Media Criticism

I watched the end of the interview with Michael Jackson’s father on Tuesday night.  It really is agitating to me just to hear him speak.  I’m not sure why, but that man just gives me the willies.  As per my normal routine, after everyone else is in the bed, I watched Tuesday’s show of The View. 

The show started out with the five women discussing sex and movies and as the first the commercial break came around, Barbara Walters made a comment something like “well at least we are not talking about Michael Jackson for a change”.  When the show returned, the subject was definitely approached again.

Finally, after much banter, my favorite comedian, favorite lady of the show and extremely smart woman said, with disgust I add, “you know what bugs me about this?  That Michael Jackson is the gift that just keeps on giving”.  She was being looked at by her tablemates like she might have bumped her head. 

Then, she continued, “Supposedly Debbie Rowe was paid $4 million dollars to sign away her rights to her children, Latoya Jackson goes on the record to say that she thought MJ was killed, but she was paid $2 Million dollars to do that interview and MJ’s dad was paid an enormous number of millions to do the interview on ABC.  Why is it that the man is gone and people are still making money off of him?  Just….just….just stop with it….bury the man…figure out where you are going to bury him and….and stop with all this.”

Now that was really a big paraphrase session but you know, I”m with Whoopie.  The very people who were nowhere around to help MJ when he needed help are the people making millions off of him now that he is dead.

And now, now 2 kids that may or may not have known who their real mother was and may or may not have known why she didn’t live with them now have to deal with a huge media mess of “Debbie Rowe doesn’t want her children, she took $4 million dollars to go away”.  What the hell?  Who wants to deal with that?

Those kids had led a very sheltered life and now, now there are no more masks, lots of interaction with other family members, the press trying to get at them for one quick photo and then hearing the news that “your mother didn’t want you, she wanted $4 million dollars instead.” 

Gah, what have we come to?  Give me a break.