I respectfully disagree. If we are talking world-wide fame—not just U.S/Europe/Australia, but also Africa and Asia and the Middle East, there is no one as famous as Michael Jackson. That’s why the heavy coverage, that’s why the spectacle. Maybe Paul McCartney or perhaps Madonna are the only other modern stars as famous internationally as Michael Jackson.
I would say this about the television coverage: NBC made the smart decision to have several of their African-American staffers assisting with the coverage. Brian Williams deferred to people like Lester Holt and Michael Okwu to provide some of the analysis and context for why MJ was so important to so many people. What many of us white folks don’t get is that the iconic stature of Michael Jackson was not diminished in the African-American community, even though his reputation had suffered in the world more generally. I’m not trying to excuse MJ’s admittedly poor decision-making, his bizarre stunts, his odd appearance, the possibility that he truly did hurt children, his many many quirks…but I think many people in this group just don’t get it, because they culturally cannot understand it. I would say that the furor should now die down completely, and the news coverage should return to normal, but I totally get that he received the level of coverage we saw today. I would also guess that those of us in the flyover states are not being as inconvenienced by the spectacle as those of you in the LA area, and thus a lot of the consternation…. Just my humble opinion…. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, July 07, 2009 12:59 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: Today's Episode of the Jackson Show Tom Cruise Brangelina Paul McCartney Any member of the British Royalty (outside the US) David Beckham ...there are more. The current spectacle is taking place due to the perfect storm of MJ's fame, untimely death and freak-show lifestyle. On fame alone, he hasn't been all that for several years. Mostly due to the fact that he was still laying low, waiting for time to wipe away the memory of his (alleged) pedophilia escapades. Doug Fields Tampa, FL -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [TV orNotTV] Re: Today's Episode of the Jackson Show From: Phil Collins <[email protected]> Date: Tue, July 07, 2009 12:45 pm To: [email protected] Name a single person that is "Michael Jackson" famous? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
