Too Much To Take In

Everyday has a big news story that is unfortunately overlooked by the majority of people. Occasionally, there's a story that's big enough for people to latch onto and chat about over lunch or with strangers in the grocery store. And, every now and then the "big news story" revolves around some common interest and will really only be the topic of conversation in a small group of friends who share that interest.

I woke up yesterday fully expecting my big news story to be the NBA draft. Stephen Curry was going to the league and I, like most every other Davidson Wildcat waited in anticipation for 7:30 to get here so that we would know where our golden child would end up. However, as I participated in my morning ritual of watching Good Morning America and eating my standard bowl of cereal, Barbara Walters announced to Diane Sawyer that Farrah Fawcett was in her final hours and would likely not make it through the day. Now, Barbara is an experienced and fairly responsible journalist so I knew she wouldn't make a declaration like that had she not just communicated with someone from Farrah's camp, so I prepared myself to let Farrah be the big story of the day.

I was born the year Charlie's Angels ended and was spared going through adolescence during the height of Farrah's popularity. I didn't have to experience the awful duality of having low self-esteem because I didn't (and never would) look like this iconic blonde beauty, and idolizing the woman simply because that's what women did. But, she was Farrah. She was an icon. And it was going to be sad that she died. I was ready to listen to her friends talk about their memories and watch endless media outlets play video tributes to the life that was.

Farrah died...it was all over the news. That is until MJ stole the show as he had done so many times in his life. Suddenly the big news story was major. Bigger than grocery stores, bigger than your small group of friends. It was global. There isn't much that we can honestly say the entire world has in common. Yes, there is religion and if you're "lucky enough" to be Christian, Muslim, Hindu or not religious at all you can probably go around the world and find someone who shares your religious beliefs (or lack thereof). If you're really lucky, you ascribe to a religion that isn't one of the "big dogs" and can still find someone who shares your beliefs. There are also those simple things we have in common like the need to eat, sleep, have shelter. But music, we all share music. Music is global. And there are very few entertainers who were as global as Michael Jackson.

Let's fast forward to 7:30pm. The NBA draft has started. Eventually, Stephen Curry is picked 7th by the Golden State Warriors. What the heck?! They stole him from the Knicks. I've got little more to say about that because the truth is that my attention had already been diverted. I half-heartedly followed the draft and could only briefly hate on Golden State and the entire state of California because I honestly couldn't handle this MJ news.

Thank God for what I once considered to be one of the worst television features created- Picture in Picture (PIP). As I sat waiting to hear where Steph would go, a small corner of my television showed me the scene atop the roof of the UCLA Medical Center, the crowd gathering outside of the Apollo Theater, and of course, fan reactions around the world. This was devastating. But then I got to thinking. We lost Michael Jackson that day, but when you consider it, we had lost him already. So many of us have been holding on to the music of a man that could unite strangers simply by hearing the first 15 seconds of a song. But he was already gone. He was distant, strange, troubled. So, as I mourn the passing of the great Michael Jackson, I realize that I am saddened more by the fact that he is no longer physically with us, because somewhere in me I believe that Michael Jackson left us a long time ago.

So, there it was. Whatever you thought or planned your big news story of June 25, 2009 to be, it likely changed. My friends interested in the draft will probably talk in a day or two about how Steph got stolen by Golden State. Maybe ABC will replay the 20/20 special that Barbara Walters prepared on Farrah Fawcett (interestingly it was originally scheduled to and did air last night). But, this Michael Jackson story will be with us for a while. June 25, 2009 was just too much to take in- "it makes me wanna scream!"