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USA Edition | Today Is Sunday, March 21, 2010 |
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USA Edition | Today Is Sunday, March 21, 2010 |
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| America’s Love Affair With Ignorance | « Scan Content In The Order It Was Published » | Downdraft! | |
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Michael Jackson's Mirror Reveals A Narcissistic America
A rich and famous American died this week. He was among the most talented of his generation. His talents entertained and enriched the lives of billions of people he could never know. He was also deeply troubled and flawed. Those around him lived off his presence among them. He suffered from his fame-driven isolation from reality. He was horribly disfigured by the demands and immensity of his wealth. He was idolized as much for his manufactured image as his immense ability to entertain us. His untimely death, and our national obsession over it, tell us little about his character or his unhappy life. The media extravaganza feeding on this timid and loving man gave us a mirror in which we can see through his celebrity.What is to be seen in Michael’s Magic Mirror today is only the eerie reflection of our own media-driven obsession with the trivial.
In today’s competition-driven society, reality often varies substantially from perception. In part this is intentional on the part of media and others who see ordinary Americans as objects to be manipulated, not individuals dependent upon them for relevant and probative information about our communities and the world beyond.
Thus, while Iran suffers a failing dictatorship, North Korea plays missile games, Iraq tests its new sovereignty, and Afghanistan consumes young British and American soldiers, the media serve-up wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage.
Michael Jackson did nothing to deserve what we’ve done to him. By most accounts he was a soft and timid soul consumed by his celebrity and imprisoned by his wealth. He was not one of us. Nor was he ever free to tell us who he really was, what he wanted out of life, or whether he yearned for the anonymity we take for granted.
What we did to Michael Jackson is unforgivable for we turned his talent against him, isolated him from the real world, he yearned to know and made of him a craven image to suit our own needs.
What we saw of Michael’s Neverland was surreal and exciting.– for he lives in a world few of us might ever know and fewer yet might desire. But what he saw, looking out from his 18,000 acre prison was a world he thirsted for, but could never experience. He wanted to be part of us, but such is not possible in an age when there are so many handlers and sycophants demanding to monetize his celebrity. He was a prisoner, someone to mock, or condemn, or worship — what ever was most profitable.
For, in its quest for maximum audience, our media, whether news and information or entertainment, standardizes and homogenizes our culture, defines how we see one another, and intentionally drives our obsessive tendencies for their own economic benefit. Michael Jackson was not served well by the media-driven circus surrounding his leaving us. There was money to be made on Michael so he was feasted upon as horribly as a Giraffe carcass fallen upon the Serengeti.
Our media guide us toward ideas, things, places and activities they want us to desire, believe or celebrate for their greed. What we get is a temporal sense of belonging, or the illusion of love at the cost of becoming the instruments of our own demise. We did not honor Michael Jackson this week, we made of his death an immense commercial enterprise. He deserved better than that, and so did we.
We have immense problems before us today. Our country has experienced a massive train-wreck, from which there may not ever be a full recovery. This nation’s political system is largely dysfunctional, and according to recent comments by Illinois Senator Richard Durbin, the United States Congress is no longer accountable to you or me, for it has become an instrument of the most wealthy institutions and their army of lobbyists. If you didn’t know this until now, you’ve come face-to-face with the immense damage done to you, me, all of us, by big media, big banks, and big money feasting upon our indolence and ignorance.
American Media celebrates the worst of us, our gun idolatry, our greed and avarice, and our celebrities. As if any of these snapshots of Americana reflected anything of our redeeming character, historical values, or loving nature. The media driven obsession over MJs passing was not about the boy-man captured by fame and relegated to a lonely gilded cage. To the contrary, it was to entertain us, drive ratings and elevate a small, frightened child to cult status — all to assure the continuance of his financial empire. All the better to reward those who will surely fight over the only Michael Jackson they cared about — the MJ estate, its cash-cow and its promise of endless residuals and royalties.
We lost some of our national innocence this week. Not in our collective love of celebrity, nor by our endless lust for a diversion from the realities of a nation disestablished from its roots. The innocence we lost this week was not revealed in how we saw Michael’s demise, but in discovering what he saw in us. It is we who held him prisoner, relegated him to freak status, and condemned him for not knowing what it was to be either a man or a citizen.
With media so prevalent in our lives, our freedoms are narrowed and our interests directed to that which matters least. All of us fall prey to media messages intended to replace our own opinions with those of others. As a nation we rarely question the value or wisdom of media delivered opinions as long as they touch upon some one or several issues we have adopted as being our own — whether they really are, or not. Politicians, of all persuasions, play us like a piano — in the knowledge that they can take advantage of what has become our widespread willingness to let others think for us.
What’s most important falls to the side in favor of what’s most profitable. If government tried to manipulate us in the same ways there would likely be rebellion, but as long as it’s only for someone else’s economic interest, we have been trained to accept and act upon an immensely long list of messages.
We honor Michael Jackson’s life and revere his immense talent.
We thank him for holding up his magic mirror so that we might see ourselves more clearly than we saw him.
When the obsessive coverage of all things Michael comes to an end, look again at the mirror he left behind. Absent his omnipresent stardom you will see us, you, me, them, all of us reflected in his magic mirror.
Is that the America you want?
The United States Treasury -- World's Biggest Debtor
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<p class=”unquote”>As a nation we infected ourselves with unreal expectations and the illusion that our least significant wants were the equal of our most vital needs.</p>
</blockquote>
<h5>New York</h5>
<p style=”text-align: center;”><img class=”aligncenter” title=”Publisher’s Essay” src=”/Pix/Newsroom Magazine/publishers-essay.jpg” alt=”" width=”500″ height=”49″ /></p>
<p class=”capsline”>After a year of monumental damage to our banks, economy, institutions and families, the realities emerging in the aftermath of our embarrassing national disaster are not reassuring. For America’s obsession with pursuing wealth at the expense of our safety and national prominence remains undiminished. This is not a good thing. But given our lust for wealth and disdain for nearly all else, our slowness to accept reality should not surprise us. Reform takes time. Old habits die hard. Only when our will exceeds our weaknesses will permanent change come about.</p>
