Mourning Michael Jackson's Death Through Achewood
of all the many famous celebrities that have died in the past week, I make no apologies for feeling a special sense of loss for Michael. His music was everywhere when I was a kid, and it made my outlook on the world so positive. All the "urban" cultural images and provocative lyrics I didn't quite understand really opened my eyes to the wider world around me.
Hearing the inevitable tasteless remarks about him after his death just inspire me to be awesome, heal the world, and rock his music in my mind that much harder and remember how intensely he could own his performance and make it cool to let your freak flag fly (until just after black+white by most anthropologists' views). He made the world a better place in one night than the naysayers could ever hope to in their lifetimes.
As for how I feel about his death, roast beef in the bottom left panel of today's achewood strip says it very concisely. The whole strip is a proper tribute and well worth reading.
I'd ask anyone to imagine being at this and not remember it changing their lives:
I would also highly suggest a read of Ray Smuckles' Essay on Michael Jackson's Passing
A snippet from that:
The Cure is just out there, like car horns or people who make noise when they cry. The Cure is a choice. When we hear Michael, it is not a choice to feel the beat. It is not a choice to cock your head and straighten all the fingers on your right hand.
Hearing the inevitable tasteless remarks about him after his death just inspire me to be awesome, heal the world, and rock his music in my mind that much harder and remember how intensely he could own his performance and make it cool to let your freak flag fly (until just after black+white by most anthropologists' views). He made the world a better place in one night than the naysayers could ever hope to in their lifetimes.
As for how I feel about his death, roast beef in the bottom left panel of today's achewood strip says it very concisely. The whole strip is a proper tribute and well worth reading.
I'd ask anyone to imagine being at this and not remember it changing their lives:
Click to viewI would also highly suggest a read of Ray Smuckles' Essay on Michael Jackson's Passing
A snippet from that:
The Cure is just out there, like car horns or people who make noise when they cry. The Cure is a choice. When we hear Michael, it is not a choice to feel the beat. It is not a choice to cock your head and straighten all the fingers on your right hand.