I've been drinking a wee bit of "Bullet" bourbon, so my filters are off...
I think I have as much sympathy as the next guy, and after the support I received during my "year from hell" I don't want this to sound callous or unfeeling, but let's be totally frank here...
Ed McMahon was a pitchman on the Atlantic City boardwalk who found himself at the right place at the right time when he hooked up with Johnny Carson. He was a man of moderate talent and apparently limited financial accumen who squandered his money and in the end depended on the kindness of people like Donald Trump (did you ever think you'd hear the word kindness and Donald Trump used in the same sentence?) to keep a roof over his head.
Am I sorry he's dead? Sure... for all intents and purposes he appears to have been a decent, God-fearing man, and his passing in some ways signaled the end of an era. I grew up hearing Ed say; "Heeeree's Johnny!", and waited with baited-breath to receive his letter in the mail telling me that I "might have already won $1,000,000". But push come to shove, he was just a pitchman.
Now; As for Michael Jackson... A musical Icon who changed the face of pop music? Yes... A tortured soul? Yes... The product of a dysfunctional family? Yes... A PEDOFILE WHO'S FAME AND MONEY KEPT HIM OUT OF JAIL? YES!!!
I respect his talent, but between McMahon, Fawcett and Jackson, his is the death I will mourn the least. Regardless of the reasons and excuses, regardless of his family history, he just wasn't a particularly good person. It always bothers me when fame and money (cough, cough, OJ) exempts one from taking responsibility for one's weaknesses.
I have to wonder if Phil Spector dropped dead in his jail cell tomorrow if we'd have the same reaction as we do to MJ's death? Phil's influence on pop music was arguably as great or even greater than Michael Jackson's, but would we hold him in the same esteem as we seem to hold MJ? I doubt it... Michael was a public persona, where Phil was a "behind-the-scenes" kind of guy.
And finally, Farrah... What can I say about Farrah? Yes, I had the poster; yes, I masturbated to it. There! - I admit it! And I think that of the three, I have the most sympathy for what she and her family went through during the last few months of her life; I also admire her determination and her decision to document her last days on film. I will indeed mourn her passing. Still, and I admit it's unfortunate, but I will always remember her most for her obviously drug or alcohol influenced appearance on David Letterman.
But does the fact that she was a beautiful woman who, primarily through opportunity and beauty, led an ideal life, make her passing more tragic than the working mother of 5 who died of the same affliction? What does that say about us as a people?
OK... OK... I know this is a real downer of a post and to tell the absolute truth it's not REALLY about Ed or Michael or Farrah; but the point I'm trying to make is that it seems that we (Americans?) tend to put our Cultural Icons on pedestals and tend to overlook all the warts and foibles that they drag up there with them...
And NOW, BlckmstrNYC, my Northeastern brotha in arms... to the REAL reason I responded to this post.
I'll admit, I haven't seen Public Enemies yet, but come on... Johnny Depp and Christine Bale, and directed by Michael Mann? This guy brought us Miami Vice and the overlooked and under-rated Dennis Farina TV show "Crime Story"... He introduced Hannibel Lectner to the world in "Manhunter" with a relatively unkown William Peterson (CSI). He gave us "Thief" with James Cann, another overlooked and underated film; "Heat" with Pacino and DeNiro together for the first time, and "Collateral Damage" with Tom Cruise as a fuckin' BAD GUY!
Michael Mann has NEVER made a so-so film! I must take umbrage at your asessment. I totally respect you as a hobbyist, and your comments about the new Terminator film were dead-on, but there is NO WAY a Michael Mann film can be called "So-So"! 
-- Modified on 6/25/2009 11:06:39 PM
your not suppose to drink and drive same should be said for drinking and posting lol
Honest Officer... nobody was driving... we was all in the back seat singing!!!
Seriously, I didn't really have that much to drink; I take full responsibility for my post.
but you see that there is another American sickness, people expecting you to apologize for everything you say, esp. regarding the departed who apparetly suddenly become saints! (of course i'm sure that wasn't the poster's point, but still)
i say deal with it people
all your idols are false, esp. the dead ones!
you sanctimonious bitches! 
LOL
[no alcohol was consumed in writing this post]
I believe the word "Saints", by convention, should be capitalized! LOL
Glad to see someone gets my point!
So I'm surfing the net about Michael Jackson, and there's actually some idiot from NYC who compares hearing about MJ's death to hearing about John F. Kennedy's assassination!
Quote: "It's like when Kennedy was assassinated; I'll always remember being in Times Square when Michael Jackson died", end quote.
Get real!
Exactly. This guy was nothing like Jonas Salk, Einstein or (insert name here of somebody who truly helped society). He was a whack job who had some music/dance talent. He hung babies by their feet from balconies. It amazes me that folks are holding a vigil for him at UCLA Medical Center. Won't they be disappointed when it turns out that a bad mixture of drugs killed this guy.
I have more respect for the folks who are dying in Iran because of an election.
Because mine is how the freakin' TV news coverage beats a story like the passing of an entertainer to death (yes, the pun was intended).
My God....I am saddened by the passing of any human being (except a few), but the fact that Michael Jackson died is not the ONLY news story today! The Today Show has had non-stop coverage of a story that should have taken 5 minutes, tops. Beyond "Michael Jackson died from an apparent heart attack today," what the f*ck else do they really have to tell me????
I'm old enough to remember when the evening news was about... well, news! First you had the local news (in Philly, it was Gunner Back or John Fascenda), then you had the national news with Cronkite or Huntley and Brinkley.
Then way back in 1981, Entertainment Tonight showed up. So if you really gave a shit about movie stars or music stars or TV stars, you could watch the news and THEN watch ET.
Nowdays, with a bizillion 24-hour cable news networks, they need to fill the time with anything they can find; unfortunately there's usually just not enough news to fill an entire day, and not enough to go around so that all of these news channels just rehash the same story over and over again.
To be honest, I get a lot of my news from The Daily Show with Jon Stewart... It actually deals with the important issues of that day, and takes shots not at one particular party but at whatever assinine thing ANY politician did that day.
Sinatra was an icon. Michael Jackson was a beat off.
One, Miami Vice the movie was a horrific affront to one of the greatest TV shows ever, so Mann can certainly make a bad film (whether he can make a so-so film is another question, I guess). Two, Michael Jackson is an alleged pedophile. Plenty of evidence of strange behavior (sleepovers, etc.), but he was never charged in the first incident and he was found not guilty of all charges in the other.
Fasteddie.. I hear you. None were my idols. However, at some point each of these people invoked ALOT of great emotions to ALOT of people. Right place right time? Yep. Talented? Varies. But they were the ones who did it. Everyone knows Michael Jordan. No one remembers Harold Minor. John Lennon wasn't the most upstanding guy either (having affair after affair even though he was married) but I sure as hell enjoyed his contribution music.
If those of you who are married are offended.. sorry.. but it is what it is. I have friends who are married and fool around on the side. I love them but I can't do that.
If I held everyone I know to the same standards I hold for myself I wouldn't talk to anyone. Granted, I wouldn't hang out with a pedophile like R. Kelly but that's one of those "I draw the line there" type of things. If you do crazy things or need to lie I'd want to know why first before I condemn you to eternal damnation lol.
MJ - If I had any kids I wouldn't have left them with him. I wouldn't leave them with my neighbors either since I know less about them than I did MJ. Since he settled out of court I still have to wonder what really went on.
OJ - the 95 jury gave the right verdict based on the testimony. What bothered me most was that people assumed he did it BEFORE the Bronco chase. Lending his name to that book "If I did it" to me was reprehensible.
Nixon - Another bozo. I hope folks have heard some of the recently released tapes.
Phew - okay.. onto "Public Enemies" - there were some cool moments, but overall it was flat as a pancake. I like Mann's work but our audience was left a bit dulled when it was over. I'd give it a C+.
Tonight I have to (ugh) see "Transformers ROTF" - I'm praying for a miracle.
Since director Michael Mann's name was raised.
I enjoy most of his films and I agree he's one of the most interesting directors working today. I disliked "Miami Vice" but think "Collateral" is the best movie ever made about L.A.
Does he always hit the mark. Nope, but what I admire about him and why I always go and see his work is that he continually pushes himself to make intelligent films and tries new techniques -- unlike Michael Bay of "Transformers" fame who's in it for the moolah.
