A Thriller no more
It has been a little over a week since Michael Jackson passed away. A number of my friends are traveling to Los Angeles to go lay a flower on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, or make a trip to the Neverland Ranch to pay their respects. It is amazing how his death has suddenly made people realize what his life meant. I, like so many others, had forgotten how much his music had meant to me and the influence his videos had on me growing up. Last week brought back all of those in a flood as we looked up his various performances on DVD and some of the rarer ones on YouTube, reminiscing. Clearly, others felt the same, as when news of his death hit the various bulletins, the Internet slowed down and many sites crashed including Twitter, Wikipedia. Reportedly, Google searches were also impacted.
The debate about his death and his life will go on. Sensationalism will prevail, and I have no idea of what is true about his personal life. However, all this will put the spotlight back on what truly should be his legacy – his music and his constant innovations that put him in a different league altogether. Whether it be perfecting the “moonwalk”, or filing a patent for gravity-defining boots, incorporating jaw-dropping special effects, or even that little hiccup he managed to introduce in many of his songs giving them the edgy feel, he was always innovating to turn up every performance that extra notch. His ‘Thriller’ still manages to stop people from what they’re doing and glance at the screen, even after 25 years.
That his art inspired a new generation of artists with his wizardry is perhaps an understatement. True innovation can come from leveraging the network as a platform in so many different ways, but it can also come from the genius of a pop star who died an untimely death.
It will take time for the world to reconcile and say Goodbye. May his music and his innovations live on.
Posted by Shashi Kiran at 12:26AM PST
Stan Duvet Jul 6, 2009
Yessir. He was inspiring to say the least.