Michael Jackson, Star Wars, Tiffany (6.14.05)

All three of these are icons from my childhood. Michael Jackson's "Beat It" came out when I was 7 years old; Star Wars premiered when I was barely 2; Tiffany was the soundtrack of my 5th grade year... Now they are all back in the news and with a loss of innocence and lack of magic from what they once were.

Yesterday Michael Jackson was acquitted of all counts on a child molestation case. Saturday night I went to the movies and sat through almost three hours of a young Darth Vader fighting the urge to go to the dark side. Yesterday I saw a commercial for a show on NBC that is bringing back all washed up stars like Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and Vanilla Ice. It's just so bizarre. It doesn't seem that long ago that those washed up stars were on top of the world.

Now you may say that it's not fair to compare Star Wars to the likes of Michael Jackson and Tiffany, and that may be true. Its success is uncanny, actually. But in my eyes, it has become overdone and much less special than it was. It used to be a true event to go to a Star Wars movie. My Daddy and I would go to Eckerd's and buy Snickers (then pocketing them so we wouldn't have to get them triple-priced at the movie theatre), buy popcorn, cokes and settle in for an adventure. Saturday night, I probably looked at my watch 15 times during the movie. The acting seemed sub-par, the effects were cool...but kind of dumb. Anakin was moody and annoying. I don't know...it was disappointing.P

robably this all boils down to me approaching my 30th birthday and wanting to hold onto my youth. I hate for things to change so drastically - for someone who was such an idol for my generation (Jackson) to now be an almost-convicted child molester. For others who were probably on the VIP list at the Viper Room and Spago (Tiffany, Vanilla Ice, Debbie Gibson) to now be on an embarassing "second chance at fame" show on network television.

I am a little cynical today. My apologies. I just hope that my journey into adulthood doesn't end with me in court, boring people at the movies, or selling my soul to NBC.