Can we discuss what happened to MJ yet?
Deegreez
804 Posts
I don't want to jump the gun, just trying to provide a thread that can be an outlet for for all the wtf's I am feeling and probably you are too in the aftermath of this. I am really getting a lot out of the appreciation and personal stories in other threads. But this has been a real awakening to see the dramatic transformation of Michael that's ubiquitously being flashed and montage-ified.On the one hand I'm pretty sad, but at the same time I realize that all this footage of early Michael that is everywhere is taking me back to when he was the king and that somehow makes me even more sad. What happened to him? He seemed to never be around people who were truly loving toward him, except maybe Diana, Berry and Quincy. Everyone else seemed to be a parasite. The surgeries, oof.I just feel so sad that his life had to end with a dependence on prescription narcotics, if that is in fact true which it is sounding like. It's heartbreaking that no one was able to help him and that he got that unhealthy.
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MJ had, by all accounts, a real fucked up childhood that came with insane, unfathomable success w/ Motown and that is BEFORE he went over to Epic and bodied the world. I thin it's fair to say, at some point, he lost touch with reality but seriously, when was he ever grounded in reality?
Throw in - as you point out - an ocean of parasites and it's just not a great combo.
None of this is to excuse his own culpability and agency (and yeah, I'm definitely including his *alleged* child molestation* in this. But it's not like MJ ever started somewhere "normal" and then descended. The fact that he didn't lose it earlier in his life is pretty remarkable enough.
here is a beautiful slideshow of him from a fashion perspective from new york magazine, which some of you may dig.
and when the groove is dead and gone you know that love survives so we can rock forever on
so, are we ready to start talking about the dark side yet?
That's always been what I thought of when I heard "Michael Jackson." I remember hearing how he was getting checks for 250 thousand a month when he was 12 or whatever... There was pretty much NO WAY that was going to lead to a normal guy, even before you add in the superduperstardom, abuse, etc etc etc...
Amazing story, the whole thing...
the stuff of Shakespearean tragedy.
I don't think there's that much to say other than to acknowledge it and not bury it just because the guy is dead. Which is funny, because actually it has been acknowledged in many of the newscasts ... Meredith Vieira hasn't gotten banned from tv yet
Did Vieira use rape in her acknowledgements?
yeah, maybe it's too soon to talk about that stuff for real. i am self censoring.
'Molestation' seems to be the term of choice.
But for example, a Google News search of news articles in the last 24 hours:
8,745 media articles in the last 24 hours mentioning Michael Jackson and the term 'molestation'. It's not being ignored.
Title highlights include:
Michael Jackson's courtroom saga was another example of 'celebrity justice'
Jackson's other side
Michael Jackson: A self-inflicted tragedy
Fans and Foes Have Strong Opinions on Icon's Death
How will history recall Michael Jackson: as cultural icon or sideshow?
And most appropriately:
The hypocrisy of celebrity: How should we remember them?
The guy made great music. He also did some horrific things (convicted, no, and that's only because he had the money to pay those people off, and you know it). No problem enjoying the memories of a media icon, but its disgusting to insult those kids and their families by glossing over his other side. That's all.
And I think that's what most media outlets have done; the majority of time was spent on his accomplishments but they've also touched on his tribulations. And that's the way it should be.
I also cannot believe he's older than Barack. I haven't accepted that he has aged at all let alone that he's gone.
interview of Jordan Chandler who admits to lied about MJ in 1993 : http://tinyurl.com/pfh8ky
is this fact ?
due to the amount of straight corn on this site...ive fallen back. why am i chiming in... id dunno.
ok... so what did happen ?
the public will continue to question, and basically just talk about what may or may not be truth. we will never, really know.
none of us were there...nothing will be first hand, you watch tv and read, then speculate...so, why bother getting your gossip on ?
im going to celebrate his artistry...and leave the obvious alone.
I don't know it - I think there's enough gray area that I can't call it.
I mean even if he paid people off - as opposed to just settling a case, which is different - I don't think it necessarily admits guilt. People settle and pay out all the time just to get PR fiascoes over with, get their name out of the news.
I don't know that he didn't... don't think that he did... but he was acquitted twice in a court of law. If anyone had cold hard evidence, where was it then? It's certainly clear that he had severe issues around sexuality and youth... whatever is beyond that I will leave to God, who he's surely settling up with now.
One thing that nobody ever says... or rarely says... but if that was MY boy, MY child... and I knew in my heart that this man was a monster, a threat to children and was walking free... there is no amount of money that would keep my mouth shut or keep me from putting him behind bars. So when people say, "oh he paid all these people off" I just kind of think that's a real easy conclusion to draw that doesn't totally add up.
My .02.
Perhaps, and true, I don't KNOW know because I wasn't there. But I KNOW know that with all the hoopla surrounding that shit, with the off the wall stuff he said on tv about having little kids in his bed and all that, with money being exchanged for silence, a "regular" guy would've been figuratively crucified and tossed in jail, period. No way no how would they be out walking around, nor would a bunch of guys on the internet be streaming tears about their death.
And I'm all for people being as eccentric and off the wall as they want to be without reprisal. The guy can have amusement parks and monkeys and butcher his face any which way he wants, that's fine with me. But when you add all the kid stuff up it's 99.9% not passing the smell test.
About parents and their decisions... who knows. I don't recall the kids backgrounds. But I could envision a parent who would make the decision that their kid would be a lot better off with a few million dollars and letting the matter drop than a torturous trial and unwanted media
attention.
I guess my whole deal is people who just ignore all that shit. MJ was as much of my childhood as anyone else, and that part is a little depressing (his death). But to gloss over some sick ass shit just because the guy made some great music? F*ck that shit.
Same deal with a bunch of the other folks. James Brown, Ike Turner... both great musicians and major pieces of shit. Acknowledge both sides, that's all.
Because certainly only people in small towns wouldn't be star struck ass hurt enough to ignore child molestation.
So irrelevant.
Out of this thread now...
Well, everyone's entitled to their own views. I have mine, you have yours. Variety is the spice of life.
Fine. Now what else do want?
Would u like to discuss anything else he's done?
Anything?
If you believe he was guilty, too bad for you you weren't on the Jury. If he really did something inappropriate with those boys then God will be his judge, not me.
"But I have a right to my own opinion!"
Oh God....here we go
We don't have to rehash that whole angle... but yeah, celebrities getting acquitted based on their celebrity, money, or connection - oh yeah, never happens.
That works.
I remember I enjoyed Captain EO when I saw it at Disney World as a kid, and my son like a good bit of Thriller and Off the Wall.
Although I thought the cover to Bad with those feminine looking guys decked out in leather was kind of homoerotic. But I enjoyed the song when it came out.
this post is the shit http://www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/show...e=0#Post1327744