The Michael Jackson Effect

I was in the L.A. area, more specifically Pasadena, the day Michael Jackson was sent to the hospital and evidential died.  I was in Pasadena for the American Baptist Churches Biennial and I could not believe the outpouring of interested in MJ’s death.  As I walked around the streets of Pasadena, I heard the restaurants, shops, and stores playing every Michael Jackson song her produced.    Normally, people only played “Thriller” during Halloween, but in Pasadena I must have heard it about 96 times in 3 days.  I was in a session at my conference where the speaker was using Twitter.com and it was not working because people were blogging about MJ on Twitter, which shut the site down.  The internet slowed down the day MJ died.  Everyone who was at a computer was googling MJ.

On the internet, on TV, and in the media, MJ’s death caused our culture to freak out.  What is being called the “Michael Jackson Effect” has taken our culture over.   For the internet and media, the MJ effect was the slow down of the internet and the ability for MJ news to take over every media story.  Workplace productivity had to have drop to an all time low.

However, my take on the “MJ Effect” is a part of a greater cultural problem: the unusual event where a person, celebrity, or situation that totally takes control of our attention and pervades the culture on a pandemic level.  True, MJ is most likely one of the most prolific entertainers in the world and his death reflects his status as one of the most popular celebrities.  What is troubling is that so much energy and attention is focused on a man’s death.  We hunger to get the personal details of his death, estate, and the future of his children.

The Sun, which is not a favorite media source of mine, got it right when they reflected upon the singer’s funeral:

This wasn’t a memorial for a pop icon or the greatest entertainer the world has ever seen.

It was a reminder of why MICHAEL JACKSON became a deeply unhappy, lonely man living an utterly bizarre existence.

It was a macabre circus.

Taking children to a funeral is one of the most difficult decisions a parent will ever have to make.

But the King of Pop’s young daughter speaking as the climax of the memorial just wasn’t right… putting a grieving child in the spotlight is questionable.

I caught a few minutes of the recap of MJ’s funeral on CNN and it difficult to watch the spectacle of the funeral.  To watch MJ’s daughter on stage with family pressing on the young child as she tried to say a few words was indicative of the type of lifestyle the Jackson family was raised with.  On camera, put on a show, and make people feel good.  MJ led a life that was very public, but he still tried to be private.  How private can you be when people in remote parts of the developing word have your music?

I just wish we would spend a little more time respecting people’s privacy and attending the needs of our communities.  We need to spend less time worry about who will control the Jackson estate, and spend more time focusing on issues that really matter: strengthen our own families, staying committed to relationship, and strengthening our faith.