Michael Jackson Tribute – Weird or What?

No disrespect to Michael fans. Everybody everywhere is giving their own 2 cents about the tribute. Although I'm no real Michael Jackson fan, I watched quite a few hours of the tribute to him. After seeing it, my personal feeling is that it should have been done after he was privately and quietly buried by his family members.

It seemed odd that no one acknowledged that was an "elephant in the room": Michael Jackson’s coffin. Usher was the only one who acknowledged that MJ was actually right there. Very weird. Usually, at a funeral, the deceased (in whatever vessel – real or symbolic) is the center of attention. In last night’s “performance”, he seemed to be secondary, like a prop for the real main event.

Katie Couric did the play-by-play. It was almost like they were supposed to have a half-time show with cheer leaders bounding into a pyramid formation. Who CLAPS at a funeral? I thought people were going to high-five each other. Totally tasteless.

I couldn’t tell if his family (of performers) had staged the tears or if they were real. I mean, ok – the main event being the singing of MJ’s favorite song, “Smile”.

Gee .... “What was your favorite part of the tribute?”

MJ’s kids chewed their gum throughout the whole thing, appearing like they didn’t have a care in the world. LaToya obviously put some thought into that hat; why didn’t she make her nieces and nephews spit out their gum, as they were appearing in front of (how many?) millions of people world-wide? Tacky. In my family (no aunts), my mother would have smacked me silly. So the little girl had a few words about her daddy. It was very sweet. However, MJ had seemed to have sheltered his kids from the type of exploitation he went through as a child. Would he have wanted his little girl in the limelight under those circumstances?

Throughout the whole thing, I had the distinct feeling that I would see it next month for sale on Amazon in a boxed set of DVDs. It looked like a major profit-generating event rather than a funeral. “A Tribute to Michael”, with .5% of the profits going to charity….

Is this what we have come to? Is this what our future is all about? Ab-so-lutely everything must now be commercialized?

People spoke excitedly for days about the upcoming event; as if it were the major event of the decade to attend rather than a somber gathering.

Ok, so I wasn’t a big MJ fan, but I felt bad for him last night. He spent his whole life accounting to other people (guilty or not) and in front of people, and being followed by people. Couldn’t he at least have been given the opportunity to go out with a little dignity? Wheeling him into a stadium in a box like a float at a parade!? WTF.

Janet was dignified about the whole thing. I thought it was good of her to usher MJ’s kids off stage so that their grief wasn’t sensationalized. I also respect Diana Ross and Elizabeth Taylor for not attending the tribute. Those are women who understand ritual and respect; I’m sure that neither feel that their own personal pain needs to be exploited for the sake of others’ entertainment. They have both probably already had a lifetime’s worth of that. So did Michael.

Hey, when my time comes: Please people! I don't want to be wheeled into a stadium with 50,000 people and put on global television. I would just like some peace please.

-- Desert Girl commentary end --