the news came through? Have a feeling people will be talking about it for years to come. Prosaically we were watching tv and a newsflash came up. As a kid I wasn't a huge Jacko fan, but my early teens were punctuated with the sounds of Rock With You and Don't Stop Till You Get Enough, both of which remind me of boring Mondays spent at the local youth club playing pool (or rather watching boys I didn't fancy playing pool).
I have to say though, iconic as Jacko is (and much as I've grown to appreciate the music more - I hated it at the time), I'm actually sadder about the death of Farrah Fawcett. When she and hte other Angels burst onto our screens in 1976, I think it was probably the first time I'd ever seen a programme where girls kicked ass. I know, I know. It was incredibly sexist and they all had to run around in little bikinis (unlike my other heroines of the time, Purdey and Jaime who kicked ass but didn't have to demean themselves quite so much to do it), but.... here were these really pretty feminine women going around beating up villains and solving crime, which was a bit of a revelation frankly. Plus I wanted Farrah's hair. I have to fess up to liking Kate more, because she was the nerdy dark haired one and I know my place, but... really Farrah was just so cool and we all wanted to be her.
So, while I think it sad that Jacko has died so suddenly, and I think his whole life was quite a tragic one in a way, I feel sorrier that Farrah has died. She was inspirational for a generation of little girls, and I was certainly one of them.
5 comments:
I'm rather unmoved, apart from the "no man is an island" aspect. Never watched Charlie's Angels; what little I saw of it looked shallow and silly beyond belief. Never cared for the "Gloved One"'s music, and I think his evidently damaged life is a textbook example of why children in the public eye need to be shielded from their own celebrity.
If anything, I'm a little sorry for F.F. whose period of mourning and media retrospectives have been blown into oblivion with Jackson's passing.
In the kitchen this morning, heard it on the radio. Literally said Oh my God out loud.
He was a mixed bag wasn't he? The music was sublime and I loved it. Particularly Off the Wall and Thriller. Not much of a music fan or concert goer, but the concert I went to in 1988 was out of this world.
But his life was so tortured and he was such a sad, strange personality. It slightly sullies it a bit.
Still, I've been listening to the tributes all day and the boy could make your toes tap. And the dancing!!!
As for Farah, yes, that's sad too, but she was never going to be as iconic as MJ. His records were sold all over the world, that's why he's getting the attention and rightly so.
I wasn't a Farah fan myself. I preferred Kate. (Never keen on big hair me. And oh,was she blonde? I didn't notice).
Mad Twinx
Persephone, I didn't get his music at all growing up but I am with my other half on the toetapping quality of it. That boy could make you dance. However, also agree with my twin about the weirdness/sadness of his life and also agree about protecting children in public eye.
Charlie's Angels totally shallow, but it appealed to me as a kid because the heroines were tough,and when we were growing up that didn't happen very often. So, actually MT, going to disagree. I know MJ obviously hugely more iconic then Farrah, and I too liked Kate more, but I think CA was quite feminist in a way.
I'm not saying CA wasn't iconic and groundbreaking. I too liked the idea of girls being the heroes. It's just that is mainly what FF was known for and while I recognise it's importance, it is not in the same league as MJ that's all. He was a world famous child star who then created the top selling album of all time, invented the pop video and had two other major albums. And a commentator made me realise today how important he was to young black boys in particular, and how he showed boys it was OK to dance...
One of his tragedies was how unhappy he was (literally) in his own skin. And despite all the friends who claim he had an illness, I think he did seem to be having a desire to become more white, which was really sad. (But not uncommon -when I lived in London I used to see a young woman with mental health problems who would paint herself white- a friend told me they saw a lot of it on the wards...)
MT
PS And actually, I don't think it was Kate that I liked, it was the one with very dark hair (Sabrina?)
Kate Jackson played Sabrina Duncan, Farrah was Jill Munroe and Jaclyn Smith, the one I didn't like was Kelly Garrett. Take your point, but personally still feel sadder about Farrah and like Persephone said, seems a bit sad that her obits got swamped. Why are we talking on my blog and not on the phone???
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