Sorry I've been so absent this week, but I've been under the weather and haven't felt like writing. Of course, with a few extra minutes on my hands, my Free Flowing Friday thoughts have been on the poor family of Michael Jackson.
I truly enjoyed MJ's music when I was a kid - what child growing up in the 60s and 70s didn't? I also realize it was his decision to put himself into the public eye and he garnered fame and fortune by being a celebrity superstar.
But in his family's moment of grief, why can't the media leave him alone? When my sister died 4 years ago, my grief was almost unbearable. If I had been subjected to her presence on every news channel in the world every time I turned on the TV, I would have gone insane.
And now the media is pulling those poor children into this mess! Give me a break! These little kids only know MJ as their father - nothing more. Who cares if they were conceived with a sperm donor? Who cares if the mother gave up her rights? These children didn't ask for this. And to continual roll the footage of his little daughter in her greatest moment of grief - it is despicable. The news channels keep rolling this footage over and over and over.
As for MJ being a child molester, I know the court of public opinion thinks he is guilty, but he was proven innocent in a court of law. I have my own thoughts about his guilt or innocence, but it doesn't matter what I think - a jury of his peers found him innocent. Period.
Now we are being subjected to all his possible medical problems and drug addictions. I personally feel someone's medical history should remain private. As a RN, I know the value of the privacy laws - I just wish everyone would quit speculating on what was wrong with him. We know there are corrupt doctors all over the country who cater to the rich and famous - we've already been through this with Anna Nicole Smith and Heath Ledger, just to name the recent ones.
My point in all of this is to be empathetic to the family and let them grieve in peace. Not matter if your rich or poor, black or white, or male or female - everyone should be allowed to grieve the loss of a loved one without it being fodder to grab ratings.
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2 comments:
Bobbi, I know what you mean about replaying distressing footage over and over and over.
In Canada there was a highly-tragic death at the Vancouver Airport when would-be immigrant Robert Dziekański was tasered five times by mounties called to the scene. His death was caught on video by a man at the airport, and Dziekański's screams and death throes have played on Canadian news so many times I can't even begin to tell you.
Besides his mother, who lives in Canada, who no doubt bumps into this footage - because it gets played a lot - there are people like me who can't bear to hear a dying man's screams of agony. I too wonder what the producers of these news segments are thinking. Are they so jaded that they can't feel anymore?
I really believe that it's sort of a large catch 22- celebrities want attention, the public wants to know about them, the media goes crazy with information about them, then the celebs don't want the invasive attention - by the time they realize how bad it can get, it's too late.
I believe that a family should be allowed to grieve in peace, but, honestly, when they are putting on a spectacle that costs the public over a million dollars like they did, they are not asking to grieve in peace, they are asking for a circus.
I avoided a lot of the hoo-ha while I was on vacation, but I did catch some of it on the bar TV - right as the family pushed that poor little girl up in front of the cameras to tell everyone what a great dad she had. A child that's been hidden from a lot of the media frenzy, led a somewhat sheltered life with her father, shoved out there where she looked heartbroken and wildly uncomfortable. It made me a bit mad a the Jackson family for doing it.
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