1. Michael Jackson is visible. A lot of people are familiar with him. Being able to see him in videos and TV interviews gives us the comfortable illusion that we know him–we’re a very visual species and we tend to believe what we see.

Police, firefighters, etc. do not usually have the same exposure. Once in a while they get it for extraordinary circumstances, like the NYPD and FDNY (I think? not sure about that acronym) after 9/11. But that’s very unusual.

2. Therefore, because on some unconscious level we feel like we know the celebrity, we want to know what is going on with that person, just like we want to know what’s going on with family and friends.

You could produce the same result with everyday professionals, I think. If COPS had the same cops on the show all the time, for instance, or if there were a reality show about teachers, we’d feel like we “knew” them too.

I know not everyone is affected to the same degree and some people can shed the feeling of “knowing” a stranger, and these are the ones bemused by the phenomenon, but I don’t think it’s going to go away any time soon.

The problem is more the exploitation of this by the media rather than the tendency itself. We’re a social animal, no getting away from it. We’d be just as nosy about our families and friends if we had time to hang out with them that wasn’t constantly taken up by work and other obligations. Those of us who live rural lives already have at least some of that time, so rural people are nosier and gossip more, about their neighbors and friends and family as well as celebs. :)

Teachers have a far more limited clientele than football players do, and don’t have the time to pick up endorsements. It’s a completely different work/pay system.

That said, I have purposely avoided stories about McNair, anticipating a lot of venom unleashed in the comments at the woman who killed him, because men kill their girlfriends and wives every single day and nobody calls *them* to account about it other than via the obvious legal consequences (if they don’t commit suicide too). *That* is a discrepancy that bothers me–that a man and a woman can commit the exact same crime but the woman is then considered evil while the guy is just considered sick.

What a world…

Now, I liked his music when I was a kid. And I’m feeling a twinge of that mid-thirties sadness-nostalgia that must afflict all those in my current age group when relatives and favorite celebrities start dropping like flies. I have one grandparent left, my dad has maybe ten years to go at the rate he’s not taking care of himself, and contrary to the illusion perpetuated by permanent video recordings of various actors and musicians, the people who entertain us aren’t staying young either.

Bleh. I want twenty-one back.

Takes money to make money, baby.

I was terribly sad to hear that he died. And my playlist right now is 100% MJ songs. However, strange as it may seem, being as I work for a celeb gossip blog, I haven’t noticed too much coverage. In part because I live in Chile, I’m sure it’s worse in the U.S., in part because the celeb blog I work for isn’t really covering the story, in part because I never watch TV and in biggest part because I only have like two hours a day to use the internet and most of that time is spent working.

Get over yourself, I feel like saying!

And regarding him being an entertainer rather than Mother Theresa… Who cares?! People are loved for different reasons and I don’t really understand why that’s a problem!