Michael Jackson's 1992 concert in Bucharest: transforming a star into a saint

Abstract

This study is based on the conceptual framework created by Dayan and Katz (1992) focusing on what they called media events, and it proposes a step forward by applying an anthropological framework to such media phenomena. My analysis is focused on the symbolic mechanism through which the Romanian media produced a media event out of an ‘ordinary’ Michael Jackson concert, ritualised journalists’ behaviour and conferred religious-like meanings, ceremonial and mythological in nature, not only to the gestures and reactions of the star-idol performing his show, but also to its political and social echoes. The media events’ theoretical model could explain the social mobilisation produced by the media (as a strong short-term media effect). Nevertheless, it does not explain the transformation of the journalistic discourse into a liturgical one. The study shows that the process of commodification of saints, heroes and stars by the media is mirrored by another process, that of the sacralisation of celebrities through journalistic discourse.

Keywords:

• media events
• celebrity culture
• cult
• pilgrimage
• ritualisation
• journalistic discourse

Acknowledgements

I'm grateful to my colleagues Eric Rothenbuhler, Nick Couldry, Justine West and Michael Bird, and to Sean Redmond, for supporting the writing and editing of this paper.

Notes

1. For critical analysis of the media events theory, see also Beker (1995), Alexander and Jacobs (1998), Carey (1998), Rothenbuhler (1998, 2010), Yagdar (2003), Saebo (2003), Ornebring (2004), Dayan (2005), Nossek (2008).

2. The last years of Jackson's life generated a mythical frame based on ‘descent’ archetype: his status was systematically degraded (scourging), his personal life was a permanent process of degradation (disintegration) and his death produced a lot of narratives regarding his future redemption (Rojek 2001, pp. 80–88).

3. I have chosen to focus on the following titles, shown here with their respective frequency and circulation: Adevarul, daily, 200–220,000 copies; Cotidianul, daily, 40–60,000 copies; Evenimentul zilei, daily, 600,000 copies; Expres Magazin, weekly, 80,000 copies; Romania libera, daily, 200–220,000 copies; Tineretul liber, daily, 90–100,000 copies; Zig-Zag, weekly, 70,000 copies.

4. In 1990–1991, thousands of miners invaded Bucharest several times, fighting the (so-called) opposition to the government lead by The National Salvation Front. The violent street-fighting led to hundreds of people being injured and was largely covered by national and international media as evidence of Romania's inability to build democracy and enforce the state of law.

5. Ory (1992), Gillis (1994), Connerton (1995), Dalisson (2004), Kidd and Murdoch (2004).