The Rise of “The Fall of…”

I distinctly remember where I was when Michael Jackson died. After a flood of messages woke me up, I spent the morning in my apartment glued to the television, flicking between stations to see if it were really true. Like the rest of the world, I watched as the story unfolded; Whether from grief, disbelief or simply shock, the world was thrown into a disconcertion not seen since the deaths of Elvis Presley or John Lennon. The entire scene was unlike anything I’d ever seen before, but what struck me the most was a paparazzo’s comment that when he sold his photograph of Jackson in an ambulance, he would be able to retire.

It’s a morbid commentary on our society that our cultural obsession with celebrity has entered into such a macabre territory. We love artists on their way to success but once they achieve it, we love nothing more than to watch them fall. We all have commented on celebrities we think are ticking time bombs a la Amy Winehouse and Lindsay Lohan, and reveled when news breaks of a pop star going to rehab. Like the old adage says, everybody loves a good tragedy. Lady GaGa summed it up  perfectly in a recent interview, when asked whether she’s worried about falling prey to the Hollywood curse she responded, “That’s what everyone wants to know, right? What is she going to look like when she dies … when she’s overdosed on whatever they think I’m overdosing on? Everybody wants to see the decay of the superstar.” And the sad part is, that’s completely true.

In late 2006/early 2007 that’s exactly what the world got when Britney Spears went into free fall, divorcing her then-husband via text message, shaving her head, losing custody of her children, and eventually losing control of her financial and business interests. And, unfortunately for her (fortunate for us) it was all played out in the tabloids. It was as if because she was famous, she was seen as a character, not a person, and when she was taken on psychiatric hold, people failed to see a young woman in desperate need of help but rather viewed the footage in the way they would a scripted television show. Major news outlets even had pre-prepared eulogies ready to run if the worst were to happen, but probably the most heartless reporting on the situation came from controversial celebrity blogger, Perez Hilton, who instead of expressing concern for a woman in trouble, commented that “Friday was the busiest day we’ve ever had on perezhilton.com! Over the course of 24 hours, we had over 10 million page views. 10,089,428 to be exact. That’s insane! Thanks, Britney!”

It seems as if we’re all on celebrity death-watch again with Charlie Sheen’s recent battles with drugs, with even “Two and a Half Men” creator Chuck Lorre making light of the situation through his production company vanity card, “I exercise regularly. I eat moderate amounts of healthy food. I make sure to get plenty of rest. I see my doctor once a year and my dentist twice a year. I floss every night. I’ve had chest x–rays, cardio stress tests, EKG’s and colonoscopies. I see a psychologist and have a variety of hobbies to reduce stress. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do drugs. I don’t have crazy, reckless sex with strangers. If Charlie Sheen outlives me, I’m gonna be really pissed.”  The world really is on edge to see the highest paid television actor of recent time self destruct – as long as it doesn’t interrupt the filming of their favourite sitcom’s season finale.

Whether it’s through a morbid fascination or strictly an extension of our celebrity obsession, a celebrity’s death will always make headlines and will always sell papers. Consider it the catch 22 of celebrity, people will always try and tear them down while they’re living, but in death they become more. As John Lennon put it, ironically in an interview with Rolling Stone five days before his own death, “People want dead heroes, like Sid Vicious and James Dean. I’m not interested in being a dead fucking hero, so forget ‘em.” Unfortunately for John, that’s exactly what the public craves.

24 Feb 2011, 4:17pm Blog Street by admin
1 comment

One Response to “The Rise of “The Fall of…””

1. Terry Shadazz says:

   May 5, 2011 at 10:25 pm

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