Death of the icons

I’m going fishing. Or maybe I’ll take in a round of golf.

I feel sorry about both of them. My sorrow is rather theoretical for Michael, of whom I was never a fan, but who was so obviously a damaged soul. And Farrah, who was originally a Catholic, seemed to lose her way more and more. I had such a crush on her.

Their deaths are their own. But their deaths, as “icons”, tell us alot more about ourselves as idolaters and always potential idolaters. On the Today Show this morning, they did not have any news from Ann Curry until 8am: the rest of the time was on the death of the king. See the 1st Commandment.

And if I were Orthodox, the continued media use of “icons” would be border-line blasphemy. Icons, images of what? “And all man’s Babylons strive but to impart/The grandeurs of his Babylonian heart.”

Don’t forget Ed died too. My mom always said death comes in threes.

It’s too bad he died, but unfortunately the media so worships these icons that if there had been a nuclear war last night I think it would have taken second place to this story.

I feel bad for Michael’s kids. What is to become of them? Of course I said that while he was alive too…

And what did our cultures iconography do for Mr. Jackson and Ms. Fawcett? Besides riches which do them both absolutely no good now, a whole hell of a lot of nothing. We in the church need to do a much better job of reaching out to these poor souls before the world robs them of every good and gracious gift of God. I am sad for the family and friends of both individuals. Lord, have mercy.

Michael Jackson was a superb example of contemporary paganism. Among the criteria for this, he spiritualized the instincts in a hedonistic, orgiastic manner in an attempt for religious ecstasy. He was, also, idolatrous in that took from human nature what is good and made it a god, convincing not a few of his fans that he was a sort of god. His morality was polyvalent in that no single standard governed his life.

The poor fellow, a victim as well as an example of the modern pagan ethos, led an essentially pathetic life.

And to complete the “group of three” events don’t forget Ed McMahon.

No wonder Meredith Vieira is dressed a black mourning dress today.

A CBC comment this morning summed up my feelings about MJ: He single-handedly launched the MTV generation. As they say, ’nuff said.

MJ had great music and talent, but he should have spent his last days in the same place where Phil Spector is now. It’s funny that people who believe in no afterlife and materialism suddenly find time to say “he is with God” or “she’s in heaven with real angels.” I will snif a few tears when Weird Al passes away.

The unfortunate thing for Farrah is that she died on the same day as Michael. She didn’t even get the moment of reflection that we usually give to the life of a celebrity that has passed.

As for Michael, it was reported this morning that his doctor had allegedly injected him with Demerol shortly before his death and is now missing. More to come about his sad life and death, I am sure.

As for Farrah, she was a good actress, but I had my crush on Jaclyn Smith instead of Farrah. It was interesting that Ryan O’Neil proposed to her a week before she died. Impending death does give an opportunity to repent and to make things right with God.

Somebody reported that O’Neil had proposed to her a number of times, but she had put him off, preferring to remain “without benefit of clergy.” Makes me wonder what her actual beliefs were. Probably pretty messed up, as is to be expected in her world.

It’s interesting how most of these comments show either law or gospel, reprimand or grace.
Comments #6 and #7 best capture mine.

My thoughts are here:

http://chaz-lehmann.livejournal.com/771912.html

Man knows not his time.

There was an interesting article on the Daily Beast about how MJ’s death could see the decline of the Iranian civil unrest. It’s postulated that while the media is distracted, the Iranian government will crack-down and that no one will care to report on it. I hope that this doesn’t end up being the case, but I tend to agree with the theory. If only Americans cared about important things…

Check out Jonah Goldberg on use of the word, “icon”: http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzkwYTNiMmI1Mzg0ZTNjMDNjNGQ0MWQ0MTgzMzAyZTg

Funny, I don’t remember seeing either of them on PBS.

Pete @8 –
What you said about MJ (to the extent I understood) reminded me of a certain bigtime talk radio host.

J, Limbaugh, despite the passionate pizazz is often thoughtful, though at times more a clown than a pagan.

Friends,

I think we should use this time as talking points with our friends, even brethren. Jesus’ response to death in the wake of tragedy, “Unless you repent, you too shall likewise perish.”

Friends, I hear God urging us of the shortness of life and issuing an renewed call to repentance. Life is broken. We are frail. Tragedy puts before us again the result of our great rebellion in human sin: the broken world.

Let us ride this wave of attention to talk about subjects people normally wouldn’t have at the front of their minds: death, Hell, sin, judgement, and our death-conquering, sin-bearing Savior.

Excellent comment, James.

Some of the lyrics from the T.V. Show, ‘Fame’, 1982-1987:

Baby look at me
And tell me what you see
You ain’t seen the best of me yet
Give me time I’ll make you forget the rest

I got more in me
And you can set it free
I can catch the moon in my hands
Don’t you know who I am

Remeber my name
Fame

I’m gonna live forever
I’m gonna learn how to fly
High

I feel it coming together
People will see me and cry
Fame

I’m gonna make it to heaven
Light up the sky like a flame
Fame

I’m gonna live forever
Baby remember my name

Remember”

I will remember Farrah Fawcett chiefly for her small but memorable role in Robert Duvall’s The Apostle.

And now another great American pop-culture icon is dead of apparent stroke at 50 – TV infomercial pitchman (shades of Ed McMahon!) Billy Mays.

Kaboom!

Get this about Farrah, from the Wall Street Journal:
Who Is John Galt, and What Is His Sign?
Did you know that the author of “Atlas Shrugged” was a fan of “Charlie’s Angels”? We know this thanks to blogress Amy Wallace, who interviewed angel Farrah Fawcett a few months before Fawcett’s death last week. It seems Ayn Rand contacted Fawcett in the 1970s, wanting her to play protagonist Dagny Taggart in a film version of “Atlas” (which still has yet to be produced).

As Fawcett explains, what attracted Rand to “Charlie’s Angels” was the complete absence of character development:

At the time that Ayn contacted me about Atlas Shrugged, my only real familiarity with her work was the movie version of her previous novel, The Fountainhead, with Gary Cooper. I remember liking the movie because it was unique in that the characters seemed to be the embodiments of ideas as opposed to real flesh and blood people with interests and lives. Now that I think about it, I think that’s why Ayn was drawn to Charlie’s Angels. Because the characters that Kate [Jackson], Jaclyn [Smith] and I played weren’t really characters (the audience never saw us outside of work) as much as personifications of the idea that three sexy women could do all the things that Kojak and Columbo did. Our characters existed only to serve the idea of the show (even “Charlie” was just a faceless voice on a speaker phone).
The most shocking revelation, though, is this:

Ayn contacted me with a personal letter (and a copy of Atlas Shrugged) through my agents. Even though we had never met (and never did), she seemed to think we must have a lot in common since we were both born on the same day: February 2nd.
Who knew that Ayn Rand, scourge of mystics (of spirit and of muscle!), was superstitious about birthdays?