Editorial: Michael Jackson--Just A Phase?

Michael Jackson is everywhere and even if you wanted a break from the King of Pop for a while --- turn on your television and there he is again. Turn on your computer, and there he is again. Go to the gas station and pump gas, 27 people are blaring “Thriller” through their car speakers. Go into a bar, and a karaoke version of “Bad” is etching pictures of cheesy ‘80s leather in your head.

The funny thing about this new Michael Jackson craze is that a month ago, before the King of Pop’s untimely death, the mention of the name Michael Jackson would erupt a series of disgusted grunts and shouts of “pedophile” instead of praises for the singer’s amazing career.

America has seen situations like this before, but on a much grander and global scale. Does 9/11 ring any bells? I was in 7th grade when those horrible attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon took place, but I remember perfectly the sense of American pride that erupted across the nation once the smoke cleared. The first few months after, every one became pro- America. Flags were raised, country songs were sung about how kick ass the red, white and blue are and people were coming together. It was a short segment of our recent history where people actually felt pride behind their home country. By the next year, the “hype” had died down, and the Bush hating began.

Now, I’m not trying to get political and say that everyone needed to back up Bush. That’s not at all what I’m pointing out. There is a fine line between pride for one’s country and disagreements with the current office. I’m just implying that big moments in our country’s history are just like pop culture. We look at what is going on right now and once that fad dies out, we focus on something new. It makes one think . . . did we ever really care in the first place? (Think about it in terms of jeans. Flare jeans were awesome for a while, everyone wore them. Now, the hip thing is skinny jeans, thus, leaving wide seams a thing of the past.)

It’s unfortunate that American’s have such short attention spans. And for now, Michael Jackson is selling a record number of albums post-mortem (last week Jackson sold 1.1 million albums in one week).

Maybe this is just because of the age old saying, “you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone.” Or maybe all this publicity is making U.S. citizens jump on the Jackson band wagon.

This is not at all a bad thing, or an unheard of thing for people to buy an artist’s album once they pass away. It’s just comical to find those out there who couldn’t utter one positive word about the artist, can now praise him like they have appreciated him this whole time.

Maybe Jackson’s passing is a positive thing in that people are able to push away all of the bad publicity and just applaud an artist for his phenomenal contributions to music. Or maybe, this is just a phase.

- Jessica Cole

Currently Listening to: "Closing Time" by Semisonic

This content is solely the property of The Athens Blur Magazine and may not be re-produced without expressed written consent. The Athens Blur Magazine is an 8 issue/year music & variety publication proud to be based in the Classic City of Athens, Ga. For more information, please contact editorial@athensblur.com