I think it's interesting that both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away on the same day. It was hard to miss the speculation about their lives and discussions about their legacies. Both led trouble lives, although Farrah seemed to have moved beyond some of that before she died. The question still seems to be -- how will they be remembered?
I think the way any pop icon is remembered largely depends on just that -- your memories of them.
I recently went to Graceland with my teenage son, his debate coach and her husband. Now, all of us were pretty close in age (except my son). Our memories of Elvis was not of the young, hip Elvis of the movies. Rather, we saw him more as the older, troubled Elvis. My son, on the other hand, just knows some of his songs that he downloaded.
It struck me in listening the the endless commentary on the cable channels that how Michael Jackson and Farrah are viewed largely depends on how old you are and where you were in life during their height of their fame.
In the case of Farrah, I was Middle School at the time of her Charlie's Angels fame. Like most girls, I wanted a Farrah do. For me, that image is sort of stuck in my mind.
Michael Jackson's career spanned longer. I remember going to the roller skating rink and skating to the Jackson Five. I had their records -- yes, they were records and not cd's. LOL. I had the forty-fives. (raise your hand if you remember those.)
By the time Thriller came out, I was out of college and working. In some summer youth programs I worked with, I took kids roller skating. And yes, once again, I skated to Michael Jackson's music. (I'll admit it was first time I felt old, because I remember him as a little boy, while none of kids in my group did.)
As I ate breakfast with son while he surfed the cable news channels and watched the images and music of Michael Jackson flashed across the screen, my son commented that he wasn't even born when Thriller came out. (He actually pointed out, too, that Michael Jackson was older than his dad and I. It's nice to know that he realizes somebody is older than us. LOL). He only remembers the scandal of the past few years.
I think because we'd been just been to Graceland and they were comparing Michael Jackson to Elvis, it made me think back to sitting with my mom, watching the news about Elvis dying. Like me and my son, both my mom and I had different images of Elvis, just as he and I did of Michael Jackson and Farrah (who he doesn't a clue who she is.) So I think it all comes back to where we were when they were popular.
So where were you when Farrah and Michael Jackson crossed that line to become icons? Did you have a Farrah do? Did you moon walk? Own their lunch box?
Tales from the Psychic Toolbox ----------------- THE OUIJA BOARD
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*“The magic is inside you. There ain’t no crystal ball.”* Dolly Parton
Crystal balls, Ouija boards, tarot cards, etc. --- objects like these have
become cl...
5 weeks ago

