Death and Other Tragedies

The tragic, though expected, death of Farrah Fawcett and the shocker that was the sudden demise of Michael Jackson apparently wasn’t enough for some on the Internet Thursday. They thought it would be fun to perpetuate a hoax that actor Jeff Goldblum had also died. There was also an Internet rumor that Harrison Ford was missing and presumed dead.

That is so NOT funny. There really are some whack jobs out there.

I was not a big fan of either, though Farrah definitely had her share of good roles and MJ some songs I can’t deny liking. (I actually liked to watch him dance more than I liked the music. Envious, I guess because I can't make two steps correspond.) The mother and I watched the Farrah special a few weeks ago and I have to admit, she was quite the gutsy broad. Some people criticized the show because they said it was her flaunting her ability to seek out alternative treatments, something so many other people are denied.

Well, I hate to break it to you folks, but it’s people like her, with money and fame, who are key to getting a cure for the rest of us. And you have to respect anyone who opens themselves completely up under the worst of circumstances to draw attention to such a horrible plight.
If it makes even a handful of people look differently at cancer patients, or if the results of the alternative treatments spark anything remotely resembling a cure, then she did a wonderful thing in the last days of her life.

As for Jackson, he was on the verge of a big comeback tour. Maybe it would have worked out for him. Maybe not. (It’s at this point that the mother would say perhaps he was spared a worse fate. He was after all $400 million in debt by some estimates, more money than most of us can ever comprehend having, much less owing.)

It sometimes seems that the most talented people are also among the most screwed up I don’t hold him entirely responsible for that. His childhood was stolen from him and what there was of it, he suffered cruelly at the hands of his father.

No wonder he wanted so desperately to be somebody else. I guess it’s not a coincidence that there is such an exceedingly thin line between genius and madness.