I know, I know . . . Michael Jackson was an influential, talented man. I get it. He wasn’t exactly my favorite musician, but I liked him enough to have his Greatest Hits album in my collection and to have Billie Jean in my head for a solid week following his death. Despite the fact that his recent albums were mediocre-at-best, and his somewhat bizarre personal life, I was just as saddened by his death as any other rational person.
But the wall-to-wall media coverage, weeping fans, golden caskets, stadium-concert-funerals, and so on are a bit much.
If that wasn’t enough, look at the media grasping at straws today. At the moment, CNN’s web site has stories about whether the Jackson death probe will become a criminal matter, whether Jackson will be buried at Neverland Ranch, a supposed ‘intervention’ staged by the Jackson family years ago, and a doctor who had supposedly tried to fix Jackson’s nose. In addition, a poll inquires about where CNN.com readers think Jackson should be buried. After all, CNN.com readers should make that decision, don’t you think? No need to involve the family; Jackson is apparently CNN property now.
Meanwhile, the bankrupt City of Los Angeles—after spending millions of dollars on the Jackson funeral—has now decided that it shouldn’t have to pay for anything and is trying to recoup the money from Jackson fans and the bankrupt AIG insurance company that put on the show. Memo to Los Angeles: If you don’t want to pay for something, don’t pay for it.
Enough already.