Jun 26, 2009

Bad Luck Comes in Threes

Yesterday, when it was officially announced that Farrah Fawcett died, one of my co-workers said, "I wonder who's next?" It's a bit of a newsroom legend/old wives' tale that bad new, particularly deaths, travel in threes. Who would have guessed that MJ would be next?

I have to say, I liked Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett. They will both always be a part of the pop culture that surrounded me as an American, but MJ was bigger than both of them for me. MJ was a quintessential part of being a child in the 80s. I heard on the news last night that his first TV appearance was in 1969. That's 40 years of public life, and his public life was a part of my private one.

For me, MJ stopped being of interest to me in the mid-90s. After that, things got a little too weird for me and most people my age. While I'm certainly sad to see that he'll never make a big comeback or transition back into the realm of normalcy, I have to say that his death won't likely affect me much more than the initial shock. MJ is already a part of my past, and I was never a part of his life. It was a one-way street that I've stopped traveling.

But that doesn't mean I won't sing along. Don't ever think that.

(I was going to put in the video for Billie Jean here, my all-time favorite, but I can't embed it. You should check it out anyway because it is SO good.)