Three in a week! Two on the same day! One of them, Michael Jackson, even had an impact on Wimbledon Tennis, a subject that this blog can't seem to shake. Yes, the London press had as much about the Jacko as Brit tennis-star Andy Murray. Serena Williams considered herself a personal friend of the "King of Pop," and his subjects filled the stands at Wimbledon, reflecting all of the royalty-obsessed United "King"-dom, where he was within days of opening in 50 different venues for his huge fan-base. Bigger there, than here.Already the media have hauled out the tired and flatulent epithet, ICON, to characterize not only MJ, but the other two celebrity casualties of the week: Farrah Fawcett (the name itself is outre'), and even the poor, overshadowed Ed McMahon, whose posthumous fame was cut short in a matter of days. The term is grossly overused, and while its Greek root, eikon, simply meant "image" or "representation" (strictly so for our computer screens), the borrowing has lost in general usage the connotation of "sacred" or "sanctified"--an object worthy of adoration and even worship (strictly so in the Eastern Orthodox church). Too often today its just a tongue-tied and lazy-hip way of saying, "Gosh, he was the greatest."
Peeve over ... I DO believe the guy deserves the "pop-icon" epithet more than anybody ever has lately, notwithstanding--nay, even because of--his wayward last years and early death. A flawed hero, after all, inspires the most fervent kind of worship. Take Elvis or ... Jesus. In his day, and even after, MJ certainly enjoyed that kind of wild adoration. He deserved it, and Gosh, the "Thriller" album and videos were the greatest, and haven't lost their luster even today. It was for me the best executed combination of the pop-rock idioms of music/dance/visuals and so on, up to that time. Man-on-the-street test of iconic status: "Who was the greatest figure on the pop-music scene of the 80s and 90s?" Would the response, "Michael Jackson" get less than 99% even before his death? Not.
But his time (sangfroid alert) ran out, long before he did. Not to rehash the troubled last years--despite his highly touted comeback-attempt-to-come in England, he really had way too much unseemly "baggage" to carry with him. Perhaps, like Elvis did, it was best to "leave the building." Still ... it's very, very sad.
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