But for nearly 15 years now, the mainstream media (while, yes, blowing the occasional kiss of praise in her direction) has been far less concerned with camouflaging the attempted dissolution of Janet Jackson’s legacy. First, it was the outright disrespect [by way of disinvitations, boycotts, slander, etc.] she incurred in 2004 following the incident (which shall not be named for the sake of redundancy, but you all know what it is) and during the years and projects which followed. Sure, sooner than later, Janet was back on top, seemingly back in good graces with MTV (who had banned her music, past or present, from the station and it’s affiliates) and for a while, it seemed like the world had forgotten about the proverbial bus they had thrown her under just a few years before. Then, it was the omission of her name from possible inductees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, when she was first eligible. Now, as is obvious through her failing to be inducted into the Hall of Fame two years in a row (when her most noteworthy female counterpart of a different race was nominated AND inducted in her first year of eligibility); and her exclusion from articles like “The 100 Greatest Award Show Performances of All Time” recently published by former reputable entertainment conglomerate Billboard, it is clear that while the media may have helped her out from under the bus, they intentionally left her legacy under it, and intend to leave it there.
Admittedly, having her name excluded from an obscure list, written by some ill-informed, too-lazy-to-perform-adequate-research “journalist” is not much of an issue, and is certainly a trifle that Janet Jackson herself would NEVER care about. However, allowing these types of omissions to continually go unquestioned is very much an issue, because it is creating (some fans would argue that it HAD created) a sort of ‘Janet-amnesia' in the mind of the public. Quite frankly, leaving the two words “Janet” and “Jackson” out of any celebration or accumulation claiming to be the “Greatest” or “Best of” anything regarding popular culture over the last 40 years, is not only incorrect, but also irresponsible. The media is failing. An entire generation is growing up with virtually no knowledge of one of the last, truly great and unique musical talents, while being brainwashed into the acceptance of her watered-down, carbon copies as the ‘first’ and ‘greatest’.