Michael. Farrah. What Everyone Is Talking About.

If you have been trapped in a space capsule / nuclear fallout shelter / open field with no TV, radio, or intranets, then you may have missed that both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away today. Ms. Fawcett after a long battle with cancer, and Mr. Jackson after going into cardiac arrest. Ed McMahon also passed away yesterday, creepily and horribly completing the “Rule of Three,” which I wish weren’t true, but God damn it, people keep dying in threes! So here, in no particular order and after a very very long day of work (called in at 1 rather than 2 and worked til 11) are some thoughts on the matter.

*I am sorry these people have died. They had families who loved them, and that is something quite sad.

*Farrah is in a better, post-cancer place. No more suffering. Insert your own “Angel” joke here.

*A friend of mine wrote on his Facebook status that “The King of Pop died years ago. Today a sad, sick man died.” And just because I love MJ’s music doesn’t mean I don’t agree with him. I think that’s why people are so fascinated, because a seriously messy and tabloid life has come to an end.

*But was the end REALLY that surprising?!?! He was 50 years old. And in crappy health. His face was melting (sorry, it was) and he was always wearing germ masks, and looking generally gaunt and unwell. One can’t assume a body in that condition will last. It’s so bizarre to think he was scheduled to perform in London in just over two weeks. I wonder what will happen to the millions of tour t-shirts that will never sell. Straight to EBay?

*Final thought. Farrah has totally gotten Mother Teresa’d by MJ. If you don’t understand the following statement, you’re clearly not as insensitive as I am. Years ago (11 I believe) Mother Teresa died and we were all very saddened, that the world had lost a woman who did so much good, so selflessly. But she was old, and it was not a great shocker. The world began to mourn. Then HOURS later, Princess Diana, beautiful, fucked-up and fascinating, died in a horrific and unexpected manner. And the spotlights of the world turned to her and stayed there. Mother Teresa faded to the back pages. Which is probably how she would have wanted it anyway, but do you see what I mean? Farrah Fawcett is the new Mother Teresa (another sentence I would never in a million years imagine myself typing). Hopefully, this is good for her family though, because they will be given a lot more space in which to sort themselves out. Not so much MJ’s kids though, and for that I feel awful. Seriously press people. I know it’s fascinating, but those kids are already going to be balls-deep in therapy soon. Let ‘em be.

Matt Says:

June 26, 2009 at 12:11 pm

Totally agree with you about the Mother Teresa/Diana situation

the brother Says:

June 29, 2009 at 5:58 am

“Farrah Fawcett is the new Mother Teresa”…you know you’ve just put us all on some Vatican hit-list.
Thanx.

Neither Bumblebee nor the kid from 1979 can save us now.

Movie night is mostly Video footage of MJ.
Sad…he was an artist.
Yer writing…
Brilliant.
Soon,
Me

P.S. The list of people who cannot save us now includes:
Mr. T
Pizza the Hut
Jason Bateman
Bradley Whitford
Kylie Minogue
Robert Pattinson’s Hair
(I blame you for the fact that I can spell that guy’s name.)

Libby "sorry to get up in your grill and argue semantics" Gowen Says:

July 3, 2009 at 6:51 am

Please don’t ever say the words “Farrah Fawcett” and “the new Mother Teresa” in the same sentence again. Please? Thanks. ;o)

That being said, I’ve actually drawn similar comparisons with regard to the overshadowing in death. It makes me prickle a little because, let’s be frank- Farrah Fawcett was no Mama T. Speaking purely in terms of what each gave to the world, Mama T got significantly more screwed by the whole Diana situation than Farrah did with MJ (though like you say, she actually would have wanted it exactly that way. Remind me to tell you the story of her death sometime that some of the volunteers who were with her when she died told me- incredible). Not to mention the fact that Mother Teresa got so righteously screwed in the whole situation that many, dare I say most, people don’t even realize she died. You have no idea how many times I’ve had this conversation:

“Wow, you were in India? What were you DOING there?”
“I volunteered with Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata.”
“Wow! Did you get to meet Mother Teresa?!” (trying desperately not to roll my eyes) “No. She’d actually died about five years prior.”
“Oh… she did?! When did she die?”
“She actually died in 1997- the same day Diana died.”
“Seriously? Oh man, I remember when Diana died…”

So, in a way, I think it’s almost more apropos to say Farrah got Brad Renfroed. A long battle with drug addiction was his cancer. Heath Ledger was his MJ.

And as far as MJ’s death, while I don’t think it’s tragic, I think what people are reacting most to is not the tragedy of the circumstance but what his death signifies. Sure, he hasn’t had a major hit in about 17 years. Sure, he had a life plagued with personal tribulation and much publicized demons (insert Thriller joke here). But MJ was the quintessential larger than life pop cultural icon. His death signifies the end of an era. I know I always took for granted that Michael Jackson simply WAS. And the idea that he died suddenly and inexplicably of a cardiac arrest is humbling- if this seemingly epic personality could be struck down so unexpectedly and in a relatively mundane manner… it calls the mortality of us all into question, does it not?

Not to mention, this death seems to have given oldies stations a green light to include Michael Jackson songs on heavy rotation. This makes me feel old. Another thing that calls at least MY mortality into question. ;o)

All that being said, I effing love reading your blog.