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The Death of a Symbol: Michael Jackson and the Emperor's New Clothes
American TFP ^ | 7/6/2009 | John Horvat II

Posted on 07/07/2009 8:34:00 AM PDT by Pyro7480

It is almost in an atmosphere of the Emperor’s New Clothes that we dare to comment on the recent death of Michael Jackson. As the eulogies come streaming in from all sides, highlighting his musical career and bizarre personal life, few are the voices that cry out like the little child that the emperor had no clothes. There was no essence to the Jackson existential myth. He was the ill-fated casualty of his own self-destructive fantasies.

That is not to say that his death was without any meaning beyond that of personal tragedy. It speaks volumes of our culture. What we have witnessed is not just the passing of an individual but a symbol.

Michael Jackson was a symbol of the blatant contradictions of a cultural revolution that has devastated our society since the sixties. It is a revolution in the cultural field of manners, morality, music, ways of being, and dress that has imposed itself upon us by blurring distinctions, avoiding definitions, breaking social conventions and proposing the most blatant contradictions....

...Michael Jackson was an archetypal figure that took the flag of this revolution to its extreme and bizarre consequences....

He dissolved and blurred the distinctions between man and woman, black and white, homosexual and heterosexual, adult and child, logic and illogic, fantasy and reality....

...While much less serious allegations would be enough to end forever the ministry of a priest, he seems to have enjoyed immunity from public disgrace.

Thus, Michael Jackson was not a model to be imitated but a tragic symbol of blatant contradiction. While not everyone followed him all the way down his eerie ambiguous path, he left doors of aberration open so that others might enter after him.

(Excerpt) Read more at tfp.org ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: culture; jackson; michaeljackson
Good and short editorial on the whole Michael Jackson affair...
1 posted on 07/07/2009 8:34:00 AM PDT by Pyro7480
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To: Pyro7480

All the adulation...all the fame....all the wasted fortune. All he got for it was to be put down like a dog by the hand of those who used him. Depravity on parade.


2 posted on 07/07/2009 8:47:04 AM PDT by anniegetyourgun
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To: anniegetyourgun

What do Michael Jackson and Red Sox Shortstop Julio Lugo have in common?

They both wear one glove for no apparent reason.


3 posted on 07/07/2009 8:49:27 AM PDT by massgopguy (I owe everything to George Bailey)
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To: Pyro7480

***It speaks volumes of our culture. What we have witnessed is not just the passing of an individual but a symbol. ***

Along with other “cultural symbols” of the past,
Rudolph valentino.
Marlyn Monroe.
Hank Williams (for the C&W crowd)
Elvis
Freddie Prinz

There will be others come along to replace him. the public is so fickle.

But a REAL world changing figure ( for the better) is hard to come by. I’m thinking of a guy who lived in Rome, shot by a Turk, did more to cause the fall of Communism (along with Ronald Reagan) than anyone I can think of ..Now what was his name? John somebody...


4 posted on 07/07/2009 8:56:01 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (A modern liberal is someone who doesn't care what you do so long as it is compulsory.)
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To: Pyro7480
His death and resulting funeral is manifest as the crescendo of liberal guilt in this country. Oh, and most blacks give him a pass because, afterall, he was a really good dancer.
5 posted on 07/07/2009 8:57:38 AM PDT by subterfuge (BUILD MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS NOW!!!)
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To: subterfuge
Oh, and most blacks give him a pass because, afterall, he was a really good dancer.

I think it more because, well...afterall, he was black.

6 posted on 07/07/2009 9:39:32 AM PDT by nfldgirl
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To: Mean Maryjean
“I think it more because, well...afterall, he was black.”
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Well...he started out black. He must have hated being black, he had surgery to refine his features and bleached himself whiter than most Caucasians and claimed to have fathered children who were obviously fully Caucasian. Old joke; Where else but in America could a poor black boy grow up to be a rich white woman? I don't know how black people can be proud of Michael when he obviously was ashamed of having been born black.

7 posted on 07/07/2009 9:59:29 AM PDT by RipSawyer (Change has come to America and all hope is gone.)
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To: Ruy Dias de Bivar
JPII’s funeral got nearly as much, if not more coverage than Michael Jackson's. I remember because I was down with the flu that entire week and all that was on TV was JPII this, that and the other.

However, I felt like I was learning about a great man who suffered much yet contributed much to shaping the world for the better.

Michael Jackson, for all his talent, wrote a few good songs, did a few good dances but in 100 years, it won't matter much.

8 posted on 07/07/2009 11:23:35 AM PDT by Tamar1973 (Only dead fish "go with the flow"--Sarah Palin)
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To: Pyro7480
He dissolved and blurred the distinctions between man and woman, black and white, homosexual and heterosexual, adult and child, logic and illogic, fantasy and reality

This says it all. I'm not caught up in the funeral mania, like so many are. I've always felt a little sad for him, pushed to perform, surrounded by his enablers who 'shielded' him from reality. I hope he's at peace now.

9 posted on 07/07/2009 12:05:47 PM PDT by fortunecookie (Please pray for Anna, age 7, who waits for a new kidney.)
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To: anniegetyourgun
All the adulation...all the fame....all the wasted fortune. All he got for it was to be put down like a dog by the hand of those who used him. Depravity on parade.

BTTT!

And the using continues. They are pumping up this funeral and wake, hoping for a Neverland-like Graceland, hoping to cash in on memorabilia, hoping maybe even to go ahead with the Thriller themed Vegas casino. I know he left a lot of debt, and 3 children who will hopefully be cared for. But it seems like they're circling like vultures.

Even in death he has no peace. His enablers still hear the call of the cash registers. Ch-ching.

10 posted on 07/07/2009 12:11:55 PM PDT by fortunecookie (Please pray for Anna, age 7, who waits for a new kidney.)
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To: Pyro7480

When will this adulation of a perverted punkass pedophile ever end? This guy paid millions to have at least one of the potential ticking time bomb cases go away.


11 posted on 07/07/2009 12:14:42 PM PDT by shankbear (Al-Qaeda grew while Monica blew)
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To: fortunecookie; shankbear

I feel nothing but shame for the U.S. this day.


12 posted on 07/07/2009 12:17:44 PM PDT by anniegetyourgun
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To: Mean Maryjean
I think it more because, well...afterall, he was black.

Touche'! (and correct)

13 posted on 07/07/2009 12:20:41 PM PDT by subterfuge (BUILD MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS NOW!!!)
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To: anniegetyourgun

It’s surreal. He was a talented musician, a tormented man, but a superhero? It’s almost as if some needed to create a superhero in the wake of the economy (and our idol shows on hiatus for the summer), and his untimely passing created an opportunity. A renewed idol.


14 posted on 07/07/2009 12:36:01 PM PDT by fortunecookie (Please pray for Anna, age 7, who waits for a new kidney.)
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To: Pyro7480

Rabbi Shmuley ‘disappointed and saddened’ by Jackson memorial spectacle

WGNtv.com

July 7, 2009

Video:

http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgntv-shmuley-upset-over-jackson-memorial-july7,0,6442596.story


15 posted on 07/07/2009 12:57:24 PM PDT by KeyLargo
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