Enough with the Michael Jackson crap
Yesterday CNN devoted three hours of airtime to Michael Jackson arriving to be charged, leaving to return to Vegas, and physically returning to Vegas.
As it was playing on the newsroom TV I erupted in a small of fit high dudgeon, but I thought I was over it.
This morning I’m pissed all over again. How much more of this idiocy are we going to impose on ourselves before we get it into our heads: The personal lives of celebrities are not news: they are curiosities. Three paragraphs in the “People” column.
Michael Jackson getting busted for child molestation is 60 seconds after the real news gets reported. It does not lead the broadcast; it’s a mug shot and a refer from A1 to a 10-inch story somewhere inside.
I don’t care if the audience eats this shit up. They’d eat up public hangings and cats being thrown out of skyscraper windows. We have to be above their basest desires … that’s why we pass up on the better-paying gigs at the National Enquirer. Well, isn’t it?
News should be what affects the most people. Celebs have no impact on my life or the lives of anybody but their friends, families and co-workers. If Michael Jackson’s arrest hurts record sales, it’s a business story. If it boosts TV ratings, it’s a TV page story. If he molests little boys, it’s a crime story. Whatever kind of story it is, it’s not Page One News.
How many more times must we watch cars drive down highways before we realize, “Jesus Christ, we’re watching cars drive down highways.” What are we hoping, that Michael will jump out with a machine gun and start gunning down the paparazzi? How many more hours of not reporting terrorist attacks in Turkey will we have to endure before we figure out that our celebrity worship has gotten out of hand?
Please, people, get a grip. Have some discipline. Find some real news and leave this pulp to the experts. We look like morons trying to foist a patina of respectable journalism on these kinds of stories. The talking heads on the TV sound stupid and their interviewers on TV look stupid trying to tell us “what it all means.” It means nothing beyond beyond our inability to stop looking at naked people and car crashes. This is hardly a recent development.
A couple Michael links:
Lisa de Moraes in the Washington Post
Mondo Winkie echoes my rant. (Or I echo him, he had his posted first… had I actually read his first I might’ve avoided the machine gun reference.)
Doc Searls has a Michael encounter, sort of.
November 21st, 2003 at 3:03 pm
Well said! As I saw MJ’s mug shot on TV last night, I thought he started out as a real boy but he looks like he’s trying to turn himself into a marionette.
We should all just look away, if only out of pity.
November 22nd, 2003 at 4:25 am
Great post, couldn’t agree more.
November 22nd, 2003 at 9:02 am
John: Thanks for the shout-out at your blog.
November 23rd, 2003 at 4:14 pm
I have to disagree. One of the most famous people in the world is accused of a major felony? That’s news. (A major felony that a lot of people thought he had been getting away with for a long time? Even newsier.)
November 23rd, 2003 at 6:02 pm
Bill: It still comes down to being “it’s news because we say so” if the guy’s having sold millions of records is the only thing that distinguishes him from all the other accused child molesters. It’s not like anything important is at stake, except maybe to people dependent on income from his record sales. I mean, what really changes because this one guy got busted? Must we revise our perception of all his music and the era it was made in because the guy’s accused of being a pervert? Are the moonwalk and the white glove symbols of pederasty now? I suspect what’s happened is that we’ve grown up in this celebrity-obsesses culture and become so interested in the players ourselves that we’ve lost our ability to be detached observers.
December 30th, 2003 at 11:33 am
im from england and all we hear about over here aswell is michael michael michael! as if the public arent bored of it enough they have to bring out even more news about his case. i am a huge mj fan and love him to bits but cannot understand why the media rave about him so much! leave the poor man alone! not only is it tormenting and hurting him and his family but its also boring the rest of the public! surely there are more important things to report about and yet the media still thrive upon famous people and their personal issues! well all i can say is get over it, and get your nose out of their business!
December 30th, 2003 at 1:51 pm
I hate celebraties, but there is something special and fascinating about Michael Jackson. That put’s him far above other celebs. This is he’s the most famous of them all.
January 16th, 2004 at 9:07 am
The real news is that everyone has to publicly state what a horrible perverted thing it is to have any sexual/sensual contact with a thirteen year old. Michael Jackson seems like a very gentle sensitive person and thirteen is not a little child. Sure he has the right to file legal charges but do we really have to pretend (regardless of what innocuous sexuality occurred) that MJ is a monster or child molester? Do we really have to ignore the millions the kid (or mainly his Mom) will make? Generations ago people married and raised kids at thirteen - now the sexual innocence of the boy must be shrilly upheld against everyone’s instincts. What is going on?? Lets continue to frighten and terrorize youth about what’s natural.
January 21st, 2004 at 10:12 am
i think that you are right about the michael jackson story regardless to whether you think he is innocent or not. it’s not a front page story. this is somebody’s personal life which has fuck all to do with any of the public. i for one think that he is innocent. that is partly the reason i love him so much because of his innocence. just thought i’d tell you how i feel. yours sincerely
Amy Andrews, 15
February 4th, 2004 at 4:51 am
I couldnt have said it better myself, and I’m agreeing with you. Real news shouldnt be about celebraties private lives, because thats what is it; PRIVATE, but I think thats what gets everyone curious, the fact that its kept behind closed doors, Seriously I think we’d all be really irritated if some jerks follow us around taking pics of us and writing false and absurd lies. Michael must be a very patient man to put up with this, I guess it comes from his senstive pure nature.
February 14th, 2004 at 2:47 pm
Nice one matey!