Michael Jackson; Farrah Fawcett

Today marks the deaths of two celebrities--Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett.
Farrah has fought courageously her battle with cancer. Today they have been showing pictures of her when she was on Charlie's Angels. She was absolutely beautiful. I remember some of the kids in Tony's class bought him the famous red swimsuit poster of her for Christmas one year. He never missed an episode. Not very many people can claim a hairstyle, but we all had Farrah Fawcett flips at one time or another. Rachel (on friends) and Dorothy Hamil are the only other two people I know of who had such copycats all over the nation. She has been very open and public with her illness which is something I admire. I hope she encouraged every person who is battling cancer with hope and an example of bravery. She was a devout Catholic and is whole and healthy in heaven right now.
Then there's Michael Jackson. I remember when I was a teenager and The Jackson Five came back onto the scene. He was the cutest, most talented little guy. Watching him turn into what he has become in the last twenty years has been so sad.
This year I used his videos from when he was in his prime, "Beat It" and "Thriller" to teach my students a lesson about an Edgar Allen Poe poem called "The Haunted Palace" The poem describes a palace that was once beautiful, with clear blue skies, trees, and flowers, beautiful music, and happy times. Then evil things take over, and the palace becomes haunted. Everything dies, the atmosphere reflects nothing good or beautiful, and the music is discordant. The poem is said to be an allegory of the human mind that starts out beautiful and pure, and evil things take over. The high school students of today only know Wacko Jacko, the strange, physically distorted man who was accused of child abuse. They are shocked to see him as the beautiful, talented dancer in the video.
Today has made me think about the day Elvis died. I was in college. As soon as I knew Phyllis was home from work, I called her and asked her if she has heard the news. She was already crying uncontrollably. She had been a fan of Elvis since he first became famous. My best memories of movies when I was a kid were Elvis movies. We would see them as soon as they came out. I was a little too young for the Elvis mania, but having an older sister had its advantages. We owned all the albums, saw all the movies, and Phyllis even took Mom and Janna to his concerts.
A couple of years before Phyllis died, Fred and Phyllis went to Graceland. She fell on the sidewalk and broke her arm, but she went ahead and went on the tour. Every picture of her has her holding her arm and smiling.
Michael Jackson's life has reminded me of Elvis. Both were too famous. They couldn't just put on a ballcap and go out into to community. They were swarmed everywhere they went. I remember that Elvis used to rent a theater and watch a movie at midnight because he couldn't go without causing too much havoc. That's no way to live.