http://www.care2.com/greenliving/fallen-stars-the-collective-unconscious-when-icons-go-poof.html
Fallen Stars: The Collective Unconscious When Icons Go Poof!
By Eric Steinman
This being a parenting blog, I thought it only appropriate to write about the phenomenal serving of celebrity death that we all are collectively reeling from–for no other reason than it is on my mind and to not mention it would seem unnatural. For those of you that have may have been unplugged from the media juggernaut over the past 48 hours, the big news is that we had three notable celebrity passings in one day: Sky Saxon, Farrah Fawcett, and (most remarkable) Michael Jackson (not to mention the passing of Tonight Show side-kick Ed McMahon earlier in the week).
This was a profound cultural body blow to having these three icons (for lack of a better word) shed this mortal coil all in the same day. Sky Saxon, being a 1960s garage rock pioneer, leader of the rock group the Seeds, and, as some would contest, one of the progenitors of punk rock, received the bronze medal for the day of iconic demises. Farrah Fawcett, an actress but more notably an icon of 1970s sexuality, who reached her pinnacle of fame early and became almost fossilized in her pin up mythos. And lastly, there was the impeccable genius of Michael Jackson, a last of his kind superstar of the 1980s, who, while maintaining a fabled and mythological status spelled out his own demise decades ago with weird (some would say “criminal) and outlandish behavior that made him less a showman and more of a celebrity oddity.
Now I would hardly qualify myself as a fan of any of our dearly departed (maybe Sky Saxon to an extent) but I, along with many people worldwide, am experiencing the surreal and unexpected devastation of seeing three larger than life figures fall hard. There is something both horrifying and exhilarating about it all, something that reinforces the utter impermanence of both celebrity and life (and of course celebrity lives). Even for those of you who are hardly celebrity obsessed, can’t help but understand that beyond grieving, we are deepening our understanding of the unforeseen and the transient. I won’t go so far as to say that deaths like these bind us together, but there is a sublime comfort in knowing that many people, world-wide, have taken pause to consider these little cracks in the passage of time. Thanks to the sacrificial celebrities who have endowed us with their gifts and inadvertently provided us with this food for thought.
Eric Steinman is a freelance writer based in Rhinebeck, N.Y. He regularly writes about food, music, art, architecture and culture and is a regular contributor to Bon Appétit among other publications.
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9 comments
add your comment »MJ earned that fame. He gave up everything for the music and the fans. He's a superstar cause we fans adore him. We write blogs, articles, set up sites and more.
If people want to see others admired, then they have to boost them too. I ceartainly don't begrude any person any fame they get. Their life as a free person is over as soon as stardom arrives.
MJ indeed gave millions to charity. He believed that such things must be done in secret. I seem to recall the Bible telling folks to do that, but nobody else seems to listen.
I will profoundly miss all three, but MJ the most. Seeing Paris cry broke my heart. The constant assasination of MJ in the press and media is terrible let the man R.I.P.
I need a lot of help on my memorial and would be floored with honor if any visitors come over. Comments are very welcome and desperately needed.
http://www.squidoo.com/michaeljacksonnowandforever
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If I had a choice to live like Michael or like a free animal I'd choose the freedom from the bright glaring lights of the stage for the bright lights of the stars & the moon in a deep forest. I chose that because I know the difference. And, animals in all their defenselessness from us don't.
Maybe Michael knew that or at least finally realized that is how he wanted to be all along......Free from the savages chasing his bank account
Plant trees for life.......
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Michael was a tortured soul he died a horrible death.
To me if you hear his songs you can hear the real torture he went through from a very young age but yet nobody noticed what was really going on in his life. Am I surprised he died the way he did NO.
They barely mentioned Farah and look how much she did for women bringing forward the abuse that other women are enduring today. I know that she older but at the very least they could have an hour program about all what she did for women.
Ed McMahon he by far so funny and he was on TV for over thirty years but they just slid past his death and he was so important to people because he made you laugh.
I know that Michael was a good singer but I think they have gone crazy over his death let him rest in peace for the first time in his life.
The thing that made me really ill was what his father said we lost a great star not that I will really miss my son that shows you and everyone how much he really loved his son all he saw was a "Cash Cow" and now he is gone.
Michael died because nobody really loved him in his family although they say they did I just don't see it because if they did they would have protected him from all these people that wanted to use him for their best end results no his.
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all well and good, I beleive that those who dance/sing, or the scientist or enviromentalist like myself have a part to play. each of us has a God given gify and depending on how it is use it would be acounted for some day.
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@B.M.
There are people who iconize those like Einstein, have no doubt about that. But there is an up-side and a down-side to every life. Don't overlook the fact that E=MC2 led the world to the atomic bomb.
When you come right down to it, humans are still a pretty basic species. Oh sure, our tools of survival have changed, but we're still fascinated with power and bright shiny things, pushing the boundaries to see where they really are, and trying to figure out our origins. And those who will survive will be those who are the fittest to survive in our current landscape.
The only real tragedy are those who walk around with their eyes closed to the beauty, joy and the sheer miracle of it all.
Stars and fame...well...those are just more bright shiny things, aren't they?!
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Good commentary. I hadn't heard about Sky Saxon. R.I.P. to all three.
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I'm not familiar with Michael's charity giving although I'm sure he did much in that area.
Overall he may have improved lives on a continual basis & on a momentary basis while in concert.
My last comment is based on how much man has become very superficial overall. There is always praises & written articles on movie stars/sports stars as opposed to the un-named stars in medicine & other sciences.
Far too many go unrecognised for the long hours & years staring down through a microscope to find a cure of some disease as opposed to not as many spent dancing & singing on a stage or being on the front of People magazine.
Plant trees for life......
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You know, Michael Jackson may have been extremely strange. And there may be more tragic things than his death that happen on a continual daily basis. But throughout his career he gave millions to charity, wrote inspirational songs like "heal the world", and made people all over the world feel good by sharing his incredible musical gift. So I don't think it's fair to say he didn't improve people's lives. Music is pretty powerful stuff.
"If I can't dance I don't want to be a part of your revolution."
-Emma Goldman
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I've often wondered belatedly in my life why we idolize these so called creatures of made up fame. Perhaps we idolize to somehow connect to all the attention they get & we want.
Why don't we idolize the likes of Jonas Salk, Einstein or any other member of society who have improved our lives to one degree or another.
Perhaps it is the commercialization of the soul from Madison Ave & all that make up & catwalking models that are constantly flashed before us going through the super market checkout lines.
As we now speed talk & walk our way into growing up before we are nine we never realize we are old before our time even as we go through the checkout lines handing over our last dollar for sin.
We are a cheap violent species who spend more time rehearsing a song, how to hold a gun and are mesmerized by our own imaginary faces in other mirrors.
We will never learn from any of the tragedies for we never have.
Plant trees for life.......
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