Looks like Michael Jackson just Died

[guava_wrench]

I think Iran killed MJ to deflect attention.

[cool breeze]

Farrah Fawcett wasn't a child molester and nobody cares that she just died.

Get some perspective, facts, and class.

[johnnyrondo]

RIP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PTo6jIVWu0

[BASS_THUMPER]

human nature and rock wit u was my fav

i dont care what people think or thought about him but he was talented and truly loved entertaining us all

[Amonkey]

Michael Jackson was the only person in the world who could go do a show in any country in the world and would sell out in five minutes.  Regardless of his personal life, it's undeniable that the man changed the music industry forever.  It's hard to tell which one he was better, his revolutionary dancing and choreography, his unbelievable singing voice from a young boy to a grown man, revamping the entire the pop genre with original and breakthrough records, or the introduction of short stories during music videos, or just being the greatest entertainer in the world.

In every aspect there is on the music environment, Michael Jackson left his prints and in a big way.  His personal life was messed up, and although I believe that he was a deeply disturbed person, it does not excuse some of the action that he may or may not have done.  But today we have lost a legend.  A LEGEND.

[Kiorrik]

Michael Jackson was the only person in the world who could go do a show in any country in the world and would sell out in five minutes.  Regardless of his personal life, it's undeniable that the man changed the music industry forever.  It's hard to tell which one he was better, his revolutionary dancing and choreography, his unbelievable singing voice from a young boy to a grown man, revamping the entire the pop genre with original and breakthrough records, or the introduction of short stories during music videos, or just being the greatest entertainer in the world.

In every aspect there is on the music environment, Michael Jackson left his prints and in a big way.  His personal life was messed up, and although I believe that he was a deeply disturbed person, it does not excuse some of the action that he may or may not have done.  But today we have lost a legend.  A LEGEND.

Had to TP you up for that one matey. Well said. Thanks for saving me the trouble of writing something like that

[Drucci]

I was shocked when I learnt the news and I'm still shocked. I didn't like the guy but his music was great and will live forever.

Nobody expected him to die like this, to disappear without a "sound", it's really shocking, especially at 50, which is still a very young age to die.

[Bankshot]

 

[SSFan V]

John Wayne Gacy considered himself a misunderstood artist too.




Michael excelled more artistically, Gacy excelled more on the pedophilia.

[LarBrd33]

John Wayne Gacy considered himself a misunderstood artist too.




Michael excelled more artistically, Gacy excelled more on the pedophilia.

[LarBrd33]

Part 2 of my rant:  "Why I think the internet could have saved Michael Jackson's life in 1993"

Yesterday I wrote in depth about why I felt the media was to blame for Michael Jackson's demise and ultimate death.

It was long. Probably too long. But the general media and the general population has spent 20 years feasting on the pale flesh of that man's glorious career... so I figured one long-winded blog was owed to him. I do want to follow up on it with a few more thoughts, though. Gear up for part 2, I guess.

Again, it's the nature of celebrity and fame. In some ways the media is (or had been) entirely in control of the perception. They build them up as high as possible... and then work on tearing them apart. This is just the way it works. Once they've brought them down as low as can go, they invest copious amounts of energy into publicizing the "big comeback". **** is probably a good example. Bottom line, if I'm Justin Timberlake right now... I'm freakin walkin on egg shells. Seriously. If there isn't a force-fed "Justin Timberlake Scandal" in the next 3 years I'll be SHOCKED. It's just the way this works. He's received far too much praise and appreciation for it to not happen. Check out the bottom right pic here for my prediction on what the guy will look like in 20 years: http://www.nedyken.com/images/dabbles/justinanalogy.jpg . Joking, of course... but if you don't think there is a entire sect of the media that is salivating for a chance to break the first Timberlake scandal, you're very naive.

However... I think the internet is a bit of a game changer. Kobe Bryant's 2004 rape scandal proved this. Things are undeniably different now. Prior to the internet, the media was the main source of our information. Unfortunately, the media unquestionably has ulterior motives when it comes to factually reporting current events. Ultimately, what matters most has been and always will be selling magazines, newspapers, tabloids and getting high ratings for the TV shows. There was a fantastic film from 1976 called "Network" that was based on this entire concept. It won 4 Academy Awards. Check it out some time: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_(film) . In it, one of the main characters screams from the rooftops the famous line, "'I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take this any more!!" I'm sorry if anyone thinks I'm starting to sound like that gent. Ha! But really this is what the media is about. Obviously this spans well beyond trivial celebrity culture. My coworker will go on for hours lambasting the media's portrayal of current events and the political landscape. But I'm just going to stick with MJ here.

In 1993 when they reported Jackson's first "molestation scandal", what mattered most was gripping the attention of the public. What's more interesting than the world's biggest star committing one of the world's biggest crimes? They reported it... and reported it... and reported it. And we little sheeps just ate it all up. The public certainly had conversations about it, but it was limited to watercooler discussions about what they had read on the front of the National Enquirer, seen on "Hard Copy" or what rumors they had heard from so-and-so. Collectively, people were ignorant to the reality of the situation. The perception was built. It stuck. And unfortunately this was one situation that a media "big comeback" push wasn't capable of reversing.

I myself was unaware of the facts surrounding Jackson's case until well after 1997 when I first visited the internet. Ah, the internet. Really, it changes everything. Back to Kobe Bryant... In 2003 he was accused of raping a young woman. In 2004 Bryant settled the civil suit with the woman out of court for an undisclosed sum of money. And yet 4 years later Bryant is again a beloved American sports icon who is adored for just winning his 4th NBA title. The difference? The internet. The media still reported the scandal in the same way. They still dragged Kobe's name through the mud. They still chatted endlessly about Kobe's past, attempted to tarnish his career by bringing up comments from teammates and generally did everything they could to change the perception of Kobe. In some ways it worked (and stuck with a lot of people), but thanks to forums and blogs, the general population now had the ability to digest every single fact and every story surrounding the case from every conceivable angle. We had access to the woman's history. We knew she had slept with other athletes. We knew that her panties had traces of 3 different sources of semen. We knew that she had a "sketchy past". Meanwhile, countless Kobe Bryant and Laker fans spent every waking hour arguing and defending their hero in chatrooms, message boards and blog comments. It made it very difficult for people to ignore the reality of the case. And whether or not you still believe Kobe did it (he paid up to squash it... just like MJ), you still at least have a broad understanding of Kobe's side of the story.

Michael Jackson didn't have that luxury. Perhaps if the internet had existed back then, more people would have been aware of the 1993 case. They'd be aware that the main accuser was the boy's biological father and not the parents the boy lived with (who at the time were adamant in their support of Jackson). They'd be aware that the boy's biological father had continually requested money from Jackson... and it wasn't until after Jackson cut him off and refused to buy him a house that the allegations surfaced. Perhaps the public would be aware that the boy's biological father literally drugged his own son with the sodium Amytal in order to coax the first molesation allegations out of him (sodium amytal is a controversial hypnotic drug that was mistakenly believed to be a truth serum, but has since lost credibility due to the discovery that the subject can be coerced into having a 'false memory' of the event.... if only we had wikipedia back in 1993, right?) ... Maybe we'd be aware of the following "smoking gun" TAPE-RECORDED conversation between the boy's biological father (Evan Chandler) and step father (Dave Schwartz):

    In early July 1993, Dave Schwartz, who had been friendly with Chandler, secretly tape-recorded a lengthy telephone conversation he had with him. During the conversation, Chandler talked of his concern for his son and his anger at Jackson and at his ex-wife, whom he described as “cold and heartless.” When Chandler tried to “get her attention” to discuss his suspicions about Jackson, he says on the tape, she told him “Go Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. yourself.”

    “I had a good communication with Michael,” Chandler told Schwartz. “We were friends. I liked him and I respected him and everything else for what he is. There was no reason why he had to stop calling me. I sat in the room one day and talked to Michael and told him exactly what I want out of this whole relationship. What I want.”

    Admitting to Schwartz that he had “been rehearsed” about what to say and what not to say, Chandler never mentioned money during their conversation. When Schwartz asked what Jackson had done that made Chandler so upset, Chandler alleged only that “he broke up the family. [The boy] has been seduced by this guy’s power and money.” Both men repeatedly berated themselves as poor fathers to the boy.

    Elsewhere on the tape, Chandler indicated he was prepared to move against Jackson: “It’s already set,” Chandler told Schwartz. “There are other people involved that are waiting for my phone call that are in certain positions. I’ve paid them to do it. Everything’s going according to a certain plan that isn’t just mine. Once I make that phone call, this guy [his attorney, Barry K. Rothman, presumably] is going to destroy everybody in sight in any devious, nasty, cruel way that he can do it. And I’ve given him full authority to do that.”

    Chandler then predicted what would, in fact, transpire six weeks later: “And if I go through with this, I win big-time. There’s no way I lose. I’ve checked that inside out. I will get everything I want, and they will be destroyed forever. June will lose [custody of the son]...and Michael’s career will be over.”

    “Does that help [the boy]?” Schwartz asked.

    “That’s irrelevant to me,” Chandler replied. “It’s going to be bigger than all of us put together. The whole thing is going to crash down on everybody and destroy everybody in sight. It will be a massacre if I don’t get what I want.”

If only we had thesmokinggun.com back in 1993, right?

.... And yet the vast majority of people who didn't buy the October 1994 issue of GQ magazine were completely unaware of this. Sad, really. Jackson's career was ruined, his reputation destroyed, his life sent into a downward spiral of depression... and yet even in death you have people saying stuff like, "I heard he died of food poisoning... 12 year old nuts! ZING!".

Poor timing I guess. He not only set the blueprint for superstardom, disco, pop, R&B, music videos, modern dance and stage performances... but he also helped set the blueprint for the media's celebrity rollercoaster. I don't think it would work out like that these days. If tomorrow some tranny prostitute goes on TMZ and claims that heshe had a year-long affair with Justin Timberlake based on cocaine, methamphetamines and spiritual butt-sex.... I think the internet would collectively do a savvy job of analyzing all of the facts instead of just accepting that JT was a tranny-chasing cokefiend for the next 20 years.... You might laugh, but the sad fact is that we're so jaded as a culture that a few of us would probably just buy the tranny's story at face value.

[celticmaestro]

What I will say about Michael Jackson is this: let's not talk about what kind of person he was, remember, he was never convicted of anything, and let's not talk about his appearance. Instead, let's talk about his music, because that man was a pioneer and an inspiration. He helped pave the way for black people in the music industry and his entertaining/dancing was special. His acting, not so much, but that can be forgiven.

[ACF]

What I will say about Michael Jackson is this: let's not talk about what kind of person he was, remember, he was never convicted of anything, and let's not talk about his appearance. Instead, let's talk about his music, because that man was a pioneer and an inspiration. He helped pave the way for black people in the music industry and his entertaining/dancing was special. His acting, not so much, but that can be forgiven.

Have a TP, bud.
In the 80's and early 90's, MTV = Michael TV.

[ACF]

John Wayne Gacy considered himself a misunderstood artist too.

As far as dead bodies go: JWG 33, MJ 0.

[SSFan V]

John Wayne Gacy considered himself a misunderstood artist too.

As far as dead bodies go: JWG 33, MJ 0.

As far as gold albums go: JWG 0, MJ 16