreciated his greatness. We never had the chance to consistenly watch him in his prime, in full games, when we had a significant understanding of basketball.

Similarly, most of what I heard about Michael Jackson while growing up involved his not so peachy clean personal life. For example:

What's the difference between Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson?

Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, and Michael Jackson had sex with little boys.

Now I don't mean to trash on a man in his grave, but this is just an example of the kinds of things I associated with this musical legend. Also, I'm sure you've heard plenty of new jokes about Jackson involving his death. For example:

Apparently paramedics were able to momentarily revive Jackson, but as he was rolled past the children's ward he went stiff again.

Lastly, Jackson's death is unquestionably significant because he is one of a very select few that have truly reached icon level as a performer. His contributions to the pop culture world can not fully be measured, but will people be talking about where they were when they heard the news of his death like our parents do with JFK? Some might say yes, but I say no. Our generation has already had our "where was I when ________ happened" and ours was September 11th, 2001.