Adieu

michael jackson wasn't really part of my generation. by the time i had first heard of him, he was already getting bad press from the media for his plastic surgery and his molestation charges.

it's weird. when heath ledger died, i wasn't really affected. i hadn't watched any of his movies, and so all i felt was irritation at those who claimed he had been punished for portraying a gay man in Brokeback Mountain. when i found out that farrah fawcett had died this morning, i didn't have much of a reaction -- she was before my time as well.

with the case of michael jackson, however, it's a little shocking to me. he is so ingrained in pop culture that i find it hard to grasp that he is dead. i think about eminem's jabs at him in Just Lose It, the countless jokes in which he's the butt of the joke, the "Wild Michael Jackson Appeared" video on Youtube... and i feel ashamed of how much i have laughed at his expense.

yes, he was strange. but it's not hard to see how he turned out that way.