Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or a place without television or Internet access), it’s hard for anyone in this country to have missed the epidemic of celebrity deaths: Farrah Fawcett, the sex symbol of a generation; Michael Jackson, the King of Pop; Billy Mays, the consummate salesman; Steve McNair, Tennessee Titans quarterback; and Ed McMahon, the old Tonight Show sidekick.
What’s more telling, however, is the media and societal reaction to these celebrities’ deaths. Truly, ours is a society of idolatry, obsession and gossip about those who manage to get in the spotlight, and if the media response to the passing of these celebrities is the metaphorical mirror in which we look at our culture, then we have a lot of soul-searching to do.
The tabloids are one thing — after all, I do get sick of reading stories about alien abductions and “Bat-Boy” in the National Enquirer, and the ridiculous speculation about the circumstances about Michael Jackson’s death in such publications gives me something different to stare at in the grocery check-out line. But for major media outlets to report on the ticket lottery for access to Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles is something else entirely.
And don’t try to give me any of that “it’s a slow news day” bull — we have enough news each day on the economy alone to fill a newspaper or evening news broadcast. Add to that issues regarding global warming, wars around the world, hungry people around the globe (including in America) and any other number of societal ills and injustices, and you can easily see that we have plenty to focus our attention and effort on.
The circus surrounding Jackson’s death in particular is very concerning. I’m not really worried about the little tickers and e-mail alerts and other such blurbs on his hospitalization and death — those are just a few words on the bottom of the television or in a brief e-mail that spends exactly the right amount of effort that should be put into reporting such things.
But when Jon Stewart is able to give out the “Rippy” awards on The Daily Show for CNN’s graphics explaining what brought Jackson to the hospital, Geraldo’s white board detailing the possible causes of death and MSNBC’s Michael Okwu’s inane statement that “Michael Jackson will only die once,” you know there’s a problem.
And when major television networks devote a fair amount of their 22-minute nightly broadcasts to tell us about Jackson’s memorial service Tuesday instead of discussing the economy, wars, genocides, global warming, hunger, poverty, disease, human suffering and other actual issues, there’s a big problem.
I admit, I’m not immune to the allure of speculating and gossiping about the lives and deaths of people who get more than just their fifteen minutes of fame. This column is in a small way a part of the problem of our excessive, and at times, morbid, fascination with pop stars, Hollywood starlets and television personalities. But to understand fully the folly of our unhealthy addiction to celebrity gossip, we must recognize the problem first.
Send your thoughts on the media’s coverage of celebrity deaths to letters@technicianonline.com.
