Michael Jackson was, after all, only an entertainer (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Michael Jackson was, after all, only an entertainer

11:20am Friday 3rd July 2009

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THE huge outpouring of grief following the death of Michael Jackson got me thinking.

In a celebrity-obsessed world in years to come, will we become increasingly insistent on making demi-gods out of more and more people?

It is only a week since the death of the musical legend, but it feels an eternity.

Every single detail of his life has been played out, over and over again.

Every single bit of news is discussed, and even when there is no news, we are told there is.

If the man’s life was a circus while he was alive, it has become a bigger one in his death.

And we, in a way, are to blame for it.

This constant barrage of more and more information does kind of put most people off.

Four days into the death, one 24- hour news channel still wanted to tell the world that Michael Jackson had died.

The very newspapers who made this man out to be a freak now, all of a sudden, have made him into some sort of hero.

Now, I am a big Michael Jackson fan. I love the music and the videos defined my generation.

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t listening to a Michael Jackson track somewhere, or seeing someone copy his act.

There were pop stars, superstars and then, above them all, Michael Jackson. But he was, after all, only an entertainer.

I have read and seen articles that made me think whether we are more concerned about seeing tragic tales unfold in front of us before moving on to the next ‘big thing’.

This week one magazine had a picture of the lifeless body of Michael Jackson on the front page.

It was an exclusive picture and in some morbid way they then told us this was a celebration issue dedicated to his life.

But it was the picture that was making the sale more than anything else.

There is also a notion that, in some way, people are interested in how, and why, someone famous dies.

We want to know all the gritty details.

Sometimes I guess they just die, just like everyone else.

Maybe that is the hardest thing for most people to accept.

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Mike Costa, Blackburn says...
12:45pm Fri 3 Jul 09

Mike Costa says:

Maybe I'm biased because I emphatically didn't like his music and had no respect for him as a person, but I can think back to celebrities who have died, who I really did like and cared for, and their passing did upset me. For an hour or so. I wasnt related to them. I would miss their contribution to my entertainment in the future.

I did not , however, feel the need to show this pathetic outpouring of 'grief'. I can allow that the Americans could do this. Its in their psyche,they are mostly incredibly childish at heart and is one of their biggest flaws. You would hope that the British may have a bit more sense. Obviously not. Grow up, get real and get a life.
I blame the Princess Di syndrome.