The Legacy of Michael Jackson

The first thing that happened after I saw TMZ reported that Michael Jackson died yesterday was worry about my good friend Molly, away at camp, separated from the world, not knowing that one of her pop culture faves had suddenly passed away. I texted her about it, and we held out hope that it was misreported until a legitimate news site confirmed the death. At about 6:00pm EDT, CNN, the AP and other news outlets confirmed the death like they were calling a state in a Presidential election.

The second thing that happened was Twitter. I twittered (tweeted) my shock, as did Becca and many others. What disturbed me, though, was how on the right side of the Twitter page is the trending topics, and how Michael Jackson shot up to the top of the list. But it wasn't Michael Jackson, it was "Micheal Jackson." Here is a guy who has been famous for in excess of 40 years. In a society where we know at least 15 people named "Michael" in each of our extended families, and enough thousands of Twitter users misspelled his name to put "Micheal Jackson" at the top of trending topics. How does that happen?

I grew up at the height of Michael's popularity. I was 5 years old when "Billie Jean" was released. The first Michael Jackson song I heard wasn't actually a Michael Jackson, but "Weird Al" Yankovic's song "Eat It," the classic parody of "Beat It." I soon caught into the Michael Jackson craze, unsuccessfully attempting to Moonwalk, kick my leg out while shooting my arm up into the air and screaming. I could never imitate the moves. But I tried, as did everyone else.

Ronald Reagan deserves a tremendous amount of credit for standing against the oppression of communism, not backing down and eventually forcing the system to crack under its faulty foundations. Reagan's belief that Western values of freedom, exposed to the people oppressed in communist nations, would dismantle these regimes. Let no doubt enter your mind about the role that the popular culture of America also played into this. Watch the videos of Michael Jackson concerts abroad, where thousands upon thousands of young people fell over themselves to catch a glimpse of Jackson as he passed by. Or in concert, when girls (and boys) would faint during a climactic moment in a song. To many of the oppressed, Michael Jackson WAS America. He was the expression of freedom. He gave them a taste of what it could be to live in liberty.

In the mid to late 80s, the celebrity charity structure took off: Farm Aid, Live Aid, USA for Africa, benefits for the environment, against apartheid, saving the whales, etc. To the average person, much of this was brow-beating from the rich entertainers telling us we need to be better people in a "do-as-I-say" mold. Which is why "Man In the Mirror" is my second favorite Michael song. To change the world, you have to start looking at what you can do and not expect others to do it for you. I may be alone in this, but I consider it to be a great conservative anthem. If you see a "kid in the street without enough to eat," don't walk by and hope someone does something about it. Don't expect government to fix anything. Don't think that you can just talk about the problem. You have to step forward. Plus, the song is catchy as all get-out and features the awesomeness that is "shamone."

Michael Jackson melded group choreography into his songs so expertly that it has become cliche in pop music. He helped transformed the music video. "Thriller" would not be the same without the long-form John Landis-directed short film, in what probably should have been a silly "Monster Mash" Halloween song but instead became iconic for the zombie dance, and of course Vincent Price's rap to conclude the song with Michael's werewolf eyes as the final shot, shocking his girlfriend. I could go on and on about how his videos helped tell the story of the song and set the standard for all performers to come or how he used technology such as CGI morphing technology in the "Black or White" video almost before anyone else and now it is commonplace.

You can't ignore the negative stuff: the molestation charges, the plastic surgery, the weird outfits and behavior. Naming your kid "Blanket." And there's a trend that I've read to identify him as simply "eccentric." There's so much more than that at play to simply say that he was eccentric.

So I'm sad that Michael Jackson has died. I am sad for his children who will not have their father. I'm sad for his friends and family--the ones who truly cared about him. But I am glad that he left a significant legacy for us. This is not Kurt Cobain or James Dean, dying before his fans could grasp at the notion of unfulfilled potential. Michael Jackson accomplished great things over a long period of time. We benefit from it.

By the way, "I Want You Back" is the greatest pop song of all time. I won't accept arguments. Watch a clip of the Jackson 5 on The Ed Sullivan Show and you'll see why he was destined for greatness.

It's All For the Children

I had not watched an episode of "Jon & Kate + 8" prior to last night's earth-shattering episode that "changed everything." I knew a little bit about the young family, parents in their early 30s, having a set of twins, then sextuplets. I know that they were the vanguard of a variety of shows, "18 and Counting" being another, giving viewers a window into the lives of such large families. I knew the kids were precocious and cute; I knew that the wife had the reputation of a bossy nag sort, and that the husband spent a good amount of time staring blankly into the camera.

I also know that organizations like Focus On the Family brought Kate Gosselin along to speak on marriage and parenting. At some level, my interest was piqued based on this knowledge--how would a high profile marriage of two formerly regular people, self-identifying as Christian, handle a storm when they know the world is watching?

Unfortunately, like half of all marriages whether they are ever on TV, they chose to begin the process of ending the marriage in divorce. In their interviews, they called it "separation" which has legal significance, but in their context, I'm not sure if they were making a distinction.

Throughout the episode, both Jon and Kate emphatically stated that their children were their primary concern: they are separating because its better for the kids if they don't fight in front of the kids; they are continuing the show because it provides the kids with the best opportunities" and on and on. I found the whole episode to be unfortunately self-indulgent to their own whims and fancies. Jon declared that he was proud of himself for finally sticking up for himself to Kate's perceived dictatorship. What is there to be proud about that sticking up for himself is separating himself?

Admittedly, in a show like this, there is editing, so it is difficult to draw definitive conclusions from something manufactured. I drew some anyway:

1. Pastor Todd was 100% correct in his sermon from a few weeks ago that you risk damaging the proper intimacy in the husband-wife relationship when you invite outsides "under the chuppah" or into the marriage bed. Jon and Kate did not or could not communicate with each other. I have no doubt that being in front of the cameras, confessing and speaking the American viewing public about their personal lives severely damaged their ability to communicate with each other. What is real? What is show? At a certain point, you lose your identity and become who you are portrayed to be. Communication would have eliminated about 99% of the trouble these two seem to have as problems with their marriage. I would love if they took the opportunity to seek counseling from someone with the worldview of a Dr. Emerson Eggerichs, who authored "Love and Respect" or go through the series itself.
   
2. There is hope for this marriage. I know the ominous "Epilogue of Doom" said that they have filed for divorce, but nothing is inevitable. This was not a relationship created by television under a house of cards. The first 7 years were without cameras. I have hope for their reconciliation. I also had hoped that they would decide to end the TV show, but contractual issues may have prevented that. TLC and lawyers may have told them that if they quit the show, they would lose tremendously, from the house to resources to maybe a lawsuit against them that would have just added to the marital stress. I don't know. But I think that getting out of the spotlight would help this family. But when you watched the final scenes where they went to the restaurant and sat together, you can see that there is something to work with there.

Paul, in Ephesians, says that marriage between a man and woman is a representation of Christ and His church. In the Old Testament, God allows His chosen people Israel, to be separated from Him for periods of time (such as the exile), but He never divorces from His people. So if Jon and Kate were to simply have separated (without all the court filings) for a time to intentionally work towards coming back together, it would not, in my opinion, be a totally bad thing. But when separation is treated as the first thing you do before you sign the divorce decree, that is wrong.

Christ makes a very strong stand against divorce in the Gospels. We, the church, who are forgiven for our adulterous and rebellious natures by our faithful Bridegroom MUST treat our own marriages with the same seriousness and grace. When marriages within the church can better reflect the glory of Christ, the world will take notice.

UPDATE (2:30 pm): TMZ and other websites are reporting that Kate Gosselin is the one who initiated the divorce proceedings yesterday. Details are vague on why she took this particular step when she took it, but I think it is in direct contradiction to scripture that she has initiated the divorce proceedings and am very disappointed.

Crazy Love Returns!

So, by popular demand, we are going to restart Francis Chan's "Crazy Love" for the summer Tuesday night Bible study!

If you can't make Sunday mornings (work, etc.) this would be a great opportunity to be involved with some fellowship and study for the summertime! If you would like a book, you can order them through Christian Book.com (or any other number of stores), but at CB it's currently running for around $8 and some change.

We will be starting Chapter 1 this coming Tuesday (the 16th), so try to come having read it. If you don't get a chance to, at least stop by the book's site and watch the videos that correspond to that week at www.crazylovebook.com.

The study is at Ben and Becca's house on Tuesdays at 7:30. Visit the website for directions.

We hope you'll get involved!