Michael Jackson, R.I.P.
For the living, a little snark will get us through.
Let me be the first to announce what is already completely obvi ous. The shock about Michael Jackson's death has worn off and soon all we're going to be left with are a few camera hogs begging for attention. But all that media coverage has reminded me that, even in times of great emotion, w e have a continuing and ever-present need for snark.And, trust me, nobody is more surprised by this need than me. I used to hate snarkiness; but now I realize that snark is a necessary ev
il in this world of ours. There are just too many knuckleheads out there trying to make a buck or a reputation out of Jackson's death. As a form of wit that uses both cynicism and sarcasm, snark is can be an enlightening response to cultural events where the first response is "WTF?" Not to be confused with schaudenfreude or bullying, snark doesn't attack people just to be mean (that'd be Perez Hilton), but it doesn't back away from a fight either. Still, when a celebrity dies, snark is the one response that's totally discouraged. Yet, I would argue, it is our only protection from a media response that is too big, too omnipresent and too boring. We get excessively bad behavior every time a really famous person shuffles off his mortal coil. Jackson's sudden death was met with the same kind of wall-to-wall coverage that followed Hurricane Katrina, the Season Finale of American Idol, the civil unrest in Iran, and the election of America's first black president. There's no rhyme or reason to the "BREAKING NEWS" cycle--everything is treated like an international emergency. Just about everyone I know is already tired of this no-news news coverage even though they're still saddened by Michael's death. And to make matters worse, with so much misinformation flying around, it's impossible to know what's true and what's not. On the same day Michael Jackson died, Jeff Goldblum, George Clooney and Harrison Ford were also pronounced dead by Twitter hordes. Just think about how useful snark would have been in the days following MJ's death:
1. At the Apollo Tribute to Michael Jackson, the Reverend Al Sharpton said, "Michael made young men and women all over the world imitate us. Before Michael, we were limited and ghettoized." Where is the snark reminding us that Reverend Al Sharpton is honoring Michael as an Important Black Person in spite of the fact the Michael sought to erase his racial identity with plastic surgery? What happened to the Reverend Jesse Jackson? He made a YouTube video urging MJ fans not to commit suicide or as he put it: "In Michael's name let's live together as brothers and sisters and not die apart as fools." I thought he was speaking for the family. And why are the Reverends hanging around anyway? It doesn't really help their reputations as camera-crazed hangers-on. (And by the way, is calling people fools the best way to stop a potential suicide? See--snark at work!)
2. And how else, except through snark, can we point out that only in death is MJ being afforded the compassion that might have kept him alive in the first place?
3. Can't we get just a bit snarky about the media's compulsive use of the word "troubled" or "tragic" when what they really mean is "suspected child molester"? If they have a problem with Michael's legacy, why don't they just say so?
4. Snark seems like a requirement when Joe Jackson is speaking on behalf of his son's estate despite the allegations of physical and emotional abuse against Michael hanging over him. And pushing his record label at the same time?! Nobody thinks that's weird or creepy?
5. Cutting through all the nonsense masquerading as news is a perfect job for snark. Did Michael have a will? What will happen to the children? What was the state of MJ's finances? Did Jackson's personal physician do something wrong? Nobody seems to have any answers to these questions but that doesn't stop people from asking them over and over again and throwing in some scurilous conjecture too boot.
6. Why do I have to stay quiet through all the conspiracy theories? They are just getting started and are only going to get more ridiculous: Michael was afraid of death. Michael was in love with death. He was obsessed with death. Michael was afraid he'd go out like Presley. He was murdered. He killed himself. He faked his death. Michael was afraid he'd go out like James Brown. People wanted him dead for his Beatles catalog. People wanted him dead because he owed money. I predict we're about 24 hours from an Olsen twins and/or zombie connection. Is it really that hard for us to accept that he may have simply died from the cumulative effects of years and years of drug abuse? Is there no snarkish curiosity about why opiates are the drug of choice for those singers ill-equipped to handle to relieve the crushing pressure of fame and the dealers (I mean, doctors) who supply them? Well, there should be. Making this about murder or zombies just obscures Jackson's alleged addictions and the conversation about them that might actually help people!
Days and hours of watching opportunists and talking heads gorge themselves on custody battles, conspiracy theories, and dueling autopsies is going to make me sick, My only prayer is that a consensus on the funeral plans is reached as soon as possible. Though of course, watch out for some drama. Rudy Clay, the mayor of Gary, Indiana (Jackson's hometown) wants Michael to be buried there. It would be "a memorial that's fit for the prince of peace and a memorial that's fit for Gary, Indiana's favorite son, the greatest entertainer that ever lived," Clay said. Isn't Jesus the Prince of Peace? You see? Snark is crucial when people are losing all sense of proportion and context. Remember when poor Anna Nicole Smith's body sat in a deep freeze while her friends and family sued each other over the burial plans? If I have to be earnest and respectful of people's grief throughout that, my head might explode.
MICHAEL JACKSON’S FUNERAL
Michael Jackson died yesterday afternoon of a heart attack. People all over the world mourn the loss of the King of Pop. In cities across the globe people gathered in squares and parks with candles in hand to mournfully sing his classics like “Beat It” and “Don’t Stop till You Get Enough.” In Utah the Salt Lake City Boys Choir did an a cappella version of “Billie Jean” that was broadcast on loudspeakers into the city and on Mormon Television Networks.
Representatives of the Jackson estate have released a statement detailing some of the plans for Mr. Jackson’s funeral. In his will Jackson wishes for his body to be cremated and sprinkled over the surface of the moon. However since then his finances have taken a downturn and new plans have had to be created.
A somber and respectful service will be held at an upscale funeral home in Los Angeles. The funeral will be closed casket, with a large picture of Michael from 1982. Seated front row will be Jackson’s ex-wife Lisa Marie Presley, the skeleton of the Elephant Man, Bubbles 4 (the most recent pet monkey to carry the name), and Macaulay Culkin. The remaining members of the Four Tops, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross and the Supremes will all perform at the ceremony to pay their respects. Acting as pallbearers will be the Harlem Globetrotters, who made Michael an honorary member in 1978.
President Barack Obama has expressed his sadness at the news of Jackson’s death. In respect he held his press conference on the matter wearing one white glove. Secret Service reports indicate he spent last night drinking scotch and moon-walking through the White House.
Sources within the intelligence community believe that Kim Jong Il may be planning a tribute concert in Pyongyang, wearing a red leather version of his standard jumpsuit. Photographs show Kim Jong Il desperately trying to learn the dance to Thriller.
The closed casket, and other details, have raised some questions. Yesterday afternoon also saw a flurry of strange meteorological activity over the New Mexico desert. When asked, one source working out of Area 51 who wishes to remain anonymous said “Michael? He not dead. He’s just going home.”
Despite his many controversies and eccentricities the world mourns the loss of this unforgettable musical icon.
Details of Michael Jackson's will began to emerge Wednesday with all of his multimillion-dollar estate being placed in a family trust, even as plans for his highly anticipated funeral remained sketchy.
And with those details also came friction between Jackson's family and the will's executors over who will have direct control over the singer's finances.
 |
AP |
The will, signed in 2002, estimates his estate at that time to be worth in excess of $500 million and was filed with a Los Angeles Court. In it, Jackson leaves his entire estate to the Michael Jackson Family Trust, which ultimately benefits his three children, mother and unnamed charities.
Jackson's 79-year-old mother, Katherine Jackson, is nominated to be guardian of Jackson's children Prince Michael I, 12, Paris Michael Katherine, 11 and Prince Michael II, 7, and if she should be unwilling and unable to be guardian, Jackson nominated his friend, pop star Diana Ross, to be the children's guardian.
The five-page document said "I have intentionally omitted to provide for my former wife, Deborah Rowe Jackson."
The will names Los Angeles-based attorney John Branca, a long-time Jackson counsel, and music industry executives John McClain and accountant Barry Siegel as co-executors, but Siegel resigned as a co-executor in 2003, leaving the administration of the will to Branca and McClain.
At a Wednesday hearing in Los Angeles lawyers for the two executors faced off against attorneys for Michael Jackson's mother, who has petitioned for direct control the singer's estate.
Paul Hoffman, representing Branca and McClain, told Judge Mitchell Beckloff, "What you have here is a rush to the courthouse, which is improper." Judge Beckloff urged both sides to sit down and begin discussing issues before he holds another hearing on Monday.
The judge said that Katherine Jackson "has very tiny, slim authority" over the estate, which may end Monday. There is also some concern that potentiallylucrative memorabilia which may have been part of a recent, now-cancelled auction, "is not in the hands of the estate right now."
No time for the Monday hearing has been set yet. Katherine Jackson was granted temporary authority over her son's estate Monday when it wasn't clear if a will had been written.
Read Michael Jackson's Will [PDF]
Jackson's will has been the subject of much speculation since the pop star died last Thursday, age 50, after suffering cardiac arrest at his rented Los Angeles home.
Neverland Out as Burial Site?
The pop star whose 1982 record "Thriller" is the best-selling album of all time left behind an estate that includes part ownership in a Beatles music catalog and his own music company that held rights to some of his music.
He was said to be as much as $500 million in debt when he died, but his assets have been reported to be worth as much as $1 billion. That value could rise over time if his popularity in death grows, as with other entertainers like Elvis Presley.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times reported that Jackson's body will not be buried at his Neverland Ranch in Central California due to legal regulations about private residence burials.
California Highway Patrol spokesman, officer Miguel Luevano, told Reuters that late Tuesday, CHP officials did meet with Jackson's family.
The CHP and Jacksons "discussed some options, and at this point the family has still to decide what they want to do and where they want to go," Luevano said.
A spokesman for the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, David Sadecki, said his office was still planning "as if something was going to take place tomorrow" but he had no furt
her details and added that his office has not talked directly to Jackson's family.
Michael Jackson's family meet for funeral talks as doctor is questioned
Police continued to investigate the sudden death of Michael Jackson yesterday as his family gathered to decide plans for the star’s funeral.
Conrad Murray, Jackson’s personal physician and the last man to see him alive, was interviewed by homicide detectives for three hours on Saturday evening. Dr Murray, a cardiologist, was living at Jackson’s rented mansion in Los Angeles when the singer suffered a cardiac arrest.
The doctor tried to resuscitate him and went with him to the hospital where Jackson was pronounced dead. Police had spoken to him briefly after the death but were looking for him all day on Friday.
Miranda Sevcik, a spokeswoman for the doctor, said that Dr Murray “helped identify the circumstances around the death of the pop icon and clarified some inconsistencies”. Police towed Dr Murray’s car from Jackson’s home hours after the singer died and said later that it could contain medications or other evidence.
Detectives said Dr Murray had “provided information which will aid the investigation”. He is not a suspect in the inquiry, which is being carried out on behalf of the LA County Coroner’s Office.
Friends, family and members of Jackson’s large entourage all face further interviews to establish the precise events leading up to the death.
The Jackson family also asked for a second, private post-mortem examination because of unanswered questions about how he died, and the celebrity website TMZ — which broke news of the star’s death — said that this had been carried out. The body is thought to be at a private mortuary after the coroner’s office released it to the family late on Friday.
Jackson was reportedly addicted to a cocktail of prescription drugs, including painkillers, and the family wants to investigate claims that he was given an injection of the powerful painkiller Demerol immediately before his death.
Dr Murray denied that he administered Demerol to the singer. Edward Chernoff, a lawyer acting for Dr Murray, said: “Dr Murray has never prescribed nor administered Demerol to Michael Jackson. Not ever. Not that day. Not OxyContin (either) for that matter.”
Mr Chernoff also discussed how his client found the dying Jackson. “He just happened to find him in his bed and he wasn’t breathing. Mr Jackson was still warm and had a pulse.”
Coroner’s officials have said that Jackson was taking prescription medicines, but declined to elaborate. Preliminary results from an official post-mortem by Los Angeles County medical examiners showed no sign of foul play. No official cause of death was given, but one is expected after the results of toxicology tests within six weeks.
The Rev Jesse Jackson, a family friend, said: “It’s abnormal. We don’t know what happened. Was he injected, and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed.”
More speculation about the cause of death — and Jackson’s lifestyle — was aroused when Grace Rwaramba, 42, nanny to Jackson’s three children, told The Sunday Times how she regularly had to pump Jackson’s stomach to remove dangerous cocktails of drugs.
Ms Rwaramba, who was dismissed six months ago, flew from London to Los Angeles in the hope of seeing the children. She said: “I had to pump his stomach many times. He always mixed so much of it.”
The family, including most of Jackson’s siblings, have gathered at the family compound in Encino, California.The Jackson family patriarch Joseph said in a statement: “In one of the darkest moments of our lives we find it hard to find the words appropriate to this sudden tragedy we all had to encounter.
“Our beloved son, brother and father of three children has gone so unexpectedly, in such a tragic way and much too soon. It leaves us, his family, speechless and devastated to a point where communication with the outside world seems almost impossible at times.
“We miss Michael endlessly, our pain cannot be described in words. But Michael would not want us to give up now. So we want to thank all of his faithful supporters and loyal fans worldwide, you – who Michael loved so much.
“Please do not despair, because Michael will continue to live on in each and every one of you. Continue to spread his message, because that is what he would want you to do. Carry on, so his legacy will live for ever.”
Mr Jackson also added that the singer’s three children — Michael Joseph, 12, known as Prince; Paris Michael Katherine, 11; and their seven-year-old brother Prince Michael II, known as Blanket — were also touched by the support from fans worldwide.
President Obama has written privately to Jackson’s family expressing his condolence, David Axelrod, a White House adviser, said.
Over 1.6M apply for Jackson memorial tickets
LAPD braces for huge crowds but only 17,500 fans will gain entry to events
LOS ANGELES - More than 1.6 million fans registered for tickets to Michael Jackson's memorial service over the two-day registration period that ended Saturday.
Only 11,000 tickets will be given out for the Tuesday service at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Another 6,500 tickets will be given away for the Nokia Theater overflow section next door.
Fans had to register for free at staplescenter.com between 10 a.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Saturday for the random drawing of 8,750 names. Each person selected will receive two tickets and will be notified by email after 11 a.m. Sunday. Before the drawing, officials at AEG, the owner and operator of the Staples Center, will "scrub" the entries to eliminate duplicates and any suspected of being made by automated systems or "go-bots," said Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine in a statement.
Winners will receive a unique code and instructions on how to pick up their tickets at an off-site distribution center on Monday. At the distribution center, they will receive the ticket and a wristband that will be placed on their wrists at that time.
Fans must have both the ticket and the wristband to enter Staples Center on Tuesday. Wristbands that have been ripped, taped or tampered with will be voided.
Sunshine said those steps are being taken to prevent ticket-scalping.
City officials are preparing for massive crowds. Assistant Police Chief Earl Paysinger says anywhere from a quarter-million to 700,000 people may try to reach the arena, even though a wide area around Staples Center will be sealed off to those without tickets.
City Councilwoman Jan Perry strongly urged people to stay home and watch the memorial on TV. The ceremony will not be shown on Staples' giant outdoor TV screen and there will be no funeral procession through the city.
No details were given about the actual memorial events, which come as the nation's second-largest city struggles with a $530 million budget deficit. Perry said the cost of police protection for "extraordinary" events like the memorial is built into the Police Department's budget, but she still solicited help for "incremental costs."
Last month, donations covered about $850,000 of the city's $1 million cost for the Los Angeles Lakers' NBA championship parade. Critics had blasted the idea of using city money when it is considering layoffs to close its budget gap.
No comments:
Post a Comment