Since I spend a fair amount of time in this space talking pop culture and music, I guess I ought to comment on the passing of Michael Jackson.

I think I can safely avoid the standard tribute blurbage; other than to say that I remember the 1983 Thriller onslaught, the John Landis long-form video, and moonwalking on the elementary school playground. I also remember the weird stuff, like the Elephant Man’s bones, the ever-changing nose, the stunt marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, the abuse allegations, and the deposition video with the graphic description of his penis being broadcast on television.

In any case, the guy was both prolifically creative and deeply flawed, and his life reflected that. Yet whatever your feelings about him, you can’t deny that the man had undeniable talent.

Talent that was hard to resist, even if you’re a room of smug, hipper-than-thou teenagers stuck in a stuffy high school auditorium on a warm spring afternoon for the “three screen assembly”, basically a high-tech (for 1990 or so) motivational audiovisual extravaganza involving a fancy sound system and three sychronized film projectors.

I don’t really remember the content of the program, but I remember it working up to it’s grand finale by pulling out Jackson’s “Man in the Mirror”, a bit of his latter day feel-good fluff. At one point, one of my classmates started clapping along with the tune ironically. Soon, others joined in, intent to be part of the joke. By the end of things, the whole room full of 300-odd smug teenagers from across the Heathers cafeteria continuum of 80s/90s high school demography was enthusaistically clapping and singing along in unison. while I doubt anybody else would admit it, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t really a joke any more, and we were all embracing this weird, cheesy shared moment brought on by a piece of treacly pop music.

Whether you’re a fan or not, they guy’s music had power, and that in itself is worth remembering.

Sham-on.