Michael Jackson, King of the World

Michael Jackson and his death display a prime example of cultural imperialism.

When Michael Jackson was still alive, we all know how much of an influence he was, and still is, to every nook and cranny in the world. He is an African American who managed to charm the socks off the Indians, the Chinese, the Japanese, and pretty much everyone else. Watch the videos below to see why this is so.

India



The Philippines



Hmong



The Digital World



As you can see, Michael Jackson himself had influenced such a great diversity of people in his time, from Bollywood, to prison inmates, toddlers, to computer gamers. In a sense, he truly conquered the world.

Let us look at how Michael Jackson is mourned all over the world. (Some videos added after blog entry date for added emphasis.)


Vietnam



Denmark



Greece



Sweden (This video depicts the diffusion of "MJ" Culture in a pretty cool way, as you can see how gradually, the dancing spreads across the square.)



After watching all the above videos, you have to agree that in one way or another, Michael Jackson had bridged social gaps across the developed and the developing nations. One thing that all these people all over the world have in common is that they are all mourning for his death, mourning for the loss of a very talented and influential being.

During Singapore’s tribute to MJ, reporters noted the huge diversity of people who attended as well, including monks and “heartland aunties”.

It is no surprise that during this period of time when people all over the world are mourning for MJ, there is a sort of feeling of unity amongst all, as they all share the same view, thoughts, and emotions.

AP - Queen Latifah called Michael Jackson "the biggest star on Earth," and it was hard to argue when his memorial service united television networks as diverse as ABC, MTV, Fox News Channel, BET and ESPN News.

Russian News - His death united everyone. MJ fans organized actions of memory all over the world.

CBS News - This is a big world, with many remote corners where America is known only as a distant and different land. But Michael Jackson touched almost all of them.

Michael Eric Dyson (Professor of Sociology) - He brought human beings together across the barriers of race and class and gender. He projected into the world (the genius and strength) of African-American culture.

Records Statistics - Jackson's 1991 hit "Black or White" charted at number one in the Australia, Austria, Belgium, Cuba, Denmark, Finland, France, Israel, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the Unites Kingdom, Zimbabwe and, of course, the United States.


The Nation - But, as with Elvis Presley and so many brilliant artists whose lives ended after their stars had been tarnished, it will be the iconic influence - an influence stretching across boundaries of race, class, gender and nationality -- that is most remembered when we speak of Michael Jackson, and the ultimately most significant.


I shall end this blog entry with Michael Jackson's superb performance at The Grammys 1988, when he was at his prime. RIP Michael Jackson. The children of the future will learn about you in their history textbooks.

Fox News Edited to Favour Republicans

This video demonstrates how mass media can affect how millions of people will view an issue. In this case, the issue is Barack Obama's and John McCain's health.

As the narrator describes in the Youtube video shown above, Fox News, the institutional source of the message, has seemingly edited out negative sounding facts about John McCain, and edited their news coverage in such a way that it favours McCain and puts Obama in a bad light. This is also known as agenda setting, whereby Fox News tried to influence viewers into thinking that McCain is possibly a better choice, and hiding the truth from their invisible receivers. By doing this, they are also altering the standards by which people evaluate the issue. It is very possible that the gatekeepers of Fox News are pro-Republicans.

It is rather interesting how a simple bit of information, such as the medical history of two people, can be depicted in so many different ways just based on different focuses on different angles, and very importantly, the way the information is being presented to the audience. This is where the media uses different communication techniques to present the same message differently.

In the case of Fox News, once their invisible receivers receive the message, how they comprehend the message, is up to them entirely. As it is a one-way communication, the receivers will probably just talk about the message among themselves, and forget about it over some time. Feedback to the institutional source is delayed. There might not even be feedback in most cases because of the “Spiral of Silence”, whereby some receivers think that they are the minority who think this way, and thus are too afraid to voice their opinions.

Below is another video which is solely a Fox News Report on rapper, Jay-Z's, lyrics about Obama.



Below are some examples of how invisible receivers comprehend the message.

Naturalthing1 - Jay-Z's and Young Jeezy sound real intelligent don't they? Great role models.

Starcatcher777 - What did anyone expect!

PierreElliottTrudeau - Who cares? Seriously. I mean how many freaking white supremacists supported Bush openly? Never heard Fox News blast them?! Seriously...

Shanghai Pride

After much obstruction by Chinese authorities over different matters, “Shanghai Pride”, Shanghai’s first homosexual festival, finally took place today. Drag queens donned colourful Chinese opera costumes to take part in fashion shows and “hot body” competitions. There was also a “Big Bash” barbecue held in a bar. At the end of the event, two fake gay marriages took place as a symbol of them announcing their love.

From this piece of news, we are able to see how differing cultures in one city affect each other so much.

The first culture we have here is the conservative Chinese culture. The conservative Chinese culture is unable to embrace an alternative lifestyle, in this case, homosexuality. Therefore we can see how the government reacts, by sending officials to forcefully prevent an event like “Shanghai Pride” from taking place. Traditional Chinese are against homosexuality because they believe that it is an unnatural deed that interferes with the continuation of the family line. So collectively, these Chinese do not condone homosexuality.



For more liberal Chinese who embrace homosexuality, or who are homosexuals themselves, they need to develop the mindset of an individualist in order to break out from the general collectivist nature of this Asian society. Most of such Chinese are not only liberalized, but also westernized, as they pick up certain liberal habits from the West.

In fact for this festival, the organizers are Americans by the names of Tiffany Lemay, and Hannah Miller. Also, quoting a gay man, Chen, he says that, “I think gay culture in Shanghai has gradually come out of the closet, thanks to the expat community in the city.”

We can see from here how exposure to the culture of the west helps the Chinese to be unafraid of being more individualist.



With this minority of Chinese individualists emerging from all over, a small community is formed to cater to the needs of these people. In this case, the homosexual community in Shanghai is known as the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) Community. The individual homosexuals who join the community then make use of their collectivist characteristics so that the community’s bonds can be strengthened, against the majority of conservative Chinese in China.

That is why, despite the countless attempts by the police to disrupt the festival, such as stopping the screening of a gay film in a café, and canceling various events at different venues repeatedly, the LGBT Community still managed to continue the show.

Gordon Brown is a Bad Leader

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is facing revolt as the Labour Party plunged to its lowest ever during the European elections. During this period of time, Labour members of the parliament have also criticized Brown greatly for his poor leadership skills. This is not the worst that Brown has been facing. Six senior cabinet ministers had resigned last week, and junior minister Jane Kennedy quit on Monday. The rest of the members urged Brown to step down from his position and give the Labour party a chance.

Let us take a look at how Brown failed as a leader of his party. If we were to use William Schutz’s theory of interpersonal needs within a group to judge Brown’s party, we can say that the party has failed in these regards. First of all, the affection needs have not been fulfilled. It is known that despite Alistair Darling’s loyal services to Brown as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Brown conspicuously failed to back him up in an attempt to move an even closer ally, Ed Balls, into the job. This is not only betrayal, but also a huge failure in developing a close and caring relationship with his team member.

Due to this shameful act by the party’s leader, the group synergy started to slip downward rapidly, due to the decreasing morale and faith of the members in their leader. Other bad leadership qualities that Brown displayed were “tribalism, the refusal to admit mistakes, bouts of control freakery and indecisiveness”. (The Economist) Instead of taking up a task or maintenance role, Brown has taken up a negative role, to be precise, the role of a Special-Interest Pleader, Dominator, and Blocker. With all these negative qualities in its leader, it would be almost impossible for a group to make complex decisions. It would also be hard to gain the full support of the group. These factors indicate the downfall of the party as they are the things a group gets together to achieve in the first place.

I strongly feel that a good leader should take up both task and maintenance roles at the same time, and not a single negative role. A good leader should be an Evaluator-Critic, an Energizer, and a Coordinator. He/she should also be an Encourager, a Standard Setter, and a Group Observer. These are all the roles that Brown should have considered taking up. Perhaps he should take some leadership lessons from Mr Obama.