I have come to recognize that I clearly must be the sole member of my generation who was not psychotically in love with Michael Jackson. He had some good songs, sure, but nothing I'm going to sell my organs over. Once I saw part of the Thriller video. I turned it off because it was creepy. I was never a fan of long hair on a boy. Crotch-grabbing (in the name of dancing or otherwise) makes me uncomfortable. I've never been attracted to the androgynous look.
I was sad when I heard the news that he died. I read it on Twitter before any of the articles surfaced online. Being 50, he shouldn't have gone so young. Going young is always sad. I immediately suspected an explanation like Anna Nicole Smith's. Soon I stopped feeling so sad and imagined that this tortured guy was finally probably at peace now (unless he did molest those kids, in which case, perhaps not so much.)
Then I saw the coverage. I saw the crying and the millions of people wetting their pants with the undying devotion to him. I saw how about 12 world leaders mournfully weighed in on his death. I saw Obama's official statement. I saw the news coverage that flooded every channel. I saw approximately 472 articles rehashing the approximately 2 details on his death that are for sure. I had to wonder: Has everybody gone crazy?
It seems like much too much. MUCH too much. At best, in my mind, MJ was a highly suspect mental case with a troubled upbringing and three kids that will never be normal. I know he's a celebrity and our society is psychotic about them, but this is blowing me away. Apparently unlike everyone else, I can not so easily forget the accusations against him of sexual abuse and his response to them. Even if we give him the benefit of the doubt (not sure I do) he purports that it is the highest form of love to share his bed with children that aren't his. This is just one of the many *interesting* things he says, that are often disturbing and often proven false. (In a whispery girlish drawl from underneath a nose that was falling off.) He is a mental case. Lots of things were clearly wrong. I don't point this out to be mean, I only mean to indicate that it's not like we're talking about the death of Mother Theresa or the founder of world peace or something.
I'm slightly disturbed by the fact that a singer with a very suspect past is causing the entire world to react with the same amount of sorrow and horror I envision were WWIII beginning and we were all about to lose our lives and our children.
I am conflicted/feel sorry for/am weirded-out by the guy. I feel the same about the world's response.
3 days ago
3 comments:
So, I agree with most of what you said. I think that the news coverage has gone WAY overboard - I mean, I'm not sure that 9/11 even got this much attention. And you're right - it's not like he invented a cure for cancer or anything profound like that. And he is definitely a very odd duck, and very suspect in the recent past.
However, I think the Michael that people are mourning is not this accused child molester. It is the Michael Jackson that they all remember from their childhood/teenagehood - the 80's Jackson.
I don't profess to be a fan of his; I don't own any of his albums, and I have never been to any of his concerts. However, even I have to admit that he is one heck of a talented artist. His songs are diverse, and his career has had massive longevity.
He is a music icon, and a one-in-a-million artist; and he has inspired a lot of people and musicians. And, I think that everyone has some memory in their past tied to one of his songs.
And I think that that is why people are reacting the way they are (however absurd that may be).
Sorry about the novel.
Oh, and PS, I felt the same way when I heard that he died - sad, but also kinda happy for him because he could finally be at peace.
ditto everything you said. although my husband disagrees and thinks all of the hoopla is warranted. maybe because he is older? the whole thing wierds me out.
Thank you, Jessica!! Seriously EXACTLY what I've been thinking. Well, actually, not quite, because I wasn't really sad at all. That may sound mean, I'm not saying I'm glad he died, but it didn't evoke any kind of emotional response from me. I think he was creepy, and that he probably did have inappropriate relationship with children. Which, if you think the same, makes him not a person worth lamenting at all. I also found it a little upsetting that Farrah Fawcett died the same day and got hardly any mention at all. She was a little older, 62, but that's still not THAT old, and she just had a long battle with cancer, and she was never involved in any kind of scandal like Michael Jackson. Yet Michael Jackson's death makes hers completely glossed over.
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