Pop-up HYSTERIA
The Michael Jackson verdict came in today. The jury voted innocent on all charges, including molestation, threatened imprisonment and supplying alcohol to a 13-year old boy. I'm not surprised by the verdict because I don't see Michael Jackson as a pedophile. He seems to be naive, clueless and immature, but no child rapist. Whether its because he was denied a childhood by his abusive father or he just has an inclination to enrich the lives of young people by involving himself in their life, his acquital is official. There was a big mistake on the part of the parents of all involved children for putting the lives and sanctity of their children into the arms of a man who has a considerable amount of contraversy around him in the first place. But this update is not about the trial or the like, but more of a chilché thoughtpost about the sociological problems that allowed this case to ever blow up in the first place.
According to an AP writer, British news channels streamed live coverage of the scene outside the court in Santa Maria, Calif...Interest stretched to the Middle East, with Arab news channels al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya cutting to live footage as Jackson arrived at the courthouse for the verdict..."The minutes before the verdict were the most nervous moments of my life. Now, these are the happiest moments of my life," said Kent Vilhemsson, 21, watching from Skovde, Sweden...In Germany, several news channels carried the verdict live, and the top-selling Bild newspaper quickly posted the headline "Acquittal!" on its Web site.
I started to think about this entry as an anti-American celebrity obsession, but these facts speak for themselves against my first impressions. So here I go on a tangent about countries and people I've never met or spoken with. Worldwide, there is such an influence and idoltry of celebrities and sports figures that it distorts the mind and conquers human interest. They say that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and likewise, absolute stardom corrupts absolutely. It corrupts sane thought process and causes extraordinarily inaccurate perceptions of reality. We place our celebrities and athletes on a high pedastool, giving them a godly reign over our habits. We provide them ridiculous pay checks and undeserved acclaim. All the while, scientists can't pay their bills and teachers can't afford paper. I recall a post by mysolace critiquing the treatment of California's teachers and school systems. While our teachers get paid $20 a year for supplies, Alex Rodriguez gets a $270 MILLION contract. Will Alex Rodriguez teach our children Sophocles? Will Lil' Jon educate our kids to the mysteries of long division (HA-WHAT?!)? We reward individuals for winning the Gene Lottery and not for their human achievements. Although I wouldn't like a revolution of the Proletariat, I would like a revolution in our perceptions of success. If a high school football player can catch a pass but can't pass a test can get into a top-rated university and receive significant financial aide, shouldn't a student who has worked hard to get over a 4.0 and participate in community scholastic and volunteer programs be able to get into any university and receive a nice big scholarship? Maybe my logic is flawed and I just am missing something, but I don't think so.
Just because some guy used to dance well and put out a few hit records doesn't mean he deserves more media attention than the average suspicious individual. The fact that he's an international superstar shouldn't translate into "The minutes before the verdict were the most nervous moments of my life. Now, these are the happiest moments of my life," said Kent Vilhemsson, 21, watching from Skovde, Sweden. Maybe it's just because I find celebrities to be a distasteful representation of the larger population and my disgust in people running their lives following that of their favorite celeb. All these celeb realities, E! Specials, all of it is blatant exploitation. And I'll keep watching my Behind The Music, reading my Enquirer and keeping a close eye for the next big Celeb scandal like the rest of us. So lets hear it for Pitt in '06!
According to an AP writer, British news channels streamed live coverage of the scene outside the court in Santa Maria, Calif...Interest stretched to the Middle East, with Arab news channels al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya cutting to live footage as Jackson arrived at the courthouse for the verdict..."The minutes before the verdict were the most nervous moments of my life. Now, these are the happiest moments of my life," said Kent Vilhemsson, 21, watching from Skovde, Sweden...In Germany, several news channels carried the verdict live, and the top-selling Bild newspaper quickly posted the headline "Acquittal!" on its Web site.
I started to think about this entry as an anti-American celebrity obsession, but these facts speak for themselves against my first impressions. So here I go on a tangent about countries and people I've never met or spoken with. Worldwide, there is such an influence and idoltry of celebrities and sports figures that it distorts the mind and conquers human interest. They say that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and likewise, absolute stardom corrupts absolutely. It corrupts sane thought process and causes extraordinarily inaccurate perceptions of reality. We place our celebrities and athletes on a high pedastool, giving them a godly reign over our habits. We provide them ridiculous pay checks and undeserved acclaim. All the while, scientists can't pay their bills and teachers can't afford paper. I recall a post by mysolace critiquing the treatment of California's teachers and school systems. While our teachers get paid $20 a year for supplies, Alex Rodriguez gets a $270 MILLION contract. Will Alex Rodriguez teach our children Sophocles? Will Lil' Jon educate our kids to the mysteries of long division (HA-WHAT?!)? We reward individuals for winning the Gene Lottery and not for their human achievements. Although I wouldn't like a revolution of the Proletariat, I would like a revolution in our perceptions of success. If a high school football player can catch a pass but can't pass a test can get into a top-rated university and receive significant financial aide, shouldn't a student who has worked hard to get over a 4.0 and participate in community scholastic and volunteer programs be able to get into any university and receive a nice big scholarship? Maybe my logic is flawed and I just am missing something, but I don't think so.
Just because some guy used to dance well and put out a few hit records doesn't mean he deserves more media attention than the average suspicious individual. The fact that he's an international superstar shouldn't translate into "The minutes before the verdict were the most nervous moments of my life. Now, these are the happiest moments of my life," said Kent Vilhemsson, 21, watching from Skovde, Sweden. Maybe it's just because I find celebrities to be a distasteful representation of the larger population and my disgust in people running their lives following that of their favorite celeb. All these celeb realities, E! Specials, all of it is blatant exploitation. And I'll keep watching my Behind The Music, reading my Enquirer and keeping a close eye for the next big Celeb scandal like the rest of us. So lets hear it for Pitt in '06!