A young woman sat next to me on the subway this morning. I asked her how the death of Michael Jackson has hit her.
“Does it make you feel nostalgic?”
“I don’t have time to be nostalgic.”
This is morbid but Jackson’s death spells big TV ratings and special commerative issues of magazines like Time and People. What other icons would generate this kind of reaction? Madonna? Paul McCartney? Tom Hanks? I suppose part of it would have to be someone dying young, or in an untimely fashion.
Whadda ya hear, whadda ya say?
You just start up convos with strangers on the train AB?
What made you ask her?
Leitch had a column asking that in a sports context yesterday, it was interesting.
I definitely think McCartney, Madonna, Jordan. The one thats gonna be the most fascinating I think however is O.J. Can you imagine?
Obama ...
[3] Well yeah. But the death of a sitting President is the whale of all news stories, thats like 9/11 levels.
[3] Any President dying in office would provoke such a reaction, but Obama has a certain celebrity right now that probably makes him the obvious answer. Of course, if he should die of violent means, I shudder to think about the reaction.
I would also add Tiger Woods to the list.
D, I do start up conversations with strangers, jeez, practically daily.
LOL.
What made me ask her? I had to squeeze over in my seat a little so when she sat I asked, "You okay?" She smiled, said yes, and I had the paper open to a MJ thing, so I just asked.
Tiger, good call. Jordan, definitely.
Karim Garcia?
[5] That and a popular child celebrity (Jonas Bros.) who hasn't grown up to be a douche.
Muhammed Ali .... THAT would be huge!
Ali no doubt.
On a purely local level, Steinbrenner. Thats gonna be HUGE around here. It feels weird saying that (almost like I'm looking forward to it or something) but it's true. The amount of coverage when George closes his eyes is gonna be nuts.
[11]
(a bit shamefully) I had Boss George in my Dead Pool ...
[2] Second on OJ Simpson, Raging. Too bad that won't be the one to end them all, seeing as it was the one that started all this.
Though I can't see many positive keepsakes being sold to commemorate OJ.
Also on the negative but huge side, Barry Bonds.
Also somewhat on the negative side, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan. Oh, and Paris Hilton. Though I could see commemorative US Weekly issues for them.
The thing is, you can't predict this.
If 6 months ago someone told you Michael Jackson's death would spark this giant week long outpouring of public mourning and nostalgia (not to mention what seems to be instant absolution of all his perceived sins) you would've probably called them "crazier than Michael Jackson"...and yet here we are.
In NY especially, Yogi and Joe T. Yogi probably the most. Hopefully he will live forever.
MJ was pretty singular though. I think the only person I've been asked about as much as MJ when I've been in foreign countries is GWBush. People are considerably more enthusiastic about MJ than W. Also, American pop music is global and transcendent like no American sport is. Maybe David Beckham?
Pele perhaps?
Beckman is a good call, though not in the country.
Also, nobody over 65 gets a commerative issue. Those have to be because of tragedies, so while lots of these guys would be mourned, there will be no special SI issue when Yogi or Pele dies.
[19] Yeah but Mantle got that SI cover, and it ended up being one of their biggest selling issues ever. And that was someone we knew was dying.
When Bono goes my wife is going to be like one of those screaming, shaking, wailing teenagers at a Beatles concert. Yikes.
magic johnson will be big too i think -
[14] yeah gotta agree with raging
i think MJ is pretty unique.....you need a maniacal world-wide following, and i don't think anyone mentioned rises to that level.
sure, madonna's untimely death would be a big story, but i just don't see people showing up in great numbers at a public viewing of her corpse. ditto that with tom hanks. mccartney? his time has passed and he's old. not the same like lennon.
ali could provoke an outpouring of emotion, but, he's pretty old and frail, so there wouldn't be the suddeness of it.
beckham actually probabaly would get a pretty strong reaction around the world, but definitely not in the states.
and with the well-documented fragmentation of popular culture, you have to wonder whether there'll every be someone like MJ again. i have my doubts.
The later of Ringo or Paul. The last Beatle dying will be huge. Elvis may have been the King, but I think the Beatles, by far, had the greatest effect on contemporary music. When the last Beatle goes, it will truly be the end of an era.
I dont believe there is any one one in the caliber of Michael Jackson ,but someone who's crazy life comes close . Mike tyson if he dies young?
Oprah Winfrey would be hugh!!! besides for the obvious in obama and bill Clinton.
Oprah will also be big. Is she considered the most influencial woman around?
Oprah possibly is the most influential women in the world ,although i am not sure maybe queen Elizabeth is more,but it is definitely those two.
for some reason, the headline reminded me of a great song, "fallin'" by de la soul and teenage fanclub. its one of those niche "woe is me" rap songs i enjoy so much... another is "what's up fatlip?"
[0] I'm wonderin', too...
So is Neil...
: )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LQCQ6LhH9w
PJ,
Dude I linked to that video earlier in the year. BY FAR my favorite Neil Young song...classic call.
[29] I thank you, and my friend Anthony Crawford (one of the Shocking Pinks) thanks you...
How is that for some nostalgia?
: )
When Neil Young kicks the bucket .... *I'll* be devastated ...
(same goes for Dave Brubeck
==========================
When Nelson Mandela passes .... THAT'LL be world-wide.
a good one that already happened: Arafat.
no one in the media quite knew how to approach that one
[31] "When Nelson Mandela passes …. THAT’LL be world-wide."
See also the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet, Tenzin Gyatso.
"Big hitter, the Lama - long..." - Bill Murray as Carl Spackler in Caddyshack
[33] "when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness."
I have had some antipathy about this whole thing as a result of the money he paid to those involved in the child molester stuff, but the degree of his reported drug dependence has actually made me feel a little sympathetic toward him.
[14] Wow, I could not disagree more. I think that's crazier than Michael Jackson!
And no there's no-one else that would elicit this kind of reaction. Certainly not someone as old as McCartney.
"Maybe David Beckham?"
But the news would be topped when Capello still picked him for the next World Cup.