by Rob Morgan

Remember Him For The Chimp

Rob Morgan rejects the idea that we should only remember Michael Jackson for his music…

Barack Obama said recently that he "didn't see any controversy" in omitting to make a formal public statement about Michael Jackson's death.

So the failure of the leader of the free world to comment within a few days of death is seen as a sort of snub to the King of Pop and even, the story runs, the whole black community.

Don't get me wrong, this isn't one of those columns complaining that the public hysteria is disproportionate, a New Diana, or even that there are more important things to worry about.

Even before he'd been confirmed dead, internet contrarians were already moaning that it wasn't news!

This is a guy who has sold 750 million albums and changed music. He was one of the most famous people in the world, with a global recognition that is unparalleled. What do these people think news IS?

We have this crazy idea in Britain that if our public figures comment on a small thing, it is at the expense of something more important they should be doing.

The Prime Minister can comment on Susan Boyle and still be running the country. Whether you think less of him for watching, that's up to you.

So it's OK for Brown to comment if he wants, for Obama to comment when he gets round to it and for the internet to go mad all week. It's maybe even OK for Sky News to show the Thriller video when they should be reporting from Iran. It's all fine.

One of the most common pleas in the tributes has been to tell us to remember Jackson for the music. That's always a bad sign. When Farrah Fawcett died on the same night, we automatically knew to think of Charlie's Angels. Nobody had to tell us to forget all about about the incident with the donkey butlers, because there wasn't one.

Michael Jackson is perhaps the best example of a whole life given over to the voracious celebrity entertainment industry. It's the only existence he ever knew and for most of the time, he happily reaped its benefits. Towards the end, the machine turned on him, which is a shame. There is a personal tragedy tied up in this.

Here's the thing: the personal tragedy doesn't matter. OK, if you actually know his kids, you should stop reading this. You clutch Prince, Paris-Michael and Blanket to your chest and tell them Diana Ross will be an excellent mother. It's sad.

But you don't know his kids, do you? As far as the world is concerned, what happened on 25 June is Michael Jackson the giant global celebrity died. He sails down the Thames no more. That's a big deal.

At the exact same moment, a 50 year old man you don't know had a heart attack and effectively orphaned three children. Countless other 50-somethings died the same day, and of course this life is no more valuable than the rest.

This is why everyone gets all confused and cross, because they can't separate the two. Some people think it's grotesque to worry about one man when millions die all the time, others think it's disrespectful to the King of Pop to treat him like all those nobodies.

The simple truth is, for the world, a celebrity died, not a person.

When a celeb dies, we get to have any reaction we want. Send the jokes. Don't be sneery, the jokes are a beautiful thing. They serve that immediate need for creative human connection.

People all across the world know one thing their friends and relatives are thinking and attempt to raise a forwarded smile. It's like a Michael Jackson video. He ought to approve.

And when a celeb dies, he dies for all of us. You don't have to focus on the music, you can think about whatever you like. The life of Michael Jackson exists in people's minds, all of it, all at once. It may not shake down the way the fans would like.

Do you remember Remember The Time? It was the second single off Dangerous and featured Eddie Murphy and Iman in the video. That's less important than the fact Jackson held his baby over a fourth-floor balcony.

Or Scream? The song where Michael finally dueted with Janet, the most expensive music video ever made. For all its fuss, Scream has always been somewhat disregarded. Scream, I'm afraid, is less of a thing than the fact Jackson used to keep a chimp called Bubbles in his private zoo.

And Thriller? The whole Thriller phenomenon, the crowning moment of Jackson's career. That's about equal to the fact he was twice accused of child abuse.

That might seem unfair, but Jackson made his bargain with the occult in the 80s. He sold himself to all of us, we own him now. We are the world.

People who don't realise that end up looking foolish. The day after he died, Newsnight Review discussed his legacy with the black actor and playwright Kwame Kwei-Armah.

He had a thoughtful point to make about race. He talked about "the moment" Michael tragically decided to become white. Miranda Sawyer asked him when that "moment" was.

He said it was "after Off The Wall, and Thriller". That "moment" spans almost ten years.

The mistake Kwei-Armah made was in assuming that as a fan of classic Motown and a representative of a community, Michael Jackson belongs to him. It took a Smash Hits reader to correct him, because that's where Jackson the celebrity lived. Jackson doesn't fit in to big sociopolitical theories and he doesn't belong to communities.

He was the people's megastar, and I'm afraid the people will choose to remember him not just for the zombies, but also for the chimp.

[REPLACE]

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