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THE STAPLES CENTER - WHAT ABOUT THE MONEY SPENT?
Published On 07-07-2009 , 11:23 PM
I’ve been telling the kid in my household the American economy is in a downward spiral and everything we do and don't do, nowadays, will represent this fact of life.
She tries to understand.
On a daily basis, there are issues covered by the media that support what I’ve been preaching, and for the families my non-profit organization works with who have lost jobs, who have had to move in with relatives because they've lost homes and who have been forced to feed their children by lining up at soup kitchens, they don't need news coverage to help them with reality.
In the midst of this financial downturn we have “Remembering Michael Jackson,” the Los Angeles Staples Center super colossal event.
All that money - the taxpayers', the Jackson family's and wherever other funds came from is just astounding.
Will the talking heads who represent the worldwide media outlets that covered this massive display of money call this as it is? Or will they conjure up the explanation that their coverage and the millions of dollars spent are simply a response to public emotion and demand?
Calling it for what it is won’t be easy.
That Michael Jackson was loved for his talent and for his contribution to the entertainment industry is indisputable. From all over the world his fans came to Los Angeles by the thousands for the purpose of saying goodbye to an icon.
The Andre Crouch Gospel Choir singing "Going to See the King," and the opening words of Rev. Lucious Smith of Pasadena's oldest African-American church, Friendship Baptist, set this truly remarkable and well-arranged Hollywood production into a funeral mode.
Complaints? What about the money spent?
Criticism? But it was a respectful, well planed and well executed event.
But my last week’s newspaper column on the King of Pop’s death drew criticism from many readers because I said for my young African-American children who grew up in the `70s, Michael Jackson was their Barack Obama. This was true for many young African-Americans of that era.
But now, for my youngest daughter who has come of age with the historical election of an African-American president of the United States of America, who attended that presidential inauguration, this "Remembering Michael Jackson" event has indeed amplified another aspect of the historical significance of who her people are.
The homeless? The foreclosed homes just down the street and around the corner from where so many of us live? The constantly climbing jobless rate? The tight budgets so many of us have been forced to put in place?
The reality in life is that entertainment is something completely different from our day-to-day grind.
Entertainment is the chance to pack up our troubles and leave the worries behind.
Was the Michael Jackson Remembrance worth the money spent? Should the dollars have been given to homeless shelters, soup kitchens and individuals who are in foreclosure?
For the critics, I ask, what other kind of memorial would have been fit for the King of Pop? What other kind of event should have been televised around the world?
Was the remembrance entertainment or was it the traditional final farewell?
Maybe it was a little of both, but for those few hours at The Staples Center, those who watched most probably weren’t thinking about their current economic status.
People got to pack up their troubles, put away somewhere and join in the celebration of Michael Jackson’s life.
As my budget-conscious teenager said about the Obama inauguration that we attended back in January, "What a great big show with a budget I don't know how to figure out. But anyway, are we paying for it?"
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Comment
| | 1. | Well said, and if a teenager knows what a budget is, why the people in charge can't figure it out is beyond me.
Here is someone to celebrate , "George Washington Carver". He did more for this country and the world than Michael Jackson did. I'm not discounting MJ contributions,but I feel the service held for him was a bit over the top at the taxpayers expense. Is the Jackson family broke? If that's the case,a lot of big names that showed up with deep pockets to the service.Maybe they could pass the hat among themselves to cover the cost of the service.
I guess I'm concerned because that the money should be used for the "NEEDS",and not the "WANTS". I don't think the taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for this gross misuse of funds.
- by Pasadena, 07-17-2009, 4:15 PM
| | 2. | I'm glad we did it too!
- by pia, 07-09-2009, 4:21 PM
| | 3. | Price is not always the guide. The Remembrance was needed!
- by phxsays, 07-08-2009, 11:12 AM
| | 4. | It was good we got to "pack up our troubles" for awhile. It was good that we got to "Smile", though our heart was heavy. We were saying goodbye to an Icon.
I'm glad we did it.
Hank
- by Hank Wilfong, 07-08-2009, 4:29 AM
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