Stop the public viewing!

[rsw22]

I think fans can petition the Jackson family respectfully to reconsider.

Diana was not put on display like a show. And the family can see that after seeing how the media went so far to get photos of him in an ambulance.

Let them hold a memorial service, as was done for Diana, with the coffin sealed. People will still know it's Michael.

That service can be in the form of James Brown's public memorial, where select people were called to make brief speeches.

The coffin can then proceed along a chosen road, fans can throw flowers in memory, and then it can be flown off to Neverland for a private service and burial.

Those at the private service who are close family and friends, can view the body.

But it's a mistake for the Jacksons to put Michael on display, after he spent his time wearing a mask. The media will focus only on his facial features.
Not even Elvis was exposed to such a spectacle.

And they forget pundits will be lining up to view his body and then rush back to channels to give all kind of running commentary, which will involve inventing stories just so as to be on air.

A public memorial service which would be broadcast worldwide for 1 or 2 hours would be more fitting. That's all the public needs, not a daylong gazing at his body that lacks meaning, no speeches, no celebration of his legacy, no nothing, just fodder for the tabloid media.

An online petition to the Jackson family would help them reconsider if they know fans don't really agree as it only suits the tabloids. This does not celebrate Michael.

It would have been better that at the public memorial, the remaining Jackson5 and maybe another relative carry his coffin from the car to the platform, and then back to the car again after the memorial.

If the kids are to be kept from public glare, they can view the memorial from a VIP sitting area in a stadium and not be filmed, or they can be kept away from attending, since they would attend the private service anyway.

But really, this would be a chance for teh world to know Michael from various perspectives, as speeches would focus on

Michael the icon
Michael the Humanitarian
Michael the friend
Michael the family man

Such speeches are defining as they cement a legacy, just as some speeches at Diana's funeral did.

As a humanitarian, some people Michael has cared for would speak, they way they did in November 2003 at the Neverland party, and people around the world would get another perspective of the humanitarian, which is never conveyed by the media but which would be seen worldwide this time.

Everyone around the world would be watching this and would go away knowing Michael a lot more from various angles without him having to be exposed in an open coffin.

That would be much better than lining up to just see his face in a coffin, many of whom would be curiosity seekers and not even fans

 

[mello1]

well it should be if theres wishes in his will i hope they are being followed. this is respect for mj not anything else and it just doesnt filt with what his whole life was about ppl. know how he guarded his privacy so much i dont understand why the family would want to do this if its open. even a fan let alonefamily knows how he felt about his privacy and face

Elusive, typically these things are seldom spelled out in a will.

 

[mello1]

This is only my personal opinion, but I think that if the idea of a public viewing is upsetting to some people, then I would not expend any energy on it.

But I would hope that we would respect the family's wishes in whatever they want to do.

 

[rsw22]

The family is only doing this because of their belief that thousands will want to pay their last respects to Michael, so they came up with the idea of Neverland.

But they didn't think through how the media may use a public display. How it will run all day long, and belive me, that thing will go on from morning till night.

They are trying to do it for fans, but a memorial service watched worldwide for 1 to 2 hours would have been better than this logistical nightmare they are attempting.

The Queen mother was put on public display for a week, and that was in a city, how are the Jacksons going to do that for a day and then turn back thousands who have come along and will be lining all the way?

They may think costs and logistics of renting out a stadium are high, well they haven't thought about logistics of feeding and supplying water for people queing up in the heat in a remote place.

You can't turn back thousands who have travelled all the way to SantaYnez from Los Angeles, other states and abroad.

This is teh Jacksons trying to satisfy wishes of fans the way they see it because tehy would have preferred a private service without this, but they have a better option, a public service with no viewing and a private service with viewing for family members.