Long live the king
By: Will Pappas
Issue date: 11/13/09 Section: Opinions
A little known part of the Furman experience is the legacy each class leaves behind, known as the senior gift. Over the past couple of weeks there have been many emails, meetings and lunch-time conversations about what form the class of 2010's legacy should take. If you will, Furman seniors, please forget all mentions of lakeside gardens, outdoor classrooms and additional 9/11 memorials. For you see, I have the answer.
I found this answer a week ago in a darkened, stadium-seating-style auditorium. As my heart beat in time to classics songs like "Beat It," "Smooth Criminal" and the seminal "Man in the Mirror," it came to me like a gospel: a Michael Jackson memorial. I was watching the theatrical release "This Is It," which is composed of rehearsal footage from the comeback concert Jackson was planning before his death in June, and it changed my life a little bit.
Yes, Jackson was a weirdo who looked like the Crypt Keeper and wore blazers with comically pointed shoulders over a t-shirt featuring a blinged-out Popeye, but he was also a visionary. He created music that has been the soundtrack to the class of 2010's lives. Who doesn't remember drying their tears on the way out of the theater after seeing "Free Willy" and hearing Jackson's touching "Will You Be There," or the first time he or she tried to learn the dance from Thriller or debating with his or her siblings which one was Janet and which one was Michael - the memories are endless.
What Michael professed to stand for in the film -love, dancing and the environment - are all things we stand for at Furman. What better way to represent our present and future values than with a nine-foot-tall bronze statue of Michael Jackson located between the two fountains in front of the library. Each successive class of Furman students would walk past the statue and see a man who lived his dreams, conquered the world and owned the Elephant Man's bones. Jackson is inspirational and, regardless if Furman students are performers or not, they can look upon the statue and ask themselves, "WWMJD?" So you don't want to finish that paper? Look to the statue and ask yourself, "Did MJ ever give up on owning the Elephant Man's bones? No he didn't." Inspiration, check; paper done, also check.
Towards the end of "This Is It," Michael says we only have four years left - an obvious reference to the apocalypse of 2012 - but he didn't. Tomorrow is never promised, Furman seniors, which is why today we need to decide to make our senior gift a giant bronze statue of Michael Jackson. Look into your hearts and think of Bubbles, Tito, Jermaine's son Jermajesty and the Elephant Man's bones; it's what they would have wanted, and it's what we all need.
In his words, then, I urge you: "If you want to make the world a better place, just look at yourself and make that change."
I found this answer a week ago in a darkened, stadium-seating-style auditorium. As my heart beat in time to classics songs like "Beat It," "Smooth Criminal" and the seminal "Man in the Mirror," it came to me like a gospel: a Michael Jackson memorial. I was watching the theatrical release "This Is It," which is composed of rehearsal footage from the comeback concert Jackson was planning before his death in June, and it changed my life a little bit.
Yes, Jackson was a weirdo who looked like the Crypt Keeper and wore blazers with comically pointed shoulders over a t-shirt featuring a blinged-out Popeye, but he was also a visionary. He created music that has been the soundtrack to the class of 2010's lives. Who doesn't remember drying their tears on the way out of the theater after seeing "Free Willy" and hearing Jackson's touching "Will You Be There," or the first time he or she tried to learn the dance from Thriller or debating with his or her siblings which one was Janet and which one was Michael - the memories are endless.
What Michael professed to stand for in the film -love, dancing and the environment - are all things we stand for at Furman. What better way to represent our present and future values than with a nine-foot-tall bronze statue of Michael Jackson located between the two fountains in front of the library. Each successive class of Furman students would walk past the statue and see a man who lived his dreams, conquered the world and owned the Elephant Man's bones. Jackson is inspirational and, regardless if Furman students are performers or not, they can look upon the statue and ask themselves, "WWMJD?" So you don't want to finish that paper? Look to the statue and ask yourself, "Did MJ ever give up on owning the Elephant Man's bones? No he didn't." Inspiration, check; paper done, also check.
Towards the end of "This Is It," Michael says we only have four years left - an obvious reference to the apocalypse of 2012 - but he didn't. Tomorrow is never promised, Furman seniors, which is why today we need to decide to make our senior gift a giant bronze statue of Michael Jackson. Look into your hearts and think of Bubbles, Tito, Jermaine's son Jermajesty and the Elephant Man's bones; it's what they would have wanted, and it's what we all need.
In his words, then, I urge you: "If you want to make the world a better place, just look at yourself and make that change."