What's Driving The Michael Jackson Mania?
I enjoyed seeing these different perspectives and agree with Dan’s point about the good of a unifying force in pop culture. But will we ever see this phenomenon again? Elvis, Sinatra, The Beatles, Michael Jackson… and? There are other huge, worldwide artists out there like U2, Madonna, Prince, The Stones, Radiohead… but they seem to fall short just a bit of MJ’s universal appeal. Especially those most directly influenced by him. Do you think Justin Timberlake or Usher could sell out a 60,000-seat amphitheatre in Brunei?
A major part of my fascination with MJ of late (beyond his life story and music) has been “the fascination with him” itself. That is, I’m endlessly interested in the forces that made and kept him such a staggering global phenomenon. With media and pop culture so much more segmented now than it used to be, it’s increasingly rare that one person or entity brings the entire world together in adoration (or at least interest). Isn’t it great? Don’t you miss this? The entire world being familiar with something, enjoying something, being able to talk about something? I think it’s good for us as a human race.
In any case, the above NYT article shares four interesting musings on why he had the power to transcend every boundary and become such a phenomenon.
