The Death of Michael Jackson

I decided that I was not going to pile on and talk about the death of Michael Jackson, but i feel like I need to say something. Not so much about Jackson himself, but more about the way that America and the rest of the world has responded to his death. It not even really the death of Jackson that concerns me, but it is the death of all the celebrities that have died in the last few weeks.

I am concerned about the need for the media and for America to know every single detail about the life and death of the people that have died.TMZ reported on the death of Michael Jackson 6 minutes after he was officially declared dead. There were peopel that knew and loved him who found out that someone close to them died from the internet and from the news media trying to be the first. I really hope that is not how his children found out, or his mother. But sadly, that happens more and more now. I wish that we could have waited a couple hours, let the family make the statement and then begin to cover it. We could celebrate his music and the ways that he legitimately changed the entertainment industry. Rather we have tried to understand every moment and every conversation that Jackson had in the last 48 Hours and we all are now experts on Propofol and other pain killing injections. What is more disturbing is that we are more concerned about passing judgement and jokes about man that was tried several times but never convicted of anything. I know that doesn't mean it didn't happen, but at this point there is little need to continue to speculate on things that we can't prove. We can only hope that the system did its job.

Steve McNair is a wonderful example of what I am talking about. McNair (according to reports from friends and those in Nashville) was a model NFL Player and citizen. He was active in the community, supported charities, by all accounts was a good father, and was an incredible ball player. A life of full of good decisions and an attempt to do the right thing has been totally overshadowed by what happened on the last day of his life. I am not trying to excuse the actions of McNair, nor am I trying to brush away some of the very serious allegations that were made against Jackson, but why do we need to know every detail? Why is it that Good Morning America feels like their is a need to do a one hour in depth story on Michael Jackson's doctor? Why is it that TMZ feels like pictures of McNair and his girlfriend should be fed to the public within 48 Hours of his death?

Did we all really need to see a Barbara Walter's special where she let us watch Farrah Fawcett die? Why did we feel like we needed to watch a dyeing woman vomit and get injections? I know that some will say that it increases awareness about cancer, but I doubt that there was anyone watching taking notes about cancer. We watched it because it was Farrah and we felt like we were getting to see things that we normally don't get to see.

I'm not laying the blame on the media alone. they would not report it and would not spend the resources to get the information. This is a cultural problem. We have a sick need to see the autopsy photos of celebrities when they show up on the internet. We want to see pictures of the guns that killed them, and we want to see all of these things before we even have time to get people buried.

Can you imagine what they would turn up in your life if you were to die in the spotlight? It terrifies me to think that if I were to die in some fluke that people were captivated by, that the media might try to break down my life and dig through my background. I have lived a life where I have striven to do the right thing, but like everyone there are skeletons in closets that have long been locked.

All that said, I will probably watch the funeral tomorrow and when I get home tomorrow night I will watch the special play by play breakdown of the funeral. And thats sad.