OUR CULTURAL VALUES - AT 8:48 P.M. ET:  The grotesque "mourning" over the death of Michael Jackson continues.  The poor taste is phenomenal.  Both Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have now shown up to get their cut of the TV action.  The Christian Science Monitor reports:

LOS ANGELES - Since news of Michael Jackson's passing, there has been an emotional outpouring not seen perhaps since Princess Diana's death in 1997.

The 24-hour news cycle and social media are probably amplifying the reaction. But the response seems genuinely broad and intense – which may be surprising given the pop star's transformation into something of a bizarre and controversial recluse in his last 20 years.

If the death of a pop star was to be measured by tweets alone, Michael Jackson's would seem to be of monumental importance. About 15 percent of Twitter posts mentioned Jackson when the news broke Thursday evening, noted Harvard researcher Ethan Zuckerman in one tweet, comparing that with hot topics such as Iran and swine flu that never crossed 5 percent.

And this piece of scholarship:

The reason you are seeing this global outpouring of interest is that Michael Jackson is singular in the history of pop culture. No one even comes close," says Professor James Peterson at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., who teaches hip-hop culture, African-American literature, and sociolinguistics. Mr. Peterson points out that Jackson's achievement of 750 million in global album sales will never again be equaled because of the absolute change in the music business caused by the Internet.

COMMENT:  He teaches what?  Hip-hop culture?  Is there a Ph.D. in that?  I suppose Bucknell charges the usual $42,000 a year per student, but look, where else can you find scholarship about hip-hop?  Be grateful to pay it.

And Michael Jackson is singular in the history of pop culture?  Wasn't there a Frank somebody?  Sinatra or something? 

Never mind.

June 27, 2009