Micheal Jackson DiedWhen Micheal Jackson died last Thursday, I must have been the only one to not give a damn. I’m not denying the fact that he was a musically gifted individual, but the moment he died, my disdain for Hollywood’s ability to trivialize real world events immediately flared up again. Real news just ceased to exist the moment he died. The contested Iranian election wasn’t front page news anymore, nor was Swine Flu / H1N1 virus. Even the Toronto city union workers strike, which affects more people than some superstar celebrity people have never met, was not the first issue to be broadcasted on local news.
And it seems like when an infamous celebrity dies, they are absolved of any wrongdoings they have committed in the past – like Jackson’s many cases of child molestation. People talk about about what a great musician he was but very few members of the public ever reflect on his interview with Martin Basher. What irked me the most was on June 26, NBC Nightly News, a 30-minute national news program that is supposed to cover international news, spent about 22 minutes talking about Jackson. When it came time to finally discuss the “other news of the day”, 30-second segments were run about them. If I wanted to hear idle speculation about private doctors administering painkillers for an addiction that may or may not have existed, I would have watched Entertainment Tonight.
Micheal Jackson was just one man. He was a musician and a damn good one at that; he was an entertainer and a star that changed the entertainment industry in ways few ever could. But at the end of the day, he was just a man; he was a troubled man with mental problems. I’m sick of people elevating him to the status of a god. All those people lined up to “pay their respects”, don’t they have something better to do?
In other news since Jackson died on June 25, no one learned anything more about what happened in Baharestan Square in Iran on June 24 because it was no longer important news. With more pro-opposition protests happening in Tehran, an apparent massacre occurred apparently on the level of China’s Tiananmen Square. The word “apparently” is used far too much for my liking but details were sketchy at best because Iran’s government has done such an admirable job at cracking down on outside communication. What really happened in Baharestan Square? We can only idly speculate now…
Denmark found a case of Swine Flu that’s resistant to Tamiflu, one of the two drugs used to treat Swine Flu. It’s not a big deal because it was less effective than Relenza to begin with, but there goes one of the two treatments. Though Swine Flu isn’t the second coming of the aporkalypse people were first panicking about, it still has managed to infect over 75,000 people, killing over 300. Then again, how much do we really know of the Swine Flu? How much do we rely on the news organizations that are reporting on Micheal Jackson’s death to inform us? To put things in perspective, Bird Flu, that ever-present flu virus that people don’t really think twice about now, in fact kills half the people it infects. Bet you didn’t know that. And with countries both dealing with Bird Flu and Swine Flu, the chance of cross-transmittance / mutation is possible, leaving one leading virologist to say he would “retire immediately and lock myself in the P3 lab” if they were to combine. “Even if you inject yourself with a vaccine, it may be too late. Maybe in just a couple hours it takes your life.”
Oh, but Micheal Jackson died.
And it seems like when an infamous celebrity dies, they are absolved of any wrongdoings they have committed in the past – like Jackson’s many cases of child molestation. People talk about about what a great musician he was but very few members of the public ever reflect on his interview with Martin Basher. What irked me the most was on June 26, NBC Nightly News, a 30-minute national news program that is supposed to cover international news, spent about 22 minutes talking about Jackson. When it came time to finally discuss the “other news of the day”, 30-second segments were run about them. If I wanted to hear idle speculation about private doctors administering painkillers for an addiction that may or may not have existed, I would have watched Entertainment Tonight.
Micheal Jackson was just one man. He was a musician and a damn good one at that; he was an entertainer and a star that changed the entertainment industry in ways few ever could. But at the end of the day, he was just a man; he was a troubled man with mental problems. I’m sick of people elevating him to the status of a god. All those people lined up to “pay their respects”, don’t they have something better to do?
In other news since Jackson died on June 25, no one learned anything more about what happened in Baharestan Square in Iran on June 24 because it was no longer important news. With more pro-opposition protests happening in Tehran, an apparent massacre occurred apparently on the level of China’s Tiananmen Square. The word “apparently” is used far too much for my liking but details were sketchy at best because Iran’s government has done such an admirable job at cracking down on outside communication. What really happened in Baharestan Square? We can only idly speculate now…
Denmark found a case of Swine Flu that’s resistant to Tamiflu, one of the two drugs used to treat Swine Flu. It’s not a big deal because it was less effective than Relenza to begin with, but there goes one of the two treatments. Though Swine Flu isn’t the second coming of the aporkalypse people were first panicking about, it still has managed to infect over 75,000 people, killing over 300. Then again, how much do we really know of the Swine Flu? How much do we rely on the news organizations that are reporting on Micheal Jackson’s death to inform us? To put things in perspective, Bird Flu, that ever-present flu virus that people don’t really think twice about now, in fact kills half the people it infects. Bet you didn’t know that. And with countries both dealing with Bird Flu and Swine Flu, the chance of cross-transmittance / mutation is possible, leaving one leading virologist to say he would “retire immediately and lock myself in the P3 lab” if they were to combine. “Even if you inject yourself with a vaccine, it may be too late. Maybe in just a couple hours it takes your life.”
Oh, but Micheal Jackson died.
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