Schupp Company Blog

Holding vigil for a little Thrill(er)

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009

Many people find this difficult to believe, but I grew up in a house without cable. Cable was available, it was in our area, it was all the rage, but the Ojile girls were free of all MTV, History Channel, VH1, or TBS channels during our formative years.

It was something I never really noticed growing up. We were so busy with so many other activities; TV time was limited as it was. I was none the wiser to what I was seemingly missing out on. This included all the popular videos and songs during the 80s and 90s, and especially including the all-time great ‘Thriller’ video by Michael Jackson.

As with most important evens (pop culture and otherwise) I think today will be filled with stories about how shocked we were with his passing but it will also be filled with memories. And so with his passing yesterday, I started to think about where I was when I first saw the ‘Thriller’ video and how I can remember exactly when that was and how it made me feel.

I went to college in 1999 to a school in a very small town where cable was your only shot of getting anything close to a clear picture on the TV set. I still didn’t sit down to watch TV very much as I was rather preoccupied with my freshman year.

At the end of my first semester, MTV was promoting their ‘Top 100 Videos of the Millennium” countdown that would run at the end of December. So I would turn the TV on while studying for finals but still, didn’t pay much attention to the videos or who was coming out on top. But as the countdown got closer to the bottom and my attention span for studying became shorter, I realized there was a chance I’d be seeing the ‘Thriller’ video for the first time.
This realization may seem trivial to all of you who grew up with cable and had probably already seen the Thriller video a hundred times by the time you were 10. I was 18 and couldn’t wait for my first time.

The countdown continued and days went by while I stood in our little box of a dorm room, holding the remote and adjusting the volume at the end of every video, hanging on to the announcer’s teases about the #1 video coming up. I shushed my roommate. I kicked my hall mates out of the room. The books were officially closed for the semester. The buildup was killing me. The suspense and anticipation were high. I could not wait to see this video.

‘Here it is!!!’ I thought to myself. I will now know what everyone else is talking about. I held my breath…

But wait … What was this? Is this a movie? Why are these people talking and who is that girl?!’

I wanted to see Michael and the zombies and the music. I was slightly ticked because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could wait for the music to begin.
Then, as the familiar tune started in the background, slowly, and the zombies came out, and the music got louder, I knew what was coming. Everything was exactly as I thought it would be and I could feel the excitement swelling inside me.

“This is it! This is what I’ve been waiting for!’

The video did not disappoint. I was hooked. I told everyone about it and they, of course, looked at me as if I had two heads for being the oldest person to ever see the ‘Thriller’ video for the first time.

But I didn’t care. I was in the cable club and knew what all the hype was about. That video was truly remarkable, especially for someone who didn’t grow up watching music videos. I appreciated the art of it, the story, the dancing, the music… and I wondered if I would have taken all that way from a music video at age 7?

Nevertheless, it was a defining moment for me and I’m sure we all have stories about trying to replicate Michael Jackson’s dances in our parents’ living room, of his concerts, of which albums of his we loved the best, and of course, where we were when it all happened. (And I know this is true because it was all over Facebook statuses yesterday.)

I was at work when a news feed popped in my inbox that he had been taken to the hospital and was in coma. I searched around the Internet for news and then saw on Facebook that he had already passed.

So I want to know, where were you when you first saw the Thriller video? Where were you when you heard about Michael Jackson’s death? Leave your comments below.

Tags: facebook, michael Jackson, music videos
Posted in Culture, Music, Television | No Comments »