Margo Howard | 07/07/2009 9:00 am
Today Is the Day, by Margo Howard
On the day of Michael Jackson’s funeral, our ‘Dear Margo’ reflects on
the ‘surreal’ life — and death — of the iconic pop singer.
Editor’s Note: A longtime journalist, Margo Howard went into the
family business (her mother was the fabled Ann Landers) in the 1990s as
Dear Prudence. Her broad experience and understanding of human nature
provide answers for the troubled — and entertainment for everyone else. Margo’s advice column, Dear Margo, appears twice a week — on Thursdays and Fridays — on wowOwow.com.
This is a very delicate subject to write about, and I wavered, but I decided to do it because it is all so fascinating, in a loony kind of way, and says quite a bit about our country. I am talking about the aftermath of Michael Jackson’s death. It is becoming surreal, as perhaps was his life. (Let us stipulate that there is perhaps no one who does not think the man was an enormous and charismatic talent.) For one thing, the city of Los Angeles (along with the state it is part of, California) is flat broke, and the funereal circus coming to town is estimated to stick the city for two million bucks in services and overtime. The hotels, however, are getting a shot in the arm … forgive the infelicitous phrase in this particular discussion.
And then one wonders why all these fans feel the need to go to a memorial service where there will be more pushing and shoving than at a European soccer match. The need to be there is crowd hysteria; it is one thing to have admired an artist and to be sad he has died, but quite another to go to a stranger’s service. Some lottery winners (yes, there are tickets, which are actually spangly wristbands) have said they just needed to sign the book. I wonder who they think is going to read this book with thousands of names unknown to anyone. And I wonder if there’s ever been a memorial service for 20,000 people? (Never mind that there were 1,600,000 applications.) Perhaps an inducement was to see people such as Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, Usher, Lionel Richie, Kobe Bryant, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer and Martin Luther King III … and maybe see them perform. Fifty theaters nationwide will be broadcasting the services. This is surely a first.
Jackson’s good buddy, Elizabeth Taylor, in this instance the exemplar of good taste, said she will be mourning in private. She said this on Twitter. "I just don’t believe that Michael would want me to share my grief with millions of others," she tweeted. "How I feel is between us."
Debbie Rowe, the mother (sort of) of two of Michael’s children, planned to come, then decided against it … I suspect for different reasons than Ms. Taylor.
There is nothing that is not news about Jackson’s demise. It was announced Monday that he will be buried without his brain. This is so that it can harden, allowing pathologists to do tests to that will reveal what substances the singer has taken over a period of time.
Read more about: Beyonce, Debbie Rowe, Elizabeth Taylor, Entertainment, Funeral, Jennifer Hudson, John Mayer, Kobe Bryant, Lionel Richie, Margo Howard, Mariah Carey, Martin Luther King, Michael Jackson, Music, News, Obituaries, Staples Center, Stevie Wonder, Usher
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I count myself lucky. I’ve managed to avoid all the hoopla and what not about this. I don’t watch broadcast TV, don’t pay for cable, and I’m able to filter my news so I get only the news. (Local, National, and International.)
It’s simple and best of all, it’s free. (And LEGAL) Simply hook your computer up to your TV. (Use the TV as a huge monitor) Then you’ll be able to either d/l or stream your favorite shows from various sites, check the news stations you want to check WHEN you want to check them, and read your newspapers online. There is a plethora of options out there.
As for MJ, the majority loved him, and they deserve to mourn him just like you would deserve to mourn someone you loved. None of us has the right to bitch about it. The press is making a big deal of it because the majority keep clamouring for it. It is news, it’s just not news you like.
Like I’ve said before, it’s the law of supply and demand. The Majority of people want to hear and to watch this so the news agencies are going to supply it. They make $$ from this. (Advertising etc..)
Simply put- If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Change the channel, walk away, do something else.
As for California spending 2 mill. I’m quite sure they will make that back thrice over in taxes on all the $ people are spending there. (Think of MJ’s death as a mini stimulus plan for California.) If I were in charge, I would not hesitate to spend the money. I consider it a wise investment on the states part. They get the tax revenue coming in from ALL sides.
Finally! A semblance of reality! Thank You……
I have been watching the memorial service, and it has been a tasteful, not to mention, eye opener as to the essence of the person that Michael Jackson was…. Many people disliked him because he was a Black man….may people disliked him, because he seemed ‘strange’ to them. Many people, I am sure, disliked him because someone they knew disliked him…and they wanted to ‘fit in’ to the crowd they found themselves in….
But when one is willing to ’experience’ things they have previously never opened themselves up for…not only might they learn something——they might learn something about themselves——
For all of you who care about the planet, the children, the soldiers who fought in Iraq, for all those who believe in doing work for charities, and giving rather than ‘taking’……YOU may not be aware…but you and MJ had a lot in common. According to the statement today, from Sheila Jackson Lee of TEXAS! Michael Jackson donated more money to Charities than ANY OTHER performing artist—-musicians, actors, TV celebrities…..
For those of you who do not listen to the words in his songs——you should! He spoke to ending wars, ending hunger, loving people, getting along with each other, all those things that a good Christian might hear in a sermon on sunday morning! His was a message to humanity to be nice to each other! Some of the lyrics were lost when he performed his song—-people googled at his dance moves or the wonders of the stage or for that rubber stamp that one might have needed to reinforce their not liking him no matter what——-too bad——
Truth,
The more I think about it, you’re onto something.
Yes, I’m totally wireless now, except for one hard-line router. When I think of all the years with mice tails…..tripping…yanking….
The Star Economy
The Jackson Effect
Dorothy Pomerantz, 07.07.09, 3:00 PM ET
Los Angeles -As the memorial service for pop star Michael Jackson got underway a half hour late on Tuesday, millions of people around the world watched as cameras lingered on the oversized sign reading "Staples" at the Staples Center in Los Angeles where the ceremony was held.
It was a marketing boon for the company, which paid $116 million in 1999 for the 20-year naming rights to the arena. It’s too early to know how many people watched the memorial, but the feed was broadcast as far abroad as India and Japan. In Europe the memorial was shown during prime time. Some estimate it could draw as many as 40 million viewers. "Staples got a raging bargain for the naming rights there," says Los Angeles economist Jack Kyser. But the office supply chain isn’t the only winner.
In the week following Jackson’s death, the top 10 most visited entertainment sites, including Time Warner’s TMZ, Yahoo!’s omg and Wenner Media’s USMagazine.com, collectively registered nearly 30 million unique users, almost double the week prior, according to comScore. The entertainment news category as a whole, some 160 Web sites by comScore’s count, saw a 53% spike in traffic for the week of June 28, compared to a week earlier. Year over year, traffic was up 15%. (See: Jackson Fans Flood The Web.)
In downtown Los Angeles, 17,500 fans who won free tickets in a lottery, filled the Staples Center, while about 50,000 more fans crowded the streets outside the venue. Kyser estimates the event also brought a $4 million economic stimulus to the city of Los Angeles, particularly in the struggling downtown area. Media elite who normally would have bunked in posh hotels on the Westside of town filled downtown hotels along with fans converging on the city to remember Jackson, who died June 25 at his home here. T-shirt sellers also flooded to the Staples Center area Tuesday hoping to sell memorabilia to the gathering fans. Concertgoers usually spend an average $10 each on merchandise, which means fans could have shelled out as much as $675,000 in Los Angeles alone Tuesday.
The massive gathering required a strong police presence costing the city an estimated $3.8 million, not a small amount given the strained state of Los Angeles’ finances these days. The city hopes private donors will make up the cost as they did after a parade for the world champion Los Angeles Lakers earlier this year.
Around the country people skipped work to fill movie theaters at 37 multiplexes where Cinedigm digitally broadcast the same ad-free feed of the memorial that was being broadcast to press at the Nokia Theatre across the street from the Staples Center. Theater owners from Redlands, Calif., to New York City gave away free tickets (but not soda or candy) to the event, which could draw an estimated 5,000 fans.
Another potential winner: Jackson’s estate. Though he sold more than 750 million records worldwide in his lifetime and won 13 Grammy awards, the singer died $400 million in debt. Renewed interest in his work may help foot some of the bill.
It is amazing, isn’t it, how much fans and the media think they know someone so well?
As I watched the service I wasn’t surprised at the content - I’ve seen such services before, albeit on a smaller scale (particularly the Detroit service for Rosa Parks) - but it occurred to me that perhaps MJ is getting so much coverage because he’s the first black celebrity with worldwide appeal who, although having a message to deliver, wasn’t seen as an aggressive activist in equal rights battles. Instead of being presented or perceived as being overtly confrontational (e.g. Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Rosa Parks, MLK Jr., etc.) MJ generally used a positive approach and preached inclusivity, pulling people in instead of pushing them away.