Frozen in time is the black-and-white image of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in his trench coat and shorts saluting his father as the casket carrying his late father and our iconic President crept by in late November, 1963.
Some will argue against this and have railed against the continuous coverage of the death of Michael Jackson, but the sight and sound of Paris Jackson's final sendoff to her father will stand in this writer's mind as one of those moments.
As these children grow-up, and make their own ways, for better or worse, the image of Paris' goodbye to her daddy will be the backdrop of her life, and an everlasting photograph that footnotes a generation.
Say what you want about the King of Pop, his peculiar persona, and the remaining did-he?-didn't-he? questions that will linger indefinitely regardless until someone speaks-up.
Take that side if you will. Or remember him as a world icon, a musical genius and one of the planet's most popular and successful entertainers. That is indisputable.
Pete Townshend, guitarist of The Who, once said, "Yeah, they're your icons, but they were my friends, and they're all dead" when discussing those whom he shared his craft with who left before their supposed time. Tuesday's memorial at Staples Center may have been shared with those who simply idolized a mortal, but it was heartwrenching to watch those who knew him, looking inconsolable despite the embrace of each other's arms.
Like Elvis, Lennon, Dean, Marilyn, Hendrix, Morrison, Cobain and any other legend who never saw grandchildren, nobody will ever get to see Michael Jackson grow-old--even gracefully--like a Sinatra or a DiMaggio.
A son. A baby brother. A friend. A father.
Meanwhile, several of this writer's Facebook friends decided to cast stones, and even rip those who grieved as if icons should only have the maximum three days of mourning reserved for us regular folk. At one point, a prominent Rochester, NY talk show host said that Jackson isn't Jesus.
Yeah. No kidding. Thank you captain obvious. Clearly he'd be moonwalking from the grave by now if he were. The sentiment is understood by most, but can be left unsaid.
In that regard, since nobody is Jesus--God in the flesh--then, nobody deserves a funeral, or to be remembered. And if the host honestly believes in Jesus, then he must also think Jackson has crossed paths with Christ at some point in the last12 days and the Lord has made a decision on his child.
So what's the worry?
Then there were the child molester jokes. Those probably won't be buried, no matter how redundant.
Again, think what you want. Write what you want. Believe what you want. Be that guy.
Given the bizarre circumstances surrounding Michael Jackson's death and his astronomical world status, try stopping your own industry (now, thanks to Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and text messaging, we're ALL in the loop) from covering the biggest story of the year.
Schadenfruede seems to best describe these thoughts. Meanwhile, watching Jackson's extended family grieve was nearly torture, classified just below waterboarding.
Unless your Chaz Rheingold, nobody enjoys a funeral.
Then again, guess we can't say that anymore, either.
If you've never lost a father, may you never know what Paris Jackson was feeling.
Like her father's timeless images that adorned the backdrop of his memorial service, that feeling never gets old.
11 comments:
Is "below" waterboarding worse or slightly better?
Maybe you could ask a POW, you know, if watching Paris talk about her dad is anything like torture, then you would really know.
You wrote this better than anyone I could have ever picked to write this. Thank you for putting that out there. I couldn't have said it better myself. And this coming from someone who has lost many people in my life. God bless you Dan and your mom and dad for raising such a good son.
Maria Diehl
Amen, brother. Although, I did not experience what you or Paris went through (AND I HOPE TO GOD NOT TO FOR A VERY, VERY LONG TIME), family loss a tragedy.
Seeing Paris Jackson in tears brought HUMANITY to this media hoopla of MJ coverage. It definitely got me teary-eyed.
Life is too short for the dramatics in life. We should enjoy what we have and never, NEVER take anything for granted!
FROM THE AUTHOR:
It's TWO R's and TWO L's.
I noted waterboarding as torture, which has been debated abroad over the last few months. I didn't say watching the Jacksons was ON PAR with it, but "below" it, meaning, it still sucked to watch. Who enjoys watching a funeral?
Use the hack POW reference if you wish. It's quite common and unoriginal.
Unfortunately, in addition to his talent, Michael Jackson was a very very bizarre man, probably a pedophile and definitely a drug addict. His "children" are not even biologically his, which makes it all the more sad.
Dan, i think you need to understand that the constant attention to Michael Jackson is insulting to people that have regular jobs and take care of their families and responsibilities. Do you know how many soldiers and marines died in Afganistan since the MJ circus started? Maybe that's not the funny material that makes the breakroom.
"Again, think what you want. Write what you want. Believe what you want. Be that guy."
Be what guy? The guy with an opinion? Wouldn't that be you, too? Of course seeing a little girl cry about her dead father is horrific. You'll have to excuse the rest of us that don't engage in hero worship for a child molester.
Dear Anonymous,
Points well taken. Let me take them one-by-one...
* MJ was a bizarre man. That was stated in the piece. There's no question. However, I'm still waiting for all those alleged molestation victims to come-out and they've had about 13 days and counting to do so.
* Yes he was apparently a drug addict. So are a lot of people. With a lot of different addictions. Hence, we're all sinners.
* Love when people use "the troops", "the troops" and "the troops" as their typical defense. Nobody mentioned the troops in this piece. I'm sorry. I'll have to include the troops in my next NFL piece since more people pay attention to that, too. The issues are not connected and the fact that you somehow mashed these together shows an agenda on your part.
However, it's sad that these deaths in combat are overlooked and we've become desensitized to them. And you can thank your ex-President for that one. There. There's my hack comeback.
* I guess adopted kids can't love their parents who chose to have them...
* Exactly. Be that guy. You're allowed. It's clearly stated.
Note the title. You'll have plenty of days to pile-on. But on the heels of a funeral? Go ahead. Be that guy.
* Thanks for plugging The Break Room, weekdays 6-10 am, 96.5 WCMF and wcmf.com!
MJ settled with the molestation victims and no information will be forthcoming. You know as well as I do that whatever legal paperwork was signed by the molestation victims was drafted by the best lawyers MJ's money could buy.
Saying it's just "accusations" is like saying OJ didn't kill anyone. Just because we can't watch it on Youtube doesn't mean it didn't happen.
Blaming the ex-President for [insert issue] is a hack comeback, but at least you recognize that.
It's the current President that is responsible for the troops. It's the current President that is continuing the same policies as the ex-President. It may be relevant to talk about the troops in your next NFL piece if it's about NFL players dying. Or overpaid, whiney athletes complaining about their living conditions, paycheck, etc.
I am going to be that guy, because I think for myself and am not swayed by media groupthink.
You don't have to thank me for plugging the breakroom...anyone reading your blog already knows who you are.
I appreciate you reading and thoughts. I'd like to know who you are. :-)
Unfortunately I can't identify myself at the moment. Lame, I know, but that's the way it is.
From your fb status sounds like you're getting jerked around, hang in there.
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