In the contexts of pop history:
Michael Jackson represented a generation – more so. He represented an era, the same as the Beatles represented a pop cultural span of 50’s to 1970. Jackson was a product of America and went global. He carried the MTV torch for a long, long time - before MTV went reality, and Jackson went completely bizarre. Historians will look back on June 25, 2009 as a symbolic point to mark the shift into an era ruled by the Internet, accessibility, and other general postmodern themes - a point in the pendulum swing of pop history.
Many will write of the eerie similarities between Jackson and Elvis’ self-destruction. The two will parallel each other eternally – flames burning brighter than belief. But it is Jackson’s global arm that reaches substantially farther than Presley’s. Jackson went from representing the African American community, to representing teen culture, to representing the U.S.A, ending in an ambiguous and androgynous representation of mankind - at least in his mind. He healed the world, tackled racism, hung out with Macaulay Culkin, owned the Beatles, and then went broke (this is the weirdest video yet). Much will be said of Jackson’s behavior, lifestyle, and disillusionment, but one cannot argue that a taxi driver in India may be utterly unaware of the Beatles, but still know Michael Jackson. Nearly 6 billion Jackson fans can’t be wrong.
Two YouTube videos of Jackson: The first is a recent announcement of his stadium tour in London. It’s awkward and massively staged (notice the overdubs of girls crying during the montage). It represents the final days of Michael Jackson. The second is from a Motown television special. From my understanding, it was considered a major point in his solo career (I’ve heard this was the first time he moon walked publicly).
The fact that a Jackson song on any dance floor announces wild cheers pays testament to the influence of Jackson the idea, not so much the actual song or Jackson the person. A song like “Billie Jean,” in the mass population, now represents a 4 minute and 53 second excuse for everyone to dance their ass off. Even the awkward guy in the corner can have a go at “Billie Jean,” it’s a get out of jail free card – an open opportunity to dance and not be judged. Possibly the result of the joke the public and Jackson himself made of his iconic image, or the product of an amazing pop song. Maybe both.
