More and more regularly I’m reminded just how out of touch I
am with popular culture. So it’s been this past week following the death of
Whitney Houston. While I was never a fan of the singer and sometime actress, I
was aware of her talents and popularity. I was surprised, however, with the
media reaction to her death. Beginning last Saturday night, cable news went
almost 24/7 with various tributes, memorials, and interviews with friends,
family, and fans. And in the past week I must have heard that first drawn-out
line of the chorus – “And IIIIIIIIII will ALLLways love Youououououou-EWW-EWW-ouououou”
– at least a couple dozen times a day until it went from its original haunting appeal
to its current cloying peal. The funeral is today and it’s being covered for
three hours live (despite it being the same shared feed, as well as streamed
online) by CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, E!, and BET (with the strange title, “The
Homegoing of Whitney Houston”). I’ve been tempted to voice criticism of what seems
an overreaction, another hyped mourning of a celebrity for the sake of ratings.
But I suspect it might be nothing more than another indication of my disconnect
from popular culture. So I’ll just keep quiet.
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