Celebrities come and go, but it’s rare that two so bold–two cultural icons–die on the same day.
Can you forget Farrah Fawcet in the red bathing suit? Or Michael Jackson’s moonwalk?
Neither one were saints–or even sane, at times–but they sure left an imprint. In my lifetime I saw them rise, rise again … and fall. Hard. Farrah had a comeback as a serious actress after her cover girl days were over, and then got kinda strange, before finally–sadly–succumbing to cancer.
And MiCelebrities come and go, but it’s rare that two so bold–two cultural icons–die on the same day.
Can you forget Farrah Fawcet in the red bathing suit? Or Michael Jackson’s moonwalk?
Neither one were saints–or even sane, at times–but they sure left an imprint. In my lifetime I saw them rise, rise again … and fall. Hard. Farrah had a comeback as a serious actress after her cover girl days were over, and then got kinda strange, before finally–sadly–succumbing to cancer.
And Michael, well … he’s another sort, who just became bizarre and sad and something else entirely, too, until cardiac finally arrest took him down.
Now that they’ve died I’m certainly not going to say that we should immortalize them as being more than they actually were, that we should ignore their flaws, but for the fun, for the magic they brought … they’ve earned a few permanent smiles.
I remembering watching live on TV Michael Jackson’s moonwalk performance at Motown’s 25th Anniversary special. No matter what I thought of his music at that time, it was an extraordinary moment. Mesmerizing. And I also remember Farrah Fawcet on Charlie’s Angels in all it’s cheesy terribleness that you just had to watch because, well … you know.
For reasons I’m not entirely clear about, over the years we’ve been putting more and more importance on celebrity–on fame–despite how ludicrous it usually is. But sometimes people pass through the collective consciousness that just become part of the fabric of how we experience life.
And better or for worse–and with some remarkable highlights in between–Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcet were two of those people.
