The World Lost Two People Yesterday…
The world lost two people yesterday … Farrah and Michael.
I’ve been rather silent about Michael Jackson’s death … mostly because I have nothing to say. In the past, I have been largely critical of MJ – or rather, his actions – especially those involving children (both his own, as well as the other children around him).
Today – two things happened that broke my silence about MJ. The first was that I was called a racist because I didn’t think that MJ was one of the greatest men who ever lived. I will agree that MJ’s contribution to the world of music has been beyond phenomenal. Likewise, I can also see how people can look up to MJ as a sense of inspiration, being one member of a family that went from poverty to success. Still, that is a far cry from saying that he was one of the greatest men who ever lived.
The second thing that broke my silence about MJ was hearing someone equate the death of MJ to that of Lady Diana, Princess of Wales … a woman known for her compassion, charisma, grace, style, as well as the time and energy she put into working with (and starting) charities that helped the homeless, the elderly, youth, and drug addicts. In 1987, she became the first public figure to support (or even show any amount of compassion) to people living with HIV and AIDS, at a time when public opinion seemed to be quite the opposite. Shortly before her death, she tried to turn public attention to issues like banning landmines – not because she was wanting to do something political, but because she saw the devastation they caused, especially to children, long after the conflict was over.
In my mind – there is no comparison to these two people.
Yesterday and today’s events have reminded me of something I had nearly forgotten. It’s the quantity, not the quality, of a person’s life that seems to matter.
I think that’s sad.
Pick up a newspaper or magazine that has come out today and I’m sure you’ll see everything you wanted to see about Michael Jackson. And, I bet if you flip through the rest of the pages, I’m sure you’ll eventually run into something about Farrah Fawcett as well. In today’s Chicago Sun-Times, the cover is devoted almost entirely to MJ, as is the first several pages. It isn’t until you get to page 26 that you see the first mention of Farrah with headlines like “’Charlie’s’ Girl And A Lot More” and “Angel Spread Wings; Whole World Smiled”.
Page 26?
Not even something on the front page to tell you to turn to page 26.
And, page 27…
So, at least she got two pages.
Could be worse. Page 34 has an inch-wide “obituary” on Jean Dausset, winner of a Nobel Prize in 1980 after his discovery lead to a method where doctors could test organs for transplants to determine the compatibility between donor and receiver. Something that saved how many people’s lives?
All he did was win a Nobel Prize. Nobody pays much attention to those. Right?
Without Googling or Binging or Yahooing etc… how many Nobel Prize Winners can you name?
See?
Anyway … I’ve gotten off track a little here.
As I said at the top of this post … the world lost two people yesterday.
Let’s just not forget that other one, ok?
