Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, RIP

Quite a coincidence that two such huge cultural icons should die on the same day.

Fawcett, of course, was not nearly the phenomenon Jackson was. She was just a very beautiful woman who happened to hit it big, thanks in part to a hit TV series (which spawned an equally lame couple of movies) and in part to a poster which seemed to be ubiquitous in 1977. She really wasn't much more than a glorified model, try as she did to transcend that status. But at her peak, she radiated good health, vitality, and a sexuality that most men would have given anything to explore.

I expressed my sympathies for Michael Jackson earlier, in February: http://justnotsaid.blogspot.com/2009/02/good-father.html

Jackson, unlike Fawcett, was an incredible talent, and his music, unlike her beauty, will not fade. It seems unfortunate that he died while right on the verge of a comeback tour which might have gotten him out of debt. Perhaps, from a public image point of view, it's even more unfortunate that he didn't die twenty-five years ago as the still handsome young man who had just made Thriller, the best-selling album of all time. He had already produced his best music by that point, he was still at the height of his dancing powers, and more importantly, hadn't yet been tarred by the child molesting scandals or marred by the never ending plastic surgeries.