30 Jun 09 A Michael Jackson/Mark Sanford retrospective

As news of Michael Jackson’s death struck the airwaves recently, I found myself somewhat detached from the media frenzy. For one thing, I first saw the news on FML. How strange is that? And yet it seems somewhat appropriate. I have always regarded Michael Jackson as a curiosity, an aberration. My first memories of him were reading about him in a World Book “yearbook”–1995, I think. There was a picture of him holding hands with Lisa Marie Presley. He was wearing black kneepads and a military-esque jacket and (I believe) dark aviator sunglasses. It was a rather disturbing image and one for which I had no context. The only reason I could discern for his fame was his eccentricity. His death prompted me to examine his artistic and enterntainment career more closely. I was naturally curious about what I was missing in light of a plethora awestruck obits. I have come to view Michael Jackson in a much different light as a result of this review. His body of work as an entertainer is legendary and without compare. His peak in the ’80s produced hits that transcend pop music because of Michael Jackson’s unique artistic abilities. He expands upon the merely catchy pop song by transferring emotion to his songs, embellishing them with his signature aural style. His incredibly skilled and unique dancing also propelled his stardom further through the burgeoning music video medium. No performer since has captured his world-class ability to combine an exceptional song with exceptional performance. His vocal performance captures his audience through his seamless transition of his unique self onto his songs. His visual performance further echoes this transposition of uniqueness through a singular dance style. His Motown performance of “Billie Jean” cemented in my mind his status as an unparalleled entertainer. I have come to appreciate his body of work in ways that I had not considered prior to his death. The somewhat tragic later years of his life should not obscure his legacy as a performer to those that have forgotten or those unfamiliar to begin with.

Mark Sanford’s affair that unfolded quite enthrallingly in the media has provided interesting fodder for the left. Those with left-leaning tendencies have used his affair as an opportunity to recall the recent imbalance of public infidelity of the right compared to the left (Ensign, Craig, etc.). I don’t necessarily have a problem with this when used to bring to light the extreme hypocrisy of many of these politicians who often publicly criticize “immoral behavior” while engaging in the very behavior which they claim to transcend. I think, however, that care should be taken to ensure that the left is not holding these indiscretions over the heads of their opponents in the same way that hypocritical politicians have in the past. Public figures on both sides of the aisle are susceptible to scandal; they are still human, after all (we think). I think once the point regarding hypocrisy has been made as well as it can, we should take to go no further with these scandals. Using them as evidence of our suppposed superiority over the right simply brings us down to their hypocritical level. It also threatens to distract from the more cogent policy differences by devolving the issues into ad hominem attacks. Mark Sanford had a very human moment. I would hope that he learns his lesson about “preaching” to other people about their suppposed “mistakes.” But once the initial point has been made, this should be dropped. By his own admission, he faces a complex aftermath. As a human being, he deserves to be able to work his own feelings about this privately. From his own accounts of his extramarital relationship, he may be still in love with this Argentinian woman; if the public scrutiny is the only thing preventing him from being with his true love, I would consider it a shame.

Tags: Mark Sanford, Michael Jackson