finale
Today was, as many have said, definitely one of those days that will be a 'remember where you were when...' days. But to me, an interesting development of it was how technology shaped the day - specifically with regards to the internet and social networks, both from the spread of the news to the communal expressions afterward (including this one). Twitter went crazy with early reports of Michael Jackson's death first, followed by facebook about a half hour later. Once journalistic sources that actually confirm reports before reporting them (imagine that) confirmed the news, you could watch the expressions change. It was an interesting phenomenon to watch how people shared the experience. We didn't have those when Princess Diana died. Yet the best piece I found to reflect on Michael Jackson was a commercial created in 1992 for Pepsi. Its commendable for how subtle the product message is in it (though there are other versions where both Michael's grab the Pepsi bottle on the piano). In both its way of bridging the child Michael Jackson and the adult Michael Jackson, as well as the tone that is pensive but tinged with joy - it fit the mood of the day strangely well to me. I don't remember this commercial, and many versions I found included titles in spanish and latin languages, so I wonder if maybe it wasn't a US commercial. I found no information of who wrote or directed it to credit, but its a really nice piece. And of course, I found it through Google and YouTube. As for expressions on Michael Jackson's passing, the best of the day was a short tweet from Andy Cohen: "He wasn't meant to get old...."