remembering michael jackson

At 25 I haven't experienced many deaths of people who could be considered iconic figures in my generation. The first time may have been in 2003 when Elliott Smith died. The previous year I had spent half a semester researching and writing a paper on Smith for my freshman writing course. I had spent months listening almost solely to his albums (no, I wasn't depressed) and had fallen in love with his songs, so I was devastated when I heard the news. It was one of those "I remember where I was when I heard..." moments. Paul Newman, one of my favorite actors and perhaps the most attractive man I've ever seen on screen, or Marlon Brando, were devastating to hear about, but though I loved them, their influence had settled before my time. Michael Jackson is the first public figure to pass away who really affected my generation and without whom my world, growing up and today, would be a different place.

As a small child, I knew little about pop culture--I was more concerned with Care Bears and My Little Ponies--but other than the Beatles, the other musician I knew about was Michael Jackson. I'm sure it was my mom who first introduced his music to our house, but it was my brother who kept it there. He was obsessed. In the late 80's or early 90's, before MJ's fall from grace, this was merely cute. Watching my five year old brother donning a white fedora and plastic wayfarer style sunglasses from some kid's bar mitzvah party and dancing to "Beat It" is one of the most entertaining memories from my childhood (so much so that I incorporated the story into the short film I made in college.)

Though I've certainly found it difficult to take MJ seriously in the past decade or so, his influence on the music industry, on MTV, and our culture in general, is undeniable. Without "Thriller" who knows where MTV would be today? There aren't many people in our history who could honestly take on the title of "King of Pop." His songs were so pervasive--there isn't anyone who doesn't know a Michael Jackson song. He singlehandedly changed our cultural path with his music and videos, and that is something to be respected and remembered for.