Joan Ball is a business professor at St. John’s University in New York and the author of Flirting with Faith: My Spiritual Journey from Atheism to a Faith-Filled Life.
I asked it before when people were searching for David Carradine’s hanging photos. What makes people so crazy to see celebrities’ post-mortem moments? Now rumor is spreading that Michael Jackson’s autopsy photos are about to be leaked, and the internet is afire with the news.
So, is it innocent curiosity, or…
…are people really sickos?
Maybe there’s a third option. Maybe, when someone was never really real to us in the first place, like a pop icon or a movie star, their passing feels as ephemeral as their glamorous life. We feel a need for concrete evidence that they’ve met their end to prove they really existed in the first place; that they were real people, like us. We’re trying to connect, in some warped way, with the humanity of these celebrities whose lives seemed so far removed from our more humdrum existences.
Or so goes that theory.
Even if it’s true, I think that the decent thing to do is to get past it, look away, and leave the deceased some decency. While I did say I thought it was OK to keep making Michael Jackson jokes after he passed, I argued that as a matter of avoiding hypocrisy. When it comes to splashing pictures of a mutilated corpse across the world wide web, I think we have to draw the line, morally speaking. He’s got children, parents, and siblings who’ve been through quite enough. Whoever is leaking those photos has no heart.
To those whose morbid curiosity is driving them to take a peek at Michael Jackson’s autopsy pictures, I say, if you must look, keep a moment of pity in your heart. Keep a spark of humanity in your mind. One day it will be you on the cold slab.
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posted October 29, 2009 at 6:16 pm
I whole heartily agree that you should keep in mind that this was a REAL person. Some of us lucky ones got to see that person in the flesh, and may have even spoken with that person or shaken hands. Those that look at images like that it’s probably a combination of morbid curiosity, and to fix that person in our minds and see that they are really truly gone from this world.
As for the David Carradine image, read the Maxim Magazine article The Last Days of David Carradine. It seems the Thai Reporters will actually STAGE a photo if they aren’t able to acquire an actual police photo. In my mind that is sick, trying to get images of someone who has died horribly just so they can make a buck.
People need to be reminded that the person who has died does have a family and publishing images like that WITHOUT the family’s consent could be devastating. It can only bring more pain. I have to admit that I did see David’s Post Austopsy Photo. The photo wasn’t in poor taste though it was graphic. It was no more graphic than seeing a person’s scar from open heart surgery. Even so, I did make it all the more clear to me that David is no longer a part of this world, and I will miss him deeply.
posted October 30, 2009 at 6:15 pm
I do not believe MJ is dead? A photo would be concrete evidence….if you don’t like it don’t look!
posted October 30, 2009 at 9:22 pm
The “only” reason I would want to see the photos is because I still cannot believe he is dead. I am still grieving and cannot move past the shock. For me, it’s like losing a loved one or family member, it still hurts. I need some kind of closure.
posted November 1, 2009 at 9:03 am
MJ was a legend. Only his movies can bring in such a huge response that its producer, Sony, is looking for ‘This is also it’ – a sequel of the current movie.
posted November 1, 2009 at 11:39 am
just sooooooo sad