Peter King vs. The King of Pop

July 7, 1:07 AMNY Social Awareness ExaminerStephanie Tello

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R.I. P Michael Jackson

1958-2009

With Michael Jackson's memorial only a few hours away, many people are voicing their opinions of the media's coverage of Jackson's death. The most vocal and harsh opinion has come from Peter King, a New York Representative and Republican.

Via a youtube video, King said,

" ...People fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan today, cops, firefighters, teachers -- none of whom really get much credit. Yet for the last, I don't know how long now, this low-life Michael Jackson -- his name, his face, and picture is all over the newspapers, television, radio. That's all we hear about is Michael Jackson.

Let's knock out the psychobabble. This guy was a pervert, he was a child molester, he was a pedophile and to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as our country?

I just think we're too politically correct. No one wants to stand up and say we don't need Michael Jackson. He died, he had some talent, fine."

Ouch!

Naturally, this man has a right to say whatever he wants, but as a Michael Jackson supporter, even during the 2003 trial, I find his rant to be very hurtful. The poor guy is dead, let him have some peace. Peace that he wasn't able to have when he lived. Was he a strange character? No question about it. However, our judicial systems does go by the "innocent until proven guilty" mantra, and he was never proven guilty.

In my own opinion, I think MJ was in a constant state of childhood due to the fact that he has stripped of one. We all know the effect childhood trauma has on adulthood and we can only imagine what his early developmental years were like for him. His father was abusive, he was treated as a cash cow and probably every adult in his life rode on his million dollar coat tails. He was severely disturbed but was a genius as an artist. Not to mention the racial barriers he broke. Everyone knows who Michael Jackson is,and I'm sure that a nice white couple in Arkansas once danced to "Rock With You" and enjoyed every minute of it. Every single artist of our generation was influenced by Jackson in some way. He had more than "some talent."

I think the real issue that Peter King brought up, but failed to flesh out, was the fact that as a society we are entirely voyeuristic. We should be hearing about the troops in Iraq, the threat of nuclear attacks by North Korea, or the Military coup in Honduras but we don't want to listen to these things. Watch any of the major networks for news and you barely hear world news, but you will be sure to see a 5 minute segment on the "upset of the year" on American Idol. You will see footage of poor, crazy Britney Spears being placed in the ambulance after police broke down her bathroom door to get her out of her house. The networks want ratings, they could care less that we aren't informing ourselves. They give us what we want, and I hate to say it but I am certainly guilty of this myself. I am a product of my society after all. I would rather pick up US Weekly or Star over any other publication provided to me at the salon or doctor's office, or simply when I'm waiting to pay for my groceries at Key Food.

As a generation, we love hearing about other people's lives because it distracts us from our own. And I even think it makes us feel better when America's sweetheart, Jennifer Aniston, also gets cheated on and dumped. Or when Lindsey Lohan has yet another meltdown. They may have money but they are riddled with problems, just like us.

So, yes, Peter King what does it say about our country? It certainly doesn't say anything good about us. Maybe it is even one of the reasons that our one time Utopian land of the free is becoming more and more of a dystopia. Therefore, King's attack shouldn't have been so much on Michael, because after all it's not his fault we want to know every single piece of news on his death. The fault lies in me and you, and probably people in King's own family who own a yearly subscription to Star Magazine that automatically gets renewed every year.

Let the dead rest in peace.