Fred Astaire memorably danced with a vacuum from the grave, and Elvis's shaking hips can still be seen pretty much anywhere. But are we really ready to see footage of Michael Jackson dancing just days before his death?
In a particularly creepy THR story, concert promoter AEG Live gushes about the 100 hours of footage they have from Jackson's concert rehearsals at the Staples Center, just two days before he died. They could release it as a live album! As a pay-per-view special! Even a theatrical movie! Can't you just hear the cash rolling in?
In order to not sound like a complete skeeze, AEG CEO Randy Phillips says they'll raise all this money for the sake of Jackson estate, which is an estimated $400 million in debt. "If we all do our jobs right, we could probably raise hundreds of millions of dollars just on the stuff we have worldwide and then the estate could eradicate its debt." But even he can't get around the fact that he's essentially manipulating a dead man. "He was our partner in life and now he's our partner in death."
I was one of few people who, upon hearing Jackson would be doing a tour, wasn't interested. Knowing how frail he was, how seemingly unprepared to return to the spotlight, it seemed ghoulish to pay money to see this shell of a man. But now that we know he died, quiet possibly of the stress of preparing for this concert? Can we really, in good conscience, pour money into the promotion company that planned the whole thing?
Sure, there's a fascination in seeing this footage-- I've watched the 2 minutes of footage like everyone else. But there's a line to be crossed between legitimate fascination with an icon and unhealthy obsession. Am I the only one who thinks this crosses that line?
