A few weeks ago in Media And Communications
[a lame class where we look at newspapers and magazines and learn how to write news articles the way we did when we were in junior high so what the hell am I doing learning this as a 22-year-old, my god, this is so incredibly community college, but the teacher is reasonably cool, she rides a motorcycle and is young and hip and I like her pants], this girl in my class
[who is unbelievably stupid, but I try not to hate her for it because it's not like it's her fault that she's dumb, but honestly it's frustrating sometimes because she'll have these little bursts of defiance where she thinks she is courageously challenging what the teacher is telling us, but really she's just being a big idiot] was saying how, oh it's so terrible the way newspapers go on and on about a celebrity when they die, but they don't talk about normal people that way, and how come nobody cares when someone you never heard of dies? She was making a very impassioned speech about it, how society's so evil, and what's wrong with people, oh god.
But it's not evil. There's nothing evil about it. You're allowed to care about the death of somebody you never met, because maybe their work inspired you or touched you or was with you during some significant part of your life and you remember that, and it reminds you of something lovely or something heartbreaking and that's important to you.
You're allowed to not go to pieces over somebody you never heard of, because if you really cared that much about every human being on earth, you'd be miserable all the time.
It's not a reflection of how evil and superficial and uncaring society is. It's an emotional response that makes perfect sense.
Michael Jackson is dead and everyone is sick of hearing about it. But I think I'm allowed to feel a wee bit sad about it, even though I wasn't a particularly big fan and I didn't know him. I'm not saying I'm crying about it or I'm running out to buy all his CDs or I'm thinking about it every second or I'm reading about his life on Wikipedia, and I'm not defending those people. I just feel a little sad and surprised and I really wasn't expecting this. I've heard some really callous things being said by the more cynical people, and to be honest, it's kind of annoying, because I feel like I'm being lumped in with those tools who
are running out to buy all his albums now that he's dead, and that's not who I am. I'm sure somebody has something to say about me writing this at all, but fuck it, I haven't ranted in a good while.
To me, it just feels strange and sad when someone like him, who has been present for my entire existence, just kicks the bucket without any warning. I'm not devastated. But the world feels slightly different each time something like this happens.
You know, as a kid, his music really touched me. And if he hadn't died, I'm sure he would have touched my kids too.
Alright, I did totally steal that joke from School of Rock. And it was inappropriate.
