Yesterday marked the end of an era - two icons of entertainment died hours and just a few miles apart: Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. Jackson supposedly died of cardiac arrest and Fawcett bravely battled cancer for three years before succumbing yesterday. It seems totally amazing that these two had such a profound impact on pop culture and died the same day hours apart in the same city. They were such different people and yet were created by their fans. Fawcett seemed to be able to rise above her image as a golden girl and sex symbol and
bravely worked to remake her image as a dramatic actress, achieving admirable success in so doing. She was also brutally honest in her battle against cancer and wanted the world to see her fight through losing her hair, intense nausea, a pale and drawn face, and yet you could clearly see in her eyes a fierce courage against what she was fighting and a desire to do anything to beat it. To the end, she never gave up hope and remained strong to the absolute end. I admire people who put up such a ferocious battle against the insidiousness of cancer, including my own cousin Terry, who battled brain cancer for two long years before succumbing a few weeks ago. Jackson, on the other hand, seemed overwhelmed by his fame and increasingly seemed bent on bizarre behavior and remaking his face surgically until he became a strange parody of himself with his seemingly bleached skin and weird, almost skeletal face. Still, you have to admit that he had talent beyond his years when he was young, and who can deny that the album "Thriller" was just an amazing piece of artistry? I'm no fan of pop music, to be sure, but when I saw the music videos for that album, I was blown away by it all. Dance-wise, he could do things that were seemingly impossible, including his famous "moonwalk" and dancing up on his toes like a ballet dancer. His athleticism was truly astounding and set a new standard for pop singers/dancers to come. His downfall was truly astounding and it seems so sad that he manifested such weird behavior. I suppose his lament of never having had a childhood was largely responsible for it and his constant remaking of his face until it became a weird parody was apparently an attempt at erasing any resemblance to his overly controlling father. You couldn't help but feel sort of sorry for a kid who never really got to be a kid but who spent his entire life in front of the camera being a superstar. So it's the end of an era, two pop icons gone in the same day. Michael, Farrah, goodbye and rest in peace.
bravely worked to remake her image as a dramatic actress, achieving admirable success in so doing. She was also brutally honest in her battle against cancer and wanted the world to see her fight through losing her hair, intense nausea, a pale and drawn face, and yet you could clearly see in her eyes a fierce courage against what she was fighting and a desire to do anything to beat it. To the end, she never gave up hope and remained strong to the absolute end. I admire people who put up such a ferocious battle against the insidiousness of cancer, including my own cousin Terry, who battled brain cancer for two long years before succumbing a few weeks ago. Jackson, on the other hand, seemed overwhelmed by his fame and increasingly seemed bent on bizarre behavior and remaking his face surgically until he became a strange parody of himself with his seemingly bleached skin and weird, almost skeletal face. Still, you have to admit that he had talent beyond his years when he was young, and who can deny that the album "Thriller" was just an amazing piece of artistry? I'm no fan of pop music, to be sure, but when I saw the music videos for that album, I was blown away by it all. Dance-wise, he could do things that were seemingly impossible, including his famous "moonwalk" and dancing up on his toes like a ballet dancer. His athleticism was truly astounding and set a new standard for pop singers/dancers to come. His downfall was truly astounding and it seems so sad that he manifested such weird behavior. I suppose his lament of never having had a childhood was largely responsible for it and his constant remaking of his face until it became a weird parody was apparently an attempt at erasing any resemblance to his overly controlling father. You couldn't help but feel sort of sorry for a kid who never really got to be a kid but who spent his entire life in front of the camera being a superstar. So it's the end of an era, two pop icons gone in the same day. Michael, Farrah, goodbye and rest in peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment