What Michael did

Wednesday, 8th July 2009

I never did get round to watching the rest of the memorial service, which is probably no bad thing as I find it hard believe Mr Wonder's performance could have been improved upon (especially by Mariah Carey.) As for Jackson's legacy, John McWhorter makes a typically astute contribution to this NY Times discussion. And there's Tim Rutten's LA Times column about fame and pop culture:

Jackson's international celebrity coincided with the atomization of popular culture through the advent of personal media. His storied videos -- so key to his popularity -- came along just as music televised via cable and satellite began to supplant concerts and radio with their mass audience. Jackson's music would provide the personal soundtracks for a world dominated by the personal choice represented by the Walkman and iPod. His career, in some sense, made him the bard of disconnection -- of personal self-absorption.

Elswhere, director Trevor Nunn's take on the child-abuse allegations catches Mark Shenton's eye. Was the singer more Peter Pan than predator?

Peter is almost androgynous, he is sexless, he is adored by Wendy but has no concept of the love she wants from him… What I witnessed of [Jackson's] obsession with Peter Pan was... unfakeable and real. It was not really about a part he wanted to play. It was about the person he wanted to be.