MJ's Final Controversy.

Source: National Photo Group

On the 25^th of June 2009, the whole world was shocked when the “King of Pop”, Michael Jackson was pronounced dead. Not only did the entertainment world suffer a great loss; the whole world suffer a great lost. The first thing that comes to everyone’s mind at the time the news was delivered to them was, could this be real? Could it be another hoax of Michael Jackson’s death like the one in 2007?

Well, sad but true, good souls are always taken earlier. The above image has created a mayhem in Hollywood when the time it was released. People wondered if that was the picture Michael Jackson was photographed alive or, the first picture of him, dead.

According to Kress & van Leeuwen (2006), texts are the vessels of meaning in old literacy, and the only way to understand is by reading the text. Images in old literacy are just used for decorations.

The above image was used by many online and printed media when they made a coverage regarding Michael Jackson’s death. But does that dead picture of Michael Jackson looks like a decoration to you?

The answer, is definitely a no. That picture is something that has created a controversy in Hollywood. Many people, especially the fans, including artists Jay-Z and Sean Combs were fumed when the image was published. Kress & van Leeuwen (2006) stated that an image could create a rich meaning and could stand as an independent vessel of communication.

According to Lord Phillips MR in the court case between Michael Douglas and Okay magazine, he stated that “photographs are not merely a method of conveying information that is an alternative to verbal description. They enable the person viewing the photograph to act as a spectator, in some circumstances voyeur would be the more appropriate noun, of whatever it is that the photograph depicts. As a means of invading privacy, a photograph is particularly intrusive.” (Kenyon, AT, Milne, E 2006, p17)

Even though Michael Jackson was a public figure, a dead picture of him should have never been published to the public. His family has privacy rights on his pictures. It is not right for Paparazzis to violate the privacy of celebrities.

List of References:

Kenyon, AT & Milne, E 2006, Images of Celebrity: Publicity, Privacy, Law, Legal Studies Research Paper No. 142, Melbourne Law School, pp. 17

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, 2^nd edn, Routledge, London, Chapter 6: The Meaning of Composition.

Snead, E 2009, OK! Cover of Michael Jackson’s Death Photo Stirs Controversy, viewed 18 November 2009, available

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