The Flaws of Icons
The massive news coverage of the recent death of Michael Jackson has got me thinking about how many times my son will discover in his life the complexity of human beings, be they famous, talented and successful heroes or ordinary people like his friends and family.
My son discovered Eric Clapton when he was 3 1/2. We were in the supermarket and "Sunshine of Your Love" was playing over the radio. That was it: Love at first sound. Sam is 8 now, and since that day in the market, he’s feasted on a steady diet of '60s and '70s rock 'n roll: Cream, Led Zepplin, The Who, The Beatles, and of course, Jimi Hendrix.
Given my son’s young age, I’ve had to do a bit of censoring and sanitizing. Clapton’s "Cocaine" is off the playlist, as are songs with profanity and other inappropriate content. And when Sam asked how Jimi Hendrix died, I answered with a vague, "Um, he didn’t take care of himself very well." (Sam knows about the danger of cigarettes and alcohol abuse, but we haven’t had the talk about drugs -- yet.)
And that’s the way it is with so many of our cultural icons and heroes. Whether your grade-schooler’s heroes are baseball players -- so many of whom are now tainted with steroid scandals -- or pop stars who are in the headlines for questionable or scandalous behavior, "to err is human" is a phrase that can be universally applied to all. (Of course, the allegations of child molestation that plagued Jackson are a far cry from self-destructive behavior -- that may have been the most indelible stain on his legacy.)
So when my son asks who Michael Jackson was, I’ll remind him that he was the very talented young man on the Free to Be You and Me DVD, a brilliant musician and performer, and someone who ultimately had trouble in his life.
Have you talked to your children about the death of Michael Jackson? Have you ever had a conversation about the flaws of heroes, either celebrities or someone you know?
More on the death of Michael Jackson:
Comments
it is good to give an insight for the head line but it looks like you have missed to inform him he is black even if looks like white from the unrepresented social pressure and discrimination. We have to teach our children about tolerance to ward different than them.
My son is 6 and I showed him some of MJ’s videos this weekend. He was just enthralled by his dancing (that’s really what I wanted him to see). My mom was the one who broke it to him that he died. So now everytime he sees a picture of him, my son says is that the little boy that sings and died. He is trying to understand in his own little way how to connect from the little singing boy to the man who died.