Moonwalking through life

I was snorkeling all day with the children and far, far away from my iPhone and the Drudge Report.  So when my husband met up with us later for the afternoon, I hadn't heard about the death of Michael Jackson.

"Oh," I said. "How sad."

"Who's Michael Jackson?" the kids asked.  If you are an American Idol fan, you may have seen Adam Lambert when he sang "Black and White" this year.  That night, my daughter asked me about that song and today she remembered my description of him.  It apparently wasn't flattering.

"Oh, is Michael Jackson the guy with the nose?  Or rather without the nose?" she said.

I tried to explain why he was so famous -- how his body was evidently joined together differently so he could move in such amazing ways. This led to YouTube searches and we spent a long time showing the kids his songs like "Billy Jean," (regretted that one, but I don't think they picked up on the "the kid is not my son" part), "Beat It," and "Black or White" (which has the weirdest opening "comic" bit ever but I always love the metamorphosis part at the end).

To say the least, they were not as impressed with the King of Pop as I was back when I wept because we couldn't afford that red jacket with the silvery things on it and the slanted zippers.

Anyway, in this news cycle, there is no escapting all the reminiscing about Michael Jackson.  (Gov. Sanford is probably thankful he's no longer the number one story, just as Ensign was thankful Sanford knocked his confession off the front page.)  In fact, every network has rushed to get their own Jackson-memorial up, and all have called Michael Jackson an "icon."  This bothers  Jonah Goldberg:

Yes, well, maybe so. But that doesn’t let you off the hook. Even though the term sounds neutral, it isn’t. An icon, technically speaking, is a religious symbol deserving of reverence and adoration. The networks may not have intended to use the word that way, but they certainly showed an unseemly amount of reverence and adoration for the man... Historians tend to forgive the powerful their transgressions. Likewise, journalists (for want of a better word) tend to forgive the famous. Calling Michael Jackson an icon doesn’t let him off the hook for anything. But to listen to the news anchors you’d think it absolves him of everything.

I'm not telling my kids about the scandals and the drama that followed this man through his later years (although I may've mentioned the dangling-the-baby-off-the-balcony scene), but I did try to have a real conversation with them about the nature of fame.

With the probable wall-to-wall coverage of this hyper talented, very haunted man's life, perhaps this week is a good time to talk to your kids about:

1. What is fame and what are the benefits and detriments of it?

2.  Would you want to be famous if you could snap your fingers and suddenly be?

3.  Why do famous people tend to get away with things regular folks don't?  Is this bad or understandable?

4.  Is being famous a good life aspiration?

And if your kids are old enough, why not add the Ensign and Sanford dramas in there for good measure?

5.  Why would a politician risk his career and family?

6.  How are politicians like celebrities?

7.  How are their infractions worse?

8.  How should we -- as voters -- process these affairs?

9.  How should we -- as people -- process them?

Well, these dinner conversation tips aren't light and airy.  But parenting requires walking day to day through the messiness of life.  Just be thankful these people's infractions are "other people's problems" this week.  Perhaps by talking about these issues honestly and openly, you can help your kids develop wise decision making skills and a spiritual maturity that can help them stave off their own personal disasters.

And maybe -- if you watch enough YouTube -- they'll even learn to moonwalk.