The Big 5-0
Michael, Madonna and Prince all turned 50 this year! What does that say about us?
TheRoot.com
Updated: 10:30 AM ET Aug 27, 2008

Aug. 29, 2008--Prince, Michael Jackson and Madonna. One last name, three big birthdays. The big 5-0. Mike crosses the threshold today (Happy Birthday!). Madonna hit it on August 16, and Prince is the elder of the bunch, having turned 50 on June 7.

Fifty? How did that happen?

To some, 50 is a marvelous milestone; to some it's a time to re-evaluate; to others, it's the beginning of the end. When we see our icons turn 50, we can't help but wonder…which one is it for them? Unlike the millions, the mansions and the fame—turning 50 is something we all can relate to.

Aging, the great equalizer.

But, of course, puzzling over this trifecta of pop royalty dashing over the hill is less about them, really, than it is about us. When one has vivid memories of junior high or high school make-out sessions to "Darling Nikki" and all of sudden Prince is 50, it is only natural to think: "How the hell old am I?" When you can pull out old photographs of you dressed up like Madonna at a seventh grade Halloween Party, and now Madonna is older than your mom was when she took you to that party, it hits you: "Jeez, I'm really getting up there."

But there is comfort in this realization of immortality. As pop stars age, something about them seems more accessible. They are suddenly more like us. Celebrities that we thought had perfect lives and perfect bodies are now…well, a little troubled and wrinkly (or so altered by surgery that they are a little scary). And we love it!

Fifty is an age that, for most people, sparks careful reflection on the successes and failures in their lives. Could this really be so different for the ultra-famous?

Take Madonna. She must look at her 50th birthday with pride at the fact that she is still making it rain on performers half her age. Forget Beyonce. With a new hit tour, Madonna is the still baddest chick in the game.

Transfer that thought to our own lives: We may not have a sold-out tour. But in giving props to the "Material Girl," we can take a moment to look at ourselves and think, "I did good." Reflecting on a life well-lived is a great feeling whether you're a pop star on stage or a mom fixing Pop-tarts in your kitchen.

And what about Prince? As one of the most talented musicians of our time, he is still heralded as royalty and with age he has become sophisticated and mature and, in many ways, more fabulous. His concerts are still the hottest tickets in town, and he has successfully transitioned from the "big freak" of the '80s to the biggest talent of the 20th century.

Like many of us, he must stop sometimes and think, "Boy, I was a little wild in my younger days, but boy did I have a blast." And like the rest of us, he probably feels lucky that he made it through in one piece and is happy for the person he's become.

At 50, it's a good time to look back at our youthful indiscretions and get a hearty chuckle out of them. The hair that made our parents crazy, the drugs, the wild behavior that almost got us sent to a military academy.

Character-builders, we call those experiences now, challenges and great memories. And hey, Prince's early days make most of ours look about as wild as our great-aunt's Mah Jong game. But like Prince, we can turn out alright, maybe even get better with age.

Then there's Michael Jackson. Poor thing. He represents the less joyful side of turning 50. That point where we all look up and say, "What the hell happened?" One day we're riding high and the next we look up and everything is in the crapper. Kids gone bad, career gone wrong. At 35, there was resilience; at 50, hopelessness creeps in and sometimes stays.

Michael Jackson represents the part of us that thinks: Could this happen to us? Could we live the life of our dreams and then one day, we're being pitied by the world? If the most famous man in the world can crumble like this, what hope is there for us mere mortals?

Plenty. That's the good thing about gauging ourselves against Michael. It's easy to look at him and feel like we could never possibly be that weird or screwed up. Our lives may be drama-filled, but M.J. serves as a cautionary tale to us all. Take a fifty-and-fabulous approach to aging and never let your life turn into a "Thriller."

Like Madonna and Prince and Michael, we all approach 50 from different places. Whether we are pleased to be 50, lucky to be 50 or sad and confused to be 50, if none of them have faded from the scene, then we don't have to either.

So let's raise a glass to salute the icons of our youth as they celebrate 50 this year. And let's raise a glass to all the regular Joes who have traveled these last decades with them, through the good, the bad and the ugly. (Did you hear that History album?—sheesh)

Now is a great time to reflect on not only what these artists have meant to our lives and our culture, but also a time to reflect on just how far we all have come…and how far we all have yet to go.

Jam Donaldson is a writer, attorney and television producer based in Washington, D.C.

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cool article

SoulAlive said:

it seems to me like the author did alot of writing just to get to his/her ultimate goal, and that is to diss michael jackson

lowkey said:

Combine that with the fact that it praised Madonna and you understand why SoulAlive loved it. Still, it's hard to disagree with the MJ assessment. But I thought the article painted an extremely rosy picture of Prince and Madge. Extremely rosy.

I think the author was just being honest.I don't think it's a stretch to say that Madonna and Prince have handled their lives and their careers very wisely (for the most part).Sadly,Michael hasn't.That's not a diss,it's the truth.I really wish Michael could get his act together and do some great things again.

I felt like crying when I read the michael part, not cause it's bashing, but because it's true what he's saying and I can relate to it. It is scary to think about accomplishing anything and what can possibly take it away and turn you into a joke overnight.

alphastreet said:

You're right, part of it is true, but she completely misses out the other side when it comes to MJ (to all of them, actually). She acts like everything like everything he's done since Thriller was pitiful (that comment about the History album? WTH was that?), and like Madonna and Prince have never had career lows.

This article shows the author's own personal biases backed up with very little research ('Madonna and Prince should be proud, MJ is a joke', but no real explanations), which makes the article uninteresting to me.

I don't think it is a personal dig at MJ. I think it is more of a cautionary tale, a reflection piece of sorts, about youth and age and coming full circle.

To echo something said earlier, MJ's story is sad. I think the author was actually trying to be sympathetic to MJ in a way that also lets you know that the man had some issues. The Prince & MAdonna side of the story does paint the picture of two pop stars that did things right. Both have been fairly newsworthy over the past few years for their music (despite what we think of their new music).

Ultimately, the fact that this article was probably written for a specific audience (people in their 40's near 50) is why analogies were made using three recognizable pop starts to get their message across.

As a child of the 1980's, it is bittersweet in a sense to know these icons made it to a point in life where many other artists either flamed out or left us too soon.

I'm telling you, if MJ put out an album in 2006/07 it would have been a better review. Obviously he doesn't give a shit about music and competing with his peers, and that's the path he chose for himself and he and his fans have to live with it.

SoulAlive said:

ok but still why use the occasion of his 50th birthday to make this point when mj has been a mess for years now?

lowkey said:

because the 3 of them turning 50 is the entire point of the article?

lowkey said:

because they are all 50 now. it's like mythology they represent more than just who they are to us.

MJ shouldn't even be mentioned along with Prince. He has nowhere near the talent Prince has and he's a child molester.