Smackdown

We don't have cable at home. We are on a two-day hiatus in Salida, Colorado, staying in a motel. I viewed a segment of Anderson Cooper's show, AC360, in which he interviewed Al Sharpton about Michael Jackson. Cooper focused his questions on custody of Jackson's children, questions about drug use, Jackson Family dysfunction and other controversial subjects. Sharpton became visibly annoyed by this line of questioning and referred to Cooper and other media people as only being interested in negative issues, instead of looking at what Jackson had contributed during his lifetime. He cited his call to social awareness in the production of "We Are the World", his philantrophic generousity to poor children and the overall love within the extended Jackson family. At that point, the interview ended abruptly. As Cooper looked into the camera while he made his closing comments, I flashed on the character in "Zoolander", whose success hinged on "The Look". He couldn't have parodied it better, with the intense,squinty-eyed stare. What a vacant, stereo-typical, corporate-media moment. At least cable tv has the History Channel. --- undertoad57