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With Icons' Deaths, Gen X Grows Up

Pair of generation's icons pass in a day

Posted Jun 26, 2009 10:20 AM CDT

(Newser) – Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson were icons to many, but especially to the impressionable members of Generation X. “These people were on our lunchboxes,” notes one post-boomer. “This is the moment when Generation X realizes they're grown up." “Cynical” and “disaffected,” Gen X is an “oddity,” writes Ted Anthony of the AP. Now, in a single day, it’s lost “two of its defining figures.”

Gen X’s “micro-era” saw the beginnings of today’s celebrity culture—a phenomenon symbolized by Fawcett and Jackson, who projected an aura that today’s celebs lack. "Audiences are passive no longer," Anthony argues. "We demand a part in creating our icons." We want new stars like Jon and Kate “to be us,” while Farrah and Jacko were somehow “above us, maybe, or apart from us.”

Tourists take pictures at a memorial on the star of actress Farrah Fawcett Thursday, June 25, 2009, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.
Tourists take pictures at a memorial on the star of actress Farrah Fawcett Thursday, June 25, 2009, on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Nick Ut)
Records of Michael Jackson are seen in a record shop in Erfurt, central Germany, on Friday, June 26, 2009.
Records of Michael Jackson are seen in a record shop in Erfurt, central Germany, on Friday, June 26, 2009.   (AP Photo/Jens Meyer)
Fans hold up a sea of single gloved hands in an impromptu celebration of the life of Michael Jackson, outside UCLA Medical Center after he was pronounced dead there.
Fans hold up a sea of single gloved hands in an impromptu celebration of the life of Michael Jackson, outside UCLA Medical Center after he was pronounced dead there.   (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)
Damian McKnight dances to a Michael Jackson song outside the UCLA Medical Center, where entertainer Michael Jackson was taken, in Los Angeles, Thursday, June 25, 2009.
Damian McKnight dances to a Michael Jackson song outside the UCLA Medical Center, where entertainer Michael Jackson was taken, in Los Angeles, Thursday, June 25, 2009.   (AP Photo/ Matt Sayles)
A poster of actress Farrah Fawcett is displayed for sale at Hollywood Book in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Thursday, June 25, 2009. Fawcett died Thursday at the age of 62.
A poster of actress Farrah Fawcett is displayed for sale at Hollywood Book in the Hollywood section of Los Angeles, Thursday, June 25, 2009. Fawcett died Thursday at the age of 62.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 4 comments
NxBigmouthery
Jun 27, 2009 10:24 AM CDT
The only reason I know who J & K ARE is because of this website. I've not been to a website where stories about them appear as popular.
peacenique
Jun 26, 2009 3:52 AM CDT
Being part of that Gen X, I am feeling very overwhelmed and heavy today. The writer has it right. A huge part of our lives has begun to disappear. What MJ ~became~ is not what a lot of us are remembering right now. Farrah Fawcett's wind-swept hairdo is something we all affected. Heck you still see that craze she started so many years ago. And many or even most of us can hear: Heeeeeeere's Johnny! in our heads. I know there is much to weep over in the world today, but it's difficult to be losing parts of our lives from a happier, simpler time.
BeatBlaster
Jun 26, 2009 3:40 AM CDT
Those two wretched names shouldn't be mentioned anywhere near Michael and Farrah.

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