Thriller

The Zombie Apocalypse is a lot less scary if it means we all get to dance like this.

The other night, All Thing Considered featured a segment wherein John Landis reminisced on how the Thriller video came to pass. It was such an odd thing, to remember Michael Jackson and the cultural event that was the broadcast of this video (not to mention the cultural phenomenon that was the Thriller record). I think, as a preteen, I just assumed that it was normal; every so often, a record comes along and captures everyone's imaginations and breaks all the records which were set by the last record which captured the collective imagination. I didn't realize that I was living through a moment in history which someday would seem as quaint and antiquated as the reaction to Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast or the Beatles appearing on Ed Sullivan did to me, that was in fact far more similar to those events than anything that happens today in this new world in which we live with the internet and cable television fracturing our entertainment into so many pieces. The idea that we might all tune in at one time is something I can no longer imagine happening except during a tragedy and, even then, we would all be watching various broadcasts and iterations through different outlets. So watching this video fills me with sadness. I mourn the world where we all could be connected briefly in our awe of Michael Jackson's talent and beauty (as well as mourning the loss of Michael Jackson's talent and beauty).

Happy Halloween!