Years from now this moment will become the defining tragic symbol of the bankruptcy of media culture that no bailout will cure. It’s too late. For all we know it might be a defining tragic turning point in actual, geopolitical history as well, as the insanely stupid and useless Michael Jackson coverage starved of oxygen what hope was left for the Iranian resistance by blotting it out from the screens and scrutiny of the world.
The whole world is watching…”Billy Jean”.
Nothing could illustrate the triumph of the publicity-industrial-complex (a phrase I coined, by the way) over the fate of real people fighting for their freedom who will now be beaten, tortured and murdered with impunity, at least in part because the media took its collective eye off Iran to give us endless clips of the MJ freak show.
Would it have made a difference in Iran? Maybe not.The fascist theocrats would probably have triumphed anyway, but the impact of the opposition would have been greater, its future more hopeful. The spectacle of brutality might have hounded the regime like the photos of the police dogs did the racist cops of Bermingham, Alabama in the civil rights revolution. But we’ll never know.
I’m not a prudish opponent of “sensationalism”. But if the media can’t see that the events in Iran are genuinely sensational as opposed to fake sensational, that “Neda” is more important than “Billy Jean”, that they don’t necessarily have to be opposed choices, but in this case, by an accident of timing, they were– then….oh forget it.
The whole thing’s disgusting.
PJM Home
BUY The Shakespeare Wars
BUY Explaining Hitler
BUY The Secret Parts of Fortune
Pajamas Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:
1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.
2. Stay on topic.
3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.
4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.
5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.
The clause regarding "hate speech" has been deleted because readers criticized it as being too loosely defined. We agreed.
These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that Pajamas Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pajamasmedia.com.
6 Comments
1. charlie finch:If we could just pound that “Billie Jean” baseline into the “holy city of Qom” (and why does the media repeat the phrase “holy city of Qom” as often as they do “King of Pop”? Is there some Scientology directive about this?), Khameinie would surrender, because you can’t get that hook out of your head! Listen to Little Willie John instead
Jun 28, 2009 - 8:10 am 2. Boaz Roth:agreed, agreed, agreed…however….Don’t you think that once the crackdown solidified earlier this week, making it clear—unfortunately—that nothing would change in the short term, that the media had more or less given up on chasing this one down. Indeed, didn’t the Sanford affair (as it were) already nudge Iran off the top shelf?
Jun 28, 2009 - 10:13 am 3. charlie finch:AP reporting from their offices of massive police beatings and arrests in Teheran. Western press not allowed in streets.
Jun 28, 2009 - 12:21 pm 4. Michael:It’s hard to know what people are following. Certainly Iran got our attention last week. I don’t know that you keep a tragedy front and center to have people concerned about it. Isn’t Hamlet broken up with comedic moments? Aside from brief youtube reports, notice has been out about Gen. Odierno, our highest ranking officer in Iraq, saying that Iran continues to train and supply insurgents in Iraq though his area of operations remains only Iraq, the Israelis are asking the Russians not to supply Iran with the S-300 air defense system. But we all notice other news of interest to us: Farah Fawcett’s funeral is going to be in the Catholic cathedral in downtown LA; I don’t recall seeing her at Mass at the Catholic Student Center in Austin; pity, she could have really created interest in the CYO.
Jun 28, 2009 - 9:34 pm 5. Evil Pundit:It’s interesting to see the way both Left and Right and all those in between have, with the exception of a few crackpots on either side, come together, in spirit at least, to express contempt for the mindless adulation of celebrity that has become the cornerstone of the failed mainstream media.
Thankfully, we have blogs, YouTube and Twitter, so real news can still get some exposure.
Jun 29, 2009 - 1:52 am 6. David Thomson:I am unaware of anytime in history that someone remained the center of attention long after they had nothing more to really contribute. This seems to be a phenomenon of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Michael Jackson was a has-been. He had not done anything significant in years. At most, he should have been an object of pity. I am reminded somewhat of the death of Rudolph Valentino. People of that era went crazy over his early demise. But he died at the top of his acting career.
Jun 29, 2009 - 3:56 am