“Did Michael Jackson Doom Iran,” is the title of a just published article on The Daily Beast by Benjamin Sarlin. Sarlin refers to the growing concern among those in the national security community that the coverage surrounding the untimely and tragic death of the King of Pop (paired with coverage surrounding Mark Sanford’s affair and Farrah Fawcett’s death) will inevitably dominate the media’s attention in the days to come. Given the restrictions placed on Journalists in Iran, and our reliance on twitter and facebook for information, the thinking goes that there simply won’t be time to adequately cover the uprising in a way that pressures the Iranian regime to comply with the growing demand to stop the violence. The thinking goes that collectively, we lack the patience and attention span to deal with so much tragedy, at once.
So I pose the question, did Michael Jackson just doom Iran?
The sentiment seems harsh, and insensitive—yet—there is truth in the notion that celebrity often does trump reality…when we let it.
Jackson was the King of Pop, and while his life was comprised of trials and turmoil, his legacy is in his music, and it is there where we saw an awareness that went beyond his celebrity and instead focused on people, on the condition of humanity. While we grieve and reflect on his life, we must remember that we continue. With each day that passes, we might insist that the best way to pay tribute to our fallen icon is by living out his declaration that it us who must heal the world.
It is the most poetic way to pay tribute to the man who moon walked through the pages of history, by ensuring that his exit, serves as a reminder of our potential.
While Michael Jackson is no longer with us, this request is, and so in the days to come, take a moment to talk about, think about, read about, those who are trying to heal their reality in Iran.
Michael Jackson did not doom them, long ago; he encouraged us to help them.
“For you and for me and the entire Universe.”
