June 25, 2009
I want you back!
Is Michael dead?!
That poor, tragic man!
UPDATE: TMZ said he died, but CNN - at 5:22 CT — just sent a Breaking News email saying he is in a coma. Oh, baby give me one more chance!
AND: The L.A. Times says he's dead.
So does the NYT.
Sad! That poor, sweet boy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
163 comments:
Thats what I heard on the radio on the way home from work
MTV.com reports that he had a heart attack.
Looks like it.
I've been wondering what possible out there was for him other than death for a long time. Looks like one was never found.
TMZ has him dead.
He did seem to have a pretty crappy life. There was never a time he could live like a normal person.
I don't think it's right that he rains on Farrah's parade and compromises the attention she was to receive. This was to be her moment. You'd think he could have timed his passing to coincide with Liz's impending departure, or at least give Farrah a little space.
Maxine, if he committed suicide, you may have something there. But if this was a stright up heart attack, then you're asking maybe a little too much.
Oh, I'm going to hell for this, but I told my coworkers: "Hey... Farrah Fawcett... now Michael Jackson died too... two elderly white women..."
I'm so ashamed... so ashamed...
Farrah was a princess, MJ was a court jester.
A lot people think famous deaths happen in 3s. Farrah, Michael, and ...
Michael is/was a brilliant singer who obviously had some terrible mental problems. My heart goes out to him.
I'm with Max.
Jacko probably off himself under the strain of money problems.
A lot people think famous deaths happen in 3s. Farrah, Michael, and ...
Ed McMahon.
"My heart goes out to him."
His heart went out on him.
dead
One of my friends told me of Michael's death on the porch just now, and they had the biggest smile on their face when they did so. Maybe I'm just infected by their mood, but I'm happy too. Is it cathartic, because the children of the world are safe now, or because I'm just a bad person?
Either way, I am happy. I want a national holiday where we all go to a theme park or a circus.
Excuse me? Mental problems? This was a very calculating and controlling individual who cleverly planned out every aspect of his life, including obstructing the grief and remembrance of a celebrity far more popular than he was.
But it won't work. If forced to choose, I choose Farrah.
We can only grieve for one person at a time, folks.
Michael is/was a brilliant singer who obviously had some terrible mental problems. My heart goes out to him.
overall, the children of the world are safer
The real, talented Michael died a long time ago. This was the husk.
It seemed that the thing that people at first loved about him, being a man-child, is what later became what people most vilified him for. (And yes I don't believe there was any conclusive evidence that he was a child molester.)
Michael is/was a brilliant singer who obviously had some terrible mental problems. My heart goes out to him.
He also is/was a brilliant dancer; it was mesmerizing to watch him move. I wish him well.
Sippican had a great Michael Jackson post back in ought-six:
Did You Know That Michael Jackson Could Sing?
Whatever you think personally of Michael Jackson, he was a musical savant.
RIP
Wow. This is sad, but part of me is happy for him. Appearances certainly showed a very unhappy man so maybe he's in a better spot than he was. (But appearances can be deceiving -- maybe he was happy and everything was an act).
What a phenomenal talent, though. Mesmerizing to watch, and a joy to listen to.
Is it cathartic, because the children of the world are safe now, or because I'm just a bad person?
Well there is something seriously wrong when a grown man builds an amusement park in his backyard and has sleepovers with young boys.
I had the Thriller album
LA Times confirms his death.
NBC confirms his death. Sad.
I think I'll go listen to Off the Wall. Brilliant album.
Can somebody go check on Nancy Reagan...
If Mrs. Reagan passes, she will instantly knock both MJ and Farrah off the headlines.
"Night creatures calling, the dead start to walk in their masquerade
There's no escaping the jaws of the alien this time
(They're open wide)
This is the end of your life"
Godspeed you sick old bastard..
Now maybe "his" children will have a chance to have a slightly more normal life.
He was as close to the Beatles and Elvis as we will ever see. Whatever "it" is, he had it.
Oh I forgot. We did have 3 deaths ...
Ed McMahon
Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson
Michael is/was a brilliant singer who obviously had some terrible mental problems. My heart goes out to him.
I have to say, I've spent essentially my entire life laughing at him, and looking down on him somewhat, for his plastic surgery, his neurotic behaviour, and especially the way he seemed like he kind of might be a pederast, etc. But I did feel a surprising twinge of sympathy on reading that he had died.
I mostly loved his music - the earlier the better.
The boy was a gift and as beautiful as a male child can be in every way.
The most I can say for the man is: He should have been stopped or helped, by someone close to him before he descended into what he became. Success will get you fans, but friends are rare indeed.
Michael Jackson, Madonna and I were all born within weeks of each other. I was once given less than a year to live. I intend to live the longest and die the poorest.
poor sweet boy?! this was a 50 year old man with a history of paying big bucks to molest little boys!
ugh. you can be a great Musician and still be a completely unsympathetic dirtbag
Oh I forgot. We did have 3 deaths ...
Ed McMahon
Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson
Simultaneous grieving could be aided by some creative photoshopping.
RIP Jacko
Oh I forgot. We did have 3 deaths ...
Ed McMahon
Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson
Four. You forgot David Carradine.
But they weren't on the same day.
We need a third, and it shouldn't be that hard, given it's still Summer Solstice.
Althouse is gonna need a separate blog just for celebrity obituaries, considering that every single celebrity, no matter how obscure, gets an special obituary on this blog.
Still reeling from Althouse's drivel-filled obituary and excessive gushing over Marilyn Chambers.
Is there nobody Althouse won't eulogize ?
I found this news shocking. This was a man who practically made it his life's work to attempt to live youthfully forever (oxygen tank, countless plastic surgeries, personal amusement park)- I thought he would remain alive and perfectly preserved forever.
I did grow up in the 80's and always appreciated his music (and the great roller-rink memories it will always bring back)- which will live on for all time in his stead. I realized what a hard childhood he had had so it is no wonder he had problems. But many brilliant artists were troubled.
RIP finally, Michael.
He was a cringemaker the past 15 years, but, as with Phil Spector, you can't erase his musical accomplishments, especially "Off the Wall," "Thriller" and "Bad," about as good a run as any performer had in the 80s.
His poor children.
And Janet! Poor Janet! Ugh, so sad. I love Janet.
It is strange; I'm not happy about it, but it seems a relief. He was not going to age well from here on considering how it was going already. It would have been torture for all involved, which is all of us unfortunately.
this is very sad. He was an amazing talent. Fucked up, yes, but still amazing.
Cardiac Arrest not heart attack.
Who didn't have the Thriller album?
Off The Wall was his best album in my opinion.
He was going to go on tour coming up too.
If you remember him from the late 60s and very early 70s, when he was a seemingly normal 11-year old child, yeah, you can't help but feel sorry for him. At least I can't.
I hope Janet doesn't gain more weight because of this.
If Madonna is next I will die.
Another reason for all the surgery (besides him wanting to look like Diana Ross) might have been that he feared looking like his father as he aged. That man was seriously creepy looking.
Rebe has entered the hospital.
Obituaries of the famous are never just about the person but also the era in which they were most famous.
He can't be cremated because silicone won't melt in the kiln. At best you have to, somehow, compost it.
Supposedly, he was gonna be frozen until a cure was found. That might work. Hold him in suspension till whenever.
Bad news for Farrah.
Good news for Mark Sanford.
[insert zombie joke here]
He was great here, too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zpTQCQEFhg
It took a few decades but Joe Jackson finally succeeding in killing his son.
Michael Jackson is an American tragedy, both for himself and the lives of some of the children whose lives he "touched."
Joe Jackson's abuse screwed up every one of his kid's lives, and it became a chain reaction.
I guess my feelings can best be described as relief. As other commenters have said, children are safe and that's always a good thing. On the other hand, for Michael Jackson this life always seemed like a constant painful struggle. It's finally over.
Marilyn Chambers was not worthy of an obituary on a blog written by a law professor.
What an attention whore. He couldn't even hold off a day, he had to upstage Farrah.
I don't GAF, I killed kittens with Farrah, not Jacko.
A very talented guy.
As a young teen, I played "Off the Wall (1979)" all the time. IMO, an even better album than "Thriller". Jackson was only 21 then. He looked normal then and it seemed his future was limitless.
There are many great artists and geniuses that decline and have latter lives that just don't match the hopes and accomplishments of early years. Nikola Tesla died broke, nuts, a bum. Fat Elvis died on a toilet. Dylan Thomas died a pauper alcoholic.
Like them, we should try and expel the kiddie-creepy stuff in his later years and remember the good, brilliant Jackson. The young boy that made Motown more than any other of Gordy's artists. The young man who was a true Superstar of undisputed talent and who made an indelible contribution to the musical arts, dance, and American culture.
God bless his troubled soul and may his transgressions be forgiven some day so that he can take his place singing and dancing with the angels..
Where's blanket?
Poor LIZ! OMG...this is the worst.
Who's Rebe?
Liz, Liza, Lisa Marie they all must be devastated.
Poor LIZ! OMG...this is the worst.
It's so sad when a surrogate dysfunctional parent outlives their surrogate dysfunctional child.
Rebe is his sister. She sang the song "Centipede". I had the 12 inch of that song.
There goes the most amazing talent I've ever seen.
That's got to be the saddest thing for a parent to outlast his offspring.
Sorry it is Rebbie not Rebe.
Off The Wall was off the wall. That album was amazing.
He was no Madonna though.
Glad many liked him as a singer - I never cared.
To me his life shows the absurdity of current day society. How silly that an odd person with a penchant for boys can become a billionaire and world-wide celebrity simply by singing a few songs.
But RIP.
I wonder of McCauley Culkin is on suicide watch?
What about Webster? Where is he?
Have we heard a statment from Webster on this?
Al Sharpton is holding a press conference, natch.
All that talent, all that misery. His singing was fabulous in its top form, but I loved the dancing best. It takes huge discipline to dance like that. His demons must have been horrific to overwhelm that capacity for work.
"Pogo said...
Sippican had a great Michael Jackson post back in ought-six:
"Did You Know That Michael Jackson Could Sing?"
Man, Sipp can write when he puts his mind to it. Even though that piece was written back in '06, when only Jackson's reputation needed an obituary, it reads like one hell of a great posthumous tribute now.
We can only grieve for one person at a time, folks.
Here's hoping that those of us whose parents are still alive don't lose both of them in some common catastrophe, like a plane crash.
There's a thug behind Al Sharpton in his press conferenc.
I would like to do him.
I have never commented before on this blog, but this thread is calling to me. I remember MJ in the Jackson Five. I loved the Jackson Five. I see Michael as never having a choice in how his life was lived. Yes, I do think his father abused him. I think when you are ten years old, you don't know what you want, and by the time you do it might be to late. I don't know, I am not a celebrity. I feel so sad that no family member was able to convince him that he needed help( I am assuming that). Having worked in mental health for several years it should be obvious to all that he had many issues. BE KIND!
The media must ignore Farrah and pay far more attention to Jackson because he's black.
As usual, race will play a part in how these two funerals are covered.
And she had the greater impact. Most teenage boys had their first experience with a woman who wasn't even in the room.
Only a few teenage boys had an experience with him...and he was actually present in their beds !
________________________
Who cares about health care, celebrity deaths, Iran, NoKo, or politican scandals. We are all doomed.
MUSICIANS never die, they just decompose
Madonna has had more staying power more hit songs but not more kids than Michael ;)
Cher is going to be on Larry King tonight to talk about Michael.
So is Celine. How exciting.
The media must ignore Farrah and pay far more attention to Jackson because he's black.
James L. Kemper: And it's all for the Yankees, the damn, money-grubbin' Yankees. I mean, those damn fools, they don't get the message! Always the darkies, nothin' but the darkies.
Major General George E. Pickett: You know, Jim... ahem. Sit down.
Gettysburg, 1993
"The media must ignore Farrah and pay far more attention to Jackson because he's black."
No he isn't! He exited this life whiter than Farrah.
And to be fair, what the hell did Farrah Fawcett ever do? sling her nips on a poster? bfd
From Robert Sandall's May 31, 2009 TimesOnLine article entitled, Will Michael Jackson survive his concert marathon?
Guy Holmes, the British music executive flown in to manage Two Seas, said later: “Michael’s an extraordinarily intelligent man, but sadly, his moral health is far worse than one could imagine.” Others go further. “Jackson tells barefaced lies without any regard for the consequences,” says his former legal representative.
Moral health? Barefaced lies? Curious, strong words describing something that includes but moves beyond "terrible mental health problems"
Daubiere, you say that like it is a small thing.
And to be fair, what the hell did Farrah Fawcett ever do? sling her nips on a poster? bfd
Oh yeah. Singing soprano and prancing on a stage with one glove on is a real accomplishment.
Joe Jackson had a tough life, too. Should we blame his parents because Joe's abused kid turned out to sexually abuse kids.
Let's not hold anyone responsible for their actions.
Michael Jackson can't molest anymore. I'm glad he's dead.
Family spokeman said there was an abuse of medications and the people around him were bad news.
mccullough -
"Let's not hold anyone responsible for their actions. "
I don't believe anyone, including me, said Michael Jackson wasn't responsible for his own actions.
But facts are stubborn things, and what Joe Jackson did to those kids is horrifying. If you so damage a child that he never truly becomes a man in any real sense of the word, do you get to disown any consequences of what you did the second that kid turned 18?
He may not have been legally liable for what Michael Jackson did as an adult, but there's no doubt that he deserves some of the blame.
Michael hasn't been a boy nor sweet in, what, over three decades?
Giving power to a child can be dangerous. Robbing a child of a normal childhood can be very destructive. Our culture helped destroy him. Imagine being a child with no friends and being expected to work at your game every day for fame and fortune as dictated by a parent.
He was a twisted soul and I feel sorry for him. Riches do not a happy man make.
Well at least now the children are safe.
Other people's as well as his.
Bon voyage, pervert.
"That sweet boy!"
Michael Jackson's last words!
Oddly, he was always a boy to me too. Not Peter Pan exactly, but close enough.
Plus there was his talent, and his isolation, and his fragile emotional make-up.
Rest in peace, Michael.
"Is there nobody Althouse won't eulogize ?"
Althouse
...wait, I guess she could do it now and save it for later.
But the question is: Is Ann enough of a celebrity to get and Althouse eulogy?
Michael is not dead.
The one in the hospital is a Michael look alike.
Michael is hiding in Dubai.
I am not convinced he was much of a musician. He was an adequate, if high pitched singer, but his best music was done when he worked with true musical geniuses, such as Quincy Jones.
He lived the life of a freak. Anyone who does what he did to his face is clearly not all there.
But now his life is over, and maybe like Elvis after death, his career will take off.
Well, I thought he turned into a creep, but his music was a big part of my youth, and I'm surprised to be very sad.
Listening to "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", and remembering how much his music made me want to dance.
Doesn't it make you wonder about being rich and famous? Perhaps we should encourage each other toward being poor and infamous?
"Madonna has had more staying power more hit songs but not more kids than Michael"
I don't know about that. MJ started way earlier and his hits were some of the biggest of all time.
so he was a freak and mentally ill.
if you had the choice to what would you pick mental illness or cancer.
or who deserves the most charity, i am not even asking about sympathy.
Listening to "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'", and remembering how much his music made me want to dance.
Well I remember Beat it! always got me...well never mind.
As you were.
"Madonna has had more staying power more hit songs but not more kids than Michael"
madonna? the difference between madonna and MJ is that MJ was, up until a certain point in his life, could sing and for much of his life could actually dance. madonna was purely a studio creation and could never do either.
It wouldn't surprise me if all his skin-lightening treatments somehow contributed to his death.
Peter
on the radio station i had playing in the car
i thought it was very astute consdiering other news from the day that they played
Billy Jean
when they announced his death.
People always told me be careful of what you do
And dont go around breaking young girls hearts
She came and stood right by me
Then the smell of sweet perfume
This happened much too soon
She called me to her room
Chorus
Billie jean is not my lover
Shes just a girl who claims that I am the one
First reaction was shock and disbelief. Not a fan, but once dated someone who was. So, Memories, pressed between the pages of my mind ...
Then, "Uh-oh, the comparisons to Elvis and Lennon in 3-2-1 ... ". I think comparisons are arguably justifiable on basis of success but not necessarily talent or artistic impact.
Then, speaking of Lennon, when do Yoko and Macca start circling the estate? They had every reason to believe MJ would outlive them, but now's their chance. Betcha the phone lines are burning up between London and NY.
But I'm way sadder for Farrah. Cancer is a cruel, gruesome death.
Rebe is his sister. She sang the song 'Centipede'. I had the 12 inch of that song."
How many here suspected Titus had a 12-inc "Centipede"?
You know, a lot of people say we're going to be living the late 70s all over again.
But that time we had Charlie's Angels, Off the Wall and The Tonight Show (the REAL Tonight Show).
Now it's Jon & Kate, Hannah Montana and The Daily Show.
I don't think I'm going to like the late 70s the second time around.
Jacko's estate is a mess - he was probably bankrupt. He had so many loans against the Lennon/McCartney catalog that it will take years to sort out.
But then again, Macca could probably scratch a check and make it all better, just as he did in his divorce.
"That poor, tragic man!"
"Sad! That poor, sweet boy!"
Who's quotes are these?
Pedophile musician dies.
Ann Althouse said..."Michael is/was a brilliant singer who obviously had some terrible mental problems. My heart goes out to him."
He was a pedophile.
Your "heart goes out to him"??
Why?
Because he was a successful musician? Phil Spector was a successful producer. Do you feel the same for him? O.J. Was one hell of an athlete...feel the same about him??
You've got to be kidding.
He could have taken up chess. I bet he would have been good at it. He could have underwritten chess competitions.
I wish I could die $400 million in debt.
flaming advertisements and seven inch promo singles and a ahhh right now seem a little sad from yesterday.
back in 83/84 things were different for him. you gotta wonder what people endure from corporations and making a sparkling idea come to life.
Jackson was a gifted and successful musician, but he took advantage of and traumatized little kids.
Why is he any different than any other adult who sexually abuses a little kid?
Are there people here who don't believe he did??
Really?
This site is full of people who are against gays being married, yet they mourn the death of a pedophile??
I tried, I really tried, but I just don't give a shit.
Both celebrities escaped my attention, though Michael Jackson in recent years has been the topic of countless hours of high rating John and Ken shows (``all outrage all the time'') on KFI Los Angeles, displacing whimsy, which is what they're actually good at.
Meanwhile the power is out in Central Ohio.
All up and down the street is the hum of cheap generators. Only mine seems to cycle with load as the sump pump kicks in.
Generator street sounds live from Ohio, real audio.
I used to totally think he abused children, but due to the amount of money he had one can never be sure. He was never convicted. However, if he was YOUR brother or friend, wouldn't you have done something? I have some respect for Brittany Spears family, at least they all got together and had her admitted into a mental health facility....we can't say the same for MJ.
I was shocked when my fiance told me this today, but then I wondered why. MJ always seemed to be teetering on the edge of life, but I think I subconsciously and against all logic still expected him to be around for a couple more decades.
I'm sad too. There is a lot to be sad about.
I wonder what will happen to his children. I hope it's something good and safe, and for thier sakes, the less we all find out about it the better.
Jeremy wrote
"Jackson was a gifted and successful musician, but he took advantage of and traumatized little kids."
While I don't know all of the trial record, it is my impression that there is no evidence of Jackson engaging in lewd/sexual acts with minors. I think there is a very good chance that he had a fascination with children and childhood that is hard for other adults like myself to understand.
I always hate that he was convicted in the public eye without corroborating evidence to back up the charge. I do remember that the prosecutor in his criminal case acted total inappropriately by trying the case in the public. That offended me as a liberal. I suspect that offend some others here as conservatives.
He was obviously a strange person. But the last time I checked we no longer burn people at the stake for witchcraft. Hard evidence is now the standard. Until it is brought forth I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
I heard his nose is still alive.
Ahh, shoot.
I before E, except after c,
and when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh (and their),
and on weekends and holidays and all throughout May,
and you'll always be wrong, no matter what you say!
And L. E. Lee said,
I think there is a very good chance that he had a fascination with children and childhood that is hard for other adults like myself to understand.
I agree; thanks for saying it so well. I think it's really possible that he just had no concept of how to relate appropriately to people as an adult, including children, because he was emotionally stunted by his life experience.
Or not; I don't know. Only a handful do.
Jeremy said...
Oh shut up. For once.
I have in my memory, and in my musical world, the young Michael Jackson. Up through "Off the Wall," he and the Jacksons were part of my musical world. I can separate that boy from the man he became, the same way I can do that for any abused child (and make no mistake, he was an abused child, as I think many, many child celebs are) who goes on to be an abuser.
Who remembers...
Sob, Tito, give me a tissue. @2:00
L. E. Lee said..."While I don't know all of the trial record, it is my impression that there is no evidence of Jackson engaging in lewd/sexual acts with minors."
Well, you should need to read more.
He paid parents off and only escaped conviction because of his money.
garage mahal - So you're going to defend this pedophile?
Fuck off chickenshit.
Who here, while he was still alive and kicking, would let their kids spend the night with Michael Jackson?
"Well there is something seriously wrong when a grown man builds an amusement park in his backyard and has sleepovers with young boys."
If I were writing a novel where I could make anything up that I wanted to without any sort of proof... I'd put that his father castrated him to keep his voice high, and that the weirdness with children was either being stuck in that place of childhood or else a way to try to deal with not getting to be a father.
If I were writing fiction.
He's a sad figure in any case.
"I can separate that boy from the man he became, the same way I can do that for any abused child..."
Oh, yes. And mourn the loss.
Synova - "He's a sad figure in any case."
Yes, he was. And he was obviously taken advantage from day one, and by all accounts, abused by his father, and maybe others.
But that does excuse his abuse of others?
I just can't believe the outpouring of grief for this creepy little man who took children into his home, in many cases, with their parents along for the ride, so he could take advantage of their trust.
I don't care how many hit songs he had or how wonderful so many here think he was, he was a pedophile.
Why would his celebrity make so many here disregard the shame?
Sy said..."Whatever you think personally of Michael Jackson, he was a musical savant."
And O.J was a hell of a football
player.
And Phil Spector was a hell of a producer.
What is the difference between cardiac arrest and heart attack?
Why was it reported his doctor was with him at home when he was in cardiac arrest? If true as reported, wouldn't his doctor have done something to avoid such an outcome?
Who gets the kids? The birth mother or will the Will prevail?
Such a tragic life that was filled with musical brilliance. If he wasn't so creepy I wonder just how far his music and musical innovation would have taken us.
Little LuLu said..."What is the difference between cardiac arrest and heart attack?"
Heart attacks only alter specific aspects of the heart's performance, sometimes minor, sometimes severe. Cardiac arrest shuts the heart down.
Very few who suffer cardiac arrest recover.
911 was called, firefighters responded and he was already not breathing.
"If he wasn't so creepy I wonder just how far his music and musical innovation would have taken us."
Good lord, he was a pop singer who hasn't had a hit in years. (When was the last time you attended one of his concerts?)
Oh, and he was a pedophile.
I wonder what people will say about "Jeremy" when he dies? Yikes.
Jackson was never convicted of anything, and while he settled out of court with his first accuser's family, it is just as likely that he was falsely accused by people seeking money as it is that he actually did anything illegal. Therefore, I can't be certain of anything. And in that case, I choose to remember the incredible music and wonderful memories that he brought me and my family throughout the decades. RIP.
The Michael Jackson I want to mourn died a while back; I think I've already gone through seeing this as a loss.
I never fully bought the idea that he molested boys. But he CLEARLY had some major issues with children and adulthood that were extremely unhealthy. So if he dind't molest them he still was in situations with children that were pretty twisted, and his life was a textbook example of how ultimate fame twists many people into warped monsters.
All the talk about Never Never land ranch, all the plastic surgeries, the elephant man bones, the monkies, the visits with Mcauley Kulkin, how could people let all that happen without pulling him aside and saying "mike you're becoming a freak, you need help". Instead he had sycophants who enabled his every whim and helped feed his insanity. He was a grown man having sleep overs with young boys and living in an amusement park!
Power corrupts, but so does fame apparently.
His death leaves me extremely disturbed and not because I idolized the guy. Rather, its a waste of potential. They happened to show a jackson 5 clip with him singing and he looks like a normal kid. Then they show him now and he looks like a plastic person with skin as white as clown makeup.
Then it got me thinking about Chastity Bono having a sex change operation. What the hell is wrong with people that they by choice have to mutilate themselves to the point that they dont even resemble themselves? There's some psychologic defect there that is just too sad.
you can be certain of this:
a law system that was once deemed as fair and great and serving justice is not fairly distributed by a community with such extreme wealth.
something maybe our forefathers never dreamed of, the disparity of income in this country.
Who here, while he was still alive and kicking, would let their kids spend the night with Michael Jackson?
Do the Culkins post here?
If Jackson was a pedophile, why were so many parents so eager to pimp out their kids?
jr565 said...Then they show him now and he looks like a plastic person with skin as white as clown makeup.
That's because the kiddie fucker wanted to appear less threatening and more inviting to his targeted victims.
That's the reason for his little kiddie playground in the back yard.
All the kid enticing props of the child molester.
A tribute to the plastic perv:
Michael Jackson went into a Walmart once, when he heard they had all young boys' pants half off.
When is it bedtime at Neverland?
When the big hand touches the little hand.
Q: What’s the difference between Michael Jackson and a grocery bag?
A: One is white, made out of plastic, and dangerous for kids to play with and the other you carry your groceries in.
How did Michael Jackson get sick?
He ate a 12 yr old wiener.
@jr565 I promise you that anyone who confronts them about their weirdnesses gets cut out of their life immediately - until they are surrounded only by people they pay in one way or another. The sycophant parade isn't accidental.
At least he had that family of his - bizarre as they were. I'm hearing reports they were there (???).
"A record-shattering vinyl album and its moonwalking maestro. A paper poster of a golden-haired beauty in a one-piece swimsuit that was gossamer and clingy in all the right places."
"It all seems so quaint now, the fragmented dream memories of a fleeting micro-era that began with words like "bicentennial" and "pet rock" and ended with MTV, Atari and absurdly thin cans of super-hold mousse."
"The man-child named Michael Jackson and the luminous girl known as Farrah Fawcett-Majors jumped into our consciousness at a plastic moment in American culture — a time when the celebrity juggernaut we know today was still in diapers. When they departed Thursday, just a few hours and a few miles apart, they left an entire generation — a very strange generation indeed — without two of its defining figures."
_____________________________
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,529126,00.html
"In the 1990s, members of Generation X would often laugh in bars about how the time of the Boomers was passing — about how the quaintness and naivete that made up the 1960s was, finally, a grave being danced on by Kurt Cobain. Today, members of that same generation sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings of pop."
"A sexy poster upon a boy's wall in which a young woman grins wholesomely. A record album called "Thriller" and its attendant music videos, built upon the notion that sexiness came in the frisson of hints and suggestions rather than in cutting directly to the big reveal."
"In the end, finally, they stand as the relics of a generation — one that struggled to find its place and now, suddenly, while still young, one that must wonder if it is as passe as the paper and vinyl that its icons' most memorable moments were etched upon."
(Sniffle)
One can't be pushed into music business at four years old and not be affected/infected. He was a beautiful child/boy - and morphed into, I don't know - and it is not for me to judge. May he find some peace now. I pray for his children to not get caught up in any of this media driven/star crazed crap.
not a fan of the entire genre, but undeniably a great talent--very sad. RIP
From Cintra Wilson’s A Massive Swelling: Celebrity Re-examined as a Grotesque, Crippling Disease and Other Cultural Revelations:
She defines:
"Fame is a perverse deformity, an ego swelling as ludicrous as an extra sex organ", and
"Celebrity is a virulent killer of fundamental human values", and when one stops believing in celebrity, "the Emperor is a fat, naked freak, and it all looks sick and ridiculous."
Of Jackson she wrote:
""Once upon a time there was a little boy named Michael Jackson, who was a child of incredible, otherworldly talent. Hammered into superstar condition by a merciless warlock of a father who purportedly belt-whipped his musical ambitions into the hides of his countless offspring. Michael was only six years old when his family's singing group, the Jackson Five, was signed to the Motown label. He developed an ecstatic, feral-bird quality in his prepubescent voice that transcended anything human; he possessed the kind of arm-hair-raising sublimity found only in little Anglican choir boys and castrati......Michael became very famous by the time he was only 12, and got truckloads of mail from wildly obsessed fan-boys and fan-girls all over the world who wanted to touch him, kidnap him, steal handfuls of his hair, and tear off his clothing and rub their bodies against them..."
She described Michael Jackson later with "the overaccessorized buckle-and-zipper ensembles which made him look like a rodeo dominatrix" and says:
"Jackson epitomizes the fullest scope of uber-fame in the United States. He's lived through the whole gauntlet: the best parts of it in his earlier years, the worst, humiliating and scandalous parts in the more recent. Anything Michael does now just reads like Outsider Art — he has become as strange and isolated and deranged as anyone who ever walked or crawled through shock treatment. He's the strangest uninstitutionalized crazy person in the public eye since Howard Hughes.".
"Liz Taylor, Diana Ross, and later Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe, the Mother of His Children, all seemed to care very deeply for Jackson while staying at least a six-hour plane trip away from him at all times."
She wrote that "The fame smothered [Elvis and Michael Jackson], overstimulating them into frightful husks of self abuse: they both had to vandalize themselves since the world could do naught but love them.".
For Wilson, Jackson became the dominant example of the hard truth that "Big Fame will fuck you, fuck you, fuck you in the head until there’s nothing between your ears but a sour, translucent jelly."
Oops.
A Massive Swelling: Celebrity Reexamined as a Grotesque, Crippling Disease and Other Cultural Revelations
Obama is like Michael Jackson - childlike, naive, unwilling to live with a reasonable budget, black and white, both had a meteoric rise to stardom, both surrounded by sycophants and adoring fans, no criticism of The One/King of Pop is allowed and so on.
The union of celebrity and our politcal class is a disturbing thing.
Not poor, nor tragic, nor sweet. Kate: "A "tragic childhood" is a 4 year old in Bangladesh with retinoblastoma. A "tragic life" is a Russian teenager sold into the sex trade.
Michael Jackson did not have a tragic childhood, nor did he have a tragic life.
He had the life he chose.
To excuse his behavior as though it was simply a pre-programmed result of his years as a child performer is not just intellectually lazy, it's an insult to every individual who has overcome true childhood hardship, deprivation and/or abuse to emerge as a functioning member of society.
Michael Jackson was no bobbing cork on the sea of circumstance - he was a multi-millionaire with the means to choose any lifestyle he wanted. "Functional adult" was one of the options. He chose otherwise.
Celebrate the music if you like, but for decency's sake, don't celebrate the man."
Both Obama and Jackson have or had father issues and both are drug addicts. The analogy falls apart when it comes to women - Obama likes big butts.
The dude was the biggest pop star in the world and his date to the Grammies that year was Emmanuel Lewis. No kidding. You can look it up. Jackson was mentally ill. He mutalated himself through numerous plastic surgeries and he was a pedifile. His childhood had nothing to do with it. Lots of kids have grown up as stars and not ended up as wierd as Jackson. He was a sad sick individual.
As far as the music goes, I never got it. It seemed like after he hit puberty he was never able to carry off the range and clarity he had with the Jackson Five. He never had a true adult voice and smooth vocal range the way say Marvin Gaye or Sam Cooke had. To overcome this, Quincy Jones brought his range down a bit and had him grunt in lieu of singing. His music was never as interesting or inventive as Prince. And his singing was never in the league of the great Motown stars. His success was the product of image and ability to do just the right dance (the Moonwalk) at just the right time (the Motown 25 special). The further we are removed from his freakdom and celbrity the more obvious it will become that the music just wasn't that great.
Well said, rightwingprof.
I've been checking out all the old videos, this morning - love the old stuff the best. First album I ever bought was a J5 album, though think his best was Off the Wall.
Rightwingprog - Jackson was essentially sold into a slave trade. Not literally, but about as close as one could have in the '60's. You can thank his dad and Berry Gordon. No, it doesn't excuse his behavior, but it does put it in context.
Like Tibore, God help me, back when they reported the heart attack but not the death, i told a coworker: "Geez, i hope he didn't collapse on the boy."
You know about two months ago, i was at a music store and saw the album thriller. i had never actually bought a copy of that one, and i was tempted to, but I thought, "Jesus, what would i be funding if i did?"
jonah goldberg i think captured my mixed feelings pretty well. of course we don't want to say too much bad about the dead, but let's be honest, he may have been acquitted, but he wasn't exhonerated, especially given that he apparently paid off the first accuser. and please don't tell me he couldn't have lived a normal life. of course he could have. I mean look at the other celebrity who died, Farrah Fawcett. maybe her life was never as normal as you and i enjoyed, but it seemed that there was alot more normalcy in her life. The fact is that his supposed damage was inflicted by being famous, something he could have easily stopped being, or at least dialed down on, years ago.
But it does make me think that the whole concept of child stars is a bad one. have they ever done a study to see how often they end up screwed up? i have at times thought that maybe we should ban children from working in entertainment.
Anyway, Michael you were good enough at music, especially early on, that i want to hope all the bad things they said about you weren't true. I will miss that part of you and hope that you find some kind of peace.
What Beth said--love the kid. The man, not so much.
Well, I admit to being rather unmoved. I was never much into his stuff, though I thought his Thriller videos were pretty good (I was in college in the early '80s). I'm just not that into pop music (hard rock is my thang).
Plus he was a freakish adult. You can blame it on his childhood if you want, but the rest of his family, while a tad odd, aren't anywhere near that scale of freak-dom.
Reminds me of when Diana died and the airwaves were full of people decrying how haaaaard a life she had. Yes, I can see how only seeing your kids every six months when they have a vacation from boarding school and can pop over to your boyfriend's yacht in the Mediterranean can make one a tad bit distressed.
Far more people have had far worse childhoods and come out as far better human beings. So, RIP, but otherwise, eh, whatever.
Kathy wrote:
Jackson was essentially sold into a slave trade. Not literally, but about as close as one could have in the '60's. You can thank his dad and Berry Gordon. No, it doesn't excuse his behavior, but it does put it in context.
A slave trade that left him with enough money to build an amusement park to live on and purchase the entire Beatles catalogue. That is some well paid slave labor!
Cmon, it's hard to argue exploitation when by being exploited you become "The king of pop". Yes the music business was, and is cutthroat. But a slave trade?
makes me think of the pop up video version of this kid rock song, the one where he tries to sing slow and sensitive. the pop up notes that Kid Rock wanted to show how tough life was on the road. The next few scenes then showed him getting out a limo, into a private jet and into bed with two women, or something along those lines.
This all is one of the reasons why i respect Janet Jackson. i remember watching a behind the music or similar documentary on her, talking about how in making Control they really broke down her sense of entitlement and all of that. And ever since she has been the most down-to-earth jackson. if she could do it, why not her brother?
"Michael Jackson did not have a tragic childhood, nor did he have a tragic life.
He had the life he chose."
My understanding is that self-mutilation is a way for people who feel they don't have a choice, to chose, to take control over their own self.
"To excuse his behavior... "
No.
Saying "this may be why this happened" is not *excusing* behavior. Understanding is not excusing.
This is one place were we get so screwed up in our culture today. Because understanding really is so often the same thing as excusing, sometimes blatantly so. I'm not sure how that developed the way it has, but it has. And it cripples our ability to solve problems or correct error because a problem or error can't even be talked about and understood without being heard as excusing, as an excuse.
So is something an excuse or a reason? A reason doesn't excuse.
"I'm late because I got stuck in traffic" is an excuse.
"I'm late because I didn't give myself any extra time in case I hit traffic" is a reason, not an excuse.
Post a Comment