The Passing Of Other Cultural Icons

[DemocratSinceBirth]

I can think of some other cultural icons, who arguably had a greater influence on the culture than Michael Jackson, who are getting up there in years or are in failing health. I can only imagine the outpouring of public grief at their passing.

I am not going to name them for that would create bad karma.


But you can imagine who they are.

[Tansy_Gold]

1. There will not be anything like this.

It is not mere celebrity that brought this on. It was the unexpectedness of his, and the mystery of it. But it was also the nature of his celebrity. He was more than a cultural icon -- his fame was as much infamy and scandal as talent and art. As many were appalled as enchanted. He was an icon but also an iconoclast.

Much in his life was extravagant, and so this ending is fitting. I doubt anyone else has lived a life as flamboyant, as full of controversy, as MJ.

[Fumesucker]

3. Lisztomania?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisztomania

Edited to add:

The term "Lisztomania" was coined by the German romantic literary figure Heinrich Heine to describe the massive public response to Liszt's virtuosic piano performances. At these performances, there were allegedly screaming women, and the audience was sometimes limited to standing room only.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. Sinatra and the Beatles,too. But the convergence of

24/7 live tv with MJ's particular -- some might say peculiar -- brand of celebrity is a product of his time.

A more fitting comparison might have been Valentino.

[Fumesucker]

9. I was going for the original..

You are right about Valentino and the others.. but Liszt was probably the first "superstar" in anything approaching a modern sense.

[spanone]

2. jackson has been a star since 1969. he crosses generations...it proves how much the arts move people

[2Design]

5. the media was critical of him just like Diana - people showed they were wrong again n/t

[jobycom]

6. No one living that rivals MJ for cultural and social significance.

Paul McCartney, Mick Jagger, Madonna, Bono, those will all get a lot of attention. And there may be someone we don't really think about, like when Princess Diana was killed. Maybe a shocking death of an actor, as with Heath Ledger.

But MJ was the biggest living cultural icon when he died, and he died unexpectedly, and on the verge of a comeback, and he also died after being mocked for so long, so I think there was a bit of guilt over that. Perfect storm. That'll happen again, but it doesn't happen too often.

[maxsolomon]

7. when an elderly person dies, it doesn't shock the public like this untimely death

untimeliness is the key.

James Brown? he was in his 70's, so no tragic dimension. Kurt Cobain? tragic, but not a pop star on a global dimension. Lennon, tragic, but not beloved because he was a thorny personality that didn't engender pity - Jackson did and does.

[arcadian]

8. Here is a cultural icon you can pass.