Michael Jackson was probably the most famous human being at some point. At least at one time in his music/performance career, one can argue that he was the most famous human being in the world. His music brought a smile onto many faces; be it little kids, school going teenagers or even folks now in their middle years. Boarding school kids in the nineties found music by MJ more appealing than most if not all school activities. In class kids would be caught moon walking when a teacher was not in class. Break dancing became famous among teens and guys in their early twenties courtesy of MJ. During holidays kids would meet up to practice break dancing and even in some countries national championship were also introduced and competitions were always stiff. All these young people found inspiration from the legendary MJ.MJ in my view represented a generation of famous people who helped to water down the importance of “cause based activism” among young people like university students and others. The popularity of the MJ, Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, Madonna and others of different genres like Tupac, Notorious B.I.G etc served to change the attitudes of many new/young generation people. They no longer found a lot inspiration in political/intellectual icons like Che, Lumumba, Fannon, Lenin, and instead found inspiration in the success stories of musicians and other entertainers. In all this, MJ’s image was always at the fore front. And the showbiz culture emerged from their lives and was heavily popularized by the tabloids that cared about mudane aspects of people’s lives and not the issues of the day. Coupled with this is the monumental success of people who never went to school or if they went to school, never had a lot of interest in formal education but went on to be very successful because of developing their talents. Here names like Becham, Ronaldo and the famous Brazilian soccer prodigies come to mind. The money they make and their international acclaim creates a situation whereby young people start questioning the traditional advice given by parents to their kids. Parents always tell kids to go to school, work hard and get good grades and that this will guarantee them a successful career and hence life. But the success of these not so well educated showbiz people, seems to have turned such advice on its head. It is the talented like MJ, Beckham and Madonna that make huge amounts of money and not the highly educated who made good grades in school. Kids quickly realized that failure or lack of interest in academics, does not directly translate into failure in life. Thus many started aspiring to be great musicians, actors, and soccer legends to mention but three. However, when MJ bleached his skin and went for surgery to get a sharp nose, he helped to entrench the negative stereotype that those with a darker skin complexion and thick nose (what he was abandoning) are not destined for success, while those with a light complexion and sharp nose (what he was embracing), are more likely to succeed in life. At the same times, the huge and spontaneous success that is associated with those in the showbiz world, does almost in most cases translate into tragicomedy. It quickly becomes evident that they can not manage their public success and the media scrutiny that accompanies them is overwhelming. There is always a great tendency to self destruction. Thus the young folks in these parts of the world who try to follow in their footsteps, also later realize that they are also targets of tabloids. Whereas many actively court the tabloids and gossip page columnists in order to advance their careers, it later becomes evident that their social background and traditional norms are not so compatible with the world of showbiz. The result in many conservative societies like many African counties of the showbiz and socialite culture is one becoming and social outcast because such societies in most cases frown upon such a lifestyle. But the good news for such young people, whose aspirations are in that direction is that the conservatives are in retreat and a more liberal minded class, is emerging. This is evidenced by the emergence and success of the popular tabloid/showbiz media in many African countries that focuses mainly on celebrity people and their lives, rather than what is termed as issues, which are mostly boring to many in the young and emerging generation. frank2kagabo@yahoo.com
