Dear Ben,
Hello cutie! If you don't mind, I'd like to add my two cents.

I look at one simple statistic to judge the impact which any art form has upon a population. Here's the statistic:

HOW MANY PERSONS DID THE COMMUNICATION OF THAT ART FORM INFLUENCE OR IMPACT IN A POSITIVE MANNER?

Since any art can be categorized as a "quality of communication," then you have to simply observe how that quality of communication was received by the planet as a whole.

If a person's communication was received and admired by millions, well, then there was a quality in that communication that impinged upon the masses. Mass agreement is what makes fame.

Since millions were affected by the loss of this artist, then the interest level by those millions merits the news. MJ paid his dues and deserved every bit of coverage in my book.

MJ was an icon. Most innovators do not fit in molds. Great ideas are not created by groups. They originate from a single source and then are supported by a group or team.

Without those unique individuals who have the courage to create different aesthetics, we would never have new styles of anything. It is the artist who fashions the future.

So, I am grateful to all the "freaks" out there who have the courage to step out of the box and pave the way.

MJ was an artistic, original soul who impacted millions. May he finally rest in peace after all the "sensationalism" targeting him in the media. I believe the smear campaign was leveled by vested interests to blackmail MJ and then furthered in the media to sell papers and ad time.

If anyone is a freak, it is the person behind the blackmail and those rumormongers who make their livings off the sales of negative propaganda.

There is no reason to not admire the amazing talent of this innovator and the resultant impact he had on pop culture.

The media loves anything negative and feeds upon it to make their living. I say, why not be happy when they are paying tribute to a fine artist rather than creating a smear campaign to promote him as a pedophile. If Karma is real, then MJ deserves years worth of tribute in the media after what they did to ruin his reputation.

Respectfully,
Heidi

"And, in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make." Paul McCartney