Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson were stars during my lifetime. The first time I noticed Farrah was on Charlie’s Angels – a look- at- how-scantily- I- am- dressed- when- I- chase- this -bad-guy show. Beautiful women in high heels, being told what to do by an unknown man with a buffoon as a “middle manager.” Let’s just say, it wasn’t their acting abilities that made the show popular. It did, however, have a lofty place as a how that had women doing what men usually did -detective work- and then it all fell down the rabbit hole with sex. I never bothered to think of Farrah again until I saw Burning Bed – an abused woman sets her sleeping husband on fire to end the circle of abuse. It made me sit up and notice because of the topic and that they had an actress who was used by men for their own gains – play a woman who was used by husband as a punching bag. Friends at the time were amazed that she would star in the movie – I saw it as part of career and didn’t see much of a break – except we saw her in bruise makeup instead of the pretty hair and makeup. I did appreciate her acting in this film. She didn’t play a vengeful woman – she just wanted the abuse to stop. I lost track of her after that – her life was in the headlines when she had cancer – her son and partner arrested on drug charges – a movie made of her last days.
Another death, Michael Jackson’s, was abrupt to say the least. As a child star, he made it to the big time like a rocket – singing with his family and then going his own twisted weird path to replace his childhood that he never had. Or that’s how I saw it. He lived to excess and strangeness. He had a talent that he took down a strange path – from the Neverland Ranch to recently planning a new tour to regain his fame. From the reaction of fans, he didn’t have to worry about people not wanting to see him. I never really followed his career. He used money the way a child without any limits would. He was generous also – giving his settlement from Pepsi (burning his scalp on stage) to the burn unit he was taken to after the accident. He had such a public life – the way I saw it – people used him for their own means – but his fans loved his singing and dancing. I know he baffled me with that moon-walk dance. The sad part is that people will still be using him for their own gains even after his death.
Jerri Nielsen also died. She was the doctor at the South Pole who gave herself a biopsy (with guidance from doctors in the United States over the Internet) because the cold would not permit a rescue. She treated herself with drugs dropped at her site from a transport plane until she could be taken out several months later.
She wrote a book about the experience: Ice Bound, a Doctor’s Incredible Battle for Survival at the South Pole. She also worked as a roving ER doctor in the Northeast.
The book is on my “To Read” list.
Filed under: Writing & Other Creative Endeavors
