Day 6 - Let dead people be!

Deep in the jungle a majestic lion dies. Word spreads that the king of the jungle is dead and all the animals come to pay their respects. They bow in front of the king, put flowers, speak nice words, hold a ceremony for animals from other jungles and finally cremate / bury him (depends on his religion, you see).

Scenario 1 (Post cremation / burial): After a few days the scavengers come visiting - the vultures and the hyenas. They take the memory of the dead king and start shredding it to pieces. Word of this spreads too and all the other animals come to see. The animals are so interested that at the end they only remember the shreded, mutilated body of the king and not the majestic king himself. The spririt of the king cries tears of distress as the animals have forgotten all the good work he did for them.

Scenario 2 (Post cremation / burial): Some of the animals go back home and are so distressed that they try to burn themselves. Some commit suicide in memory of the dead king. In this jungle too scavengers come visiting after some time but the animals are not interested to know about that. After a few attempts, the scavengers realise that its no fun and leave the jungle. The animals revere the dead king, build statues in his name and remember all the good things that the king did for them. The spirit of the king is happy.

By now you must have realised where I am going with this and what the scenarios represent. NO? OK....let me elaborate.

Our culture represents scenario 2. After a celebrity dies we are always reverential of him/her and do not speak bad things. The celebrity's negative traits are kept within the house and even if someone wants to bring it up, we do not encourage the media or the person. We always try to remember the good traits of the celebrity and institute awards or build statues in their memory. That's the way we have been bought up and that's the way we respect the dead.

I always wonder why the western world is like scenario 1. When a celebrity dies its just a matter of time before the western world starts character assasination. This goes on to such an extent that you forget what the celebrity stood for. Its been hardly some time since MJ has died and already the scavengers have started. La Toya Jackson said he was killed for his money, someone else comes up and says that MJ was gay and this is just the beginning. I am sure there is lots more to come. Media deals will be struck and books will be written by his nanny, his body guard, his driver, his make-up man and all others trying to bring about one 'shocking' trait of him so that the book sells. In some time we may remember him more for these traits than for the wonderful entertainer that he was.

What do you remember Diana as? A beautiful woman or one who was supposed to have had an affair with everyone under the sun. Why do they do that? What perverse pleasure does the western world gain in this? I wonder!

Is our approach right? I think it is. If we talk of our values and our culture, I think this is one part of it.

Can we please stop the slandering and just remember MJ as the musician and entertainer extraordinaire that he was?