Looks like Michael Jackson just Died

[bucknersrevenge]

the media built him up to unprecedented heights that we aren't likely to see again...

then they worked on tearing him down as much as humanly possible.  

I wonder if they will now turn around and report factually what his life was all about... glorify him now that he's dead.  He was eccentric, unbelievably talented and certainly quirky... but 90% of the stuff reported about him over the last 20 years was garbage.    

Your 400th TP for the post of the thread.

[SSFan V]

the media built him up to unprecedented heights that we aren't likely to see again...

then they worked on tearing him down as much as humanly possible.  

I wonder if they will now turn around and report factually what his life was all about... glorify him now that he's dead.  He was eccentric, unbelievably talented and certainly quirky... but 90% of the stuff reported about him over the last 20 years was garbage.    

It's why even as an "alternative music snob" I liked this song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5KAJw4y8wE

[ManUp]

RIP M.J.

[xmuscularghandix]

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

[ToppersBsktball10]

All the little boys must feel relieved

[GroverTheClover]

Man, Jeff Goldblum just died too. That makes three in one day.


http://www.examiner.com/x-6025-Marin-County-Culture--Events-Examiner~y2009m6d25-Michael-Jackson-Farrah-Fawcett-Jeff-Goldblumimprobable-tragedy-strikes-Hollywood

[Rondo2287]

please no little boy jokes. 

Regardless of controversy, Michael Jackson was the greatest entertainer of all time. 

[GroverTheClover]

Man, Jeff Goldblum just died too. That makes three in one day.


http://www.examiner.com/x-6025-Marin-County-Culture--Events-Examiner~y2009m6d25-Michael-Jackson-Farrah-Fawcett-Jeff-Goldblumimprobable-tragedy-strikes-Hollywood

Edit: the Jeff Goldblum thing is a hoax.

http://screencrave.com/2009-06-25/report-jeff-goldblum-has-died/

[waltzero]

Uri Gellar said that he couldn't resist asking about the molestation issue when he had MJ under hypnosis, and Jackson said he'd never done it. Then again Uri also said he got his powers from UFOs...so who knows really.

Whatever the truth was, I just felt bad for him. All that talent and he never really could enjoy it. He had no childhood, his father beat the sh*t out of him constantly AND beat and sexually abused his sister(s?) while he knew about it.

And then he's on top of the world and his own man finally...and he gets set on fire shooting that Pepsi commercial and the downward spiral of plastic surgery began.

I think the first thing I ever bought was Thriller, on tape.

Rondo has always reminded me of somebody and I never put it together until today...it's Michael Jackson. Especially when he's wearing a suit.

[SSFan V]

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

I care.

[Rondo2287]

Show some respect, this man accomplished more in his life at 50 years than any of you ever will..

[LarBrd33]

I wrote a very long-winded blogish post that I put on my facebook for anyone that knew me and had been texting me about Jackson.  I'll share it here for anyone who has the patience to read it.   I'm kinda bothered by the guy dying.  More so the way his life will probably be remembered.   

Note:  I've received about 15 texts from people asking my thoughts about MJ.  This is going to make me seem very weird, it's long-winded and I honestly don't expect many people to read this.   But I'll rant about it, because I sorta feel like someone should.

I don't really blog.  I think it's rather weird for me to blog about Michael Jackson's death.  I'm sure people will find what I'm about to write sorta "out-there" and "nutty", but I sorta feel obligated to write something.  Anyone know knows me knows that I'm a Michael Jackson fan.  I still listen to his music, watch his videos and had been following his career.  The last CD I legitimately purchased was his latest album in 2001.  I tracked MJ-related forums, was looking forward to his London concerts and defended him in conversation. 

Some of my friends just figured it was an elaborate "joke" that I was a Jackson fan.   I'd tell people I loved Michael Jackson and they'd laugh like I was kidding.  A buddy of mine once speculated that my MJ fandom was some kind of performance art... like I was poking fun at absurd fan subcultures.  It didn't help that I made a "Michael Jackson Tribute Video" that was admittedly ridiculous:  youtube.com/watch?v=ne6ScUwvd9o ...   It was watched by 60 thousand people, received lots of love from hundreds of MJ fans and that somehow just made my "joke" funnier.   I guess that says something about where the guy's career went... that even declaring yourself a fan was seen as a joke.   But truthfully, I was raised on his music.  I have family members who knew him personally during his peak.  My uncle was his publicist for a number of years and my cousin use to hang out with him when she was a teenager.  She use to hang out at Neverland Ranch.  Apparently, she's pretty devastated about his death.  As far as I can tell, nobody in his inner circle ever had anything negative to say about the guy.     

I mean, I know some of you were fans.  Everyone was a fan at one point.  In the mid 80s he was the biggest thing in the world.   The guy has been a global icon since he was 11.  I don't think there will ever be a bigger celebrity than Michael Jackson.   They still play some of his music in clubs and people still dance to it... so I know that plenty of people still considered themselves a "fan of his earlier stuff".  But generally everyone has bashed the guy non-stop for the last 20 years.  As beloved as he became... he was hated twice as much.  He reached unfathomable highs and lows.   

I don't want to sound like a nutty conspiracy theorist, but this is my actual opinion on Jackson.  A quirky guy.  Definitely eccentric.  Certainly strange.  But I legitimately believe that 90% of the crap written about him was total hogwash.  The media took him to unprecedented heights that will never been seen again... and then they worked on tearing him apart limb-by-limb.  They built him up... and then tore him down twice as hard.  Yes, I feel that Michael Jackson was a victim of his own fame.  I understand that's just how it works... you build up these icons and then rip them apart.  Happens to plenty of celebrities.  But without even knowing the true cause of death yet, I'm just going to say it was the media that killed Michael Jackson.   The widespread ignorance of his true character was annoying while he was alive... but now that he's passed on it's actually bothering me enough to write this.  I feel uncomfortable even reading any of the articles being printed, because I understand that half of them will either have jabs throughout about Wacko Jacko or have snide jokey comments from the internet public about child molestation, plastic noses and skin bleaching. 

It's hard to even defend the guy, because I realize how ingrained into everyones minds some of these falsities are.  The saying is that "perception is reality", but never has that been more accurate than with Michael Jackson.   There was a large chunk of time when I just believed along with everyone else that Jackson slept with elephant bones in a hyperbolic chamber with molested monkeys and Macauley Culkin, but at some point I did a little research and realized how unbelievably ridiculous some of the claims were.  For me, it was fascinating and actually changed my entire opinion of the general media.  It was fascinating to me that Michael Jackson could take a picture with a hyperbolic chamber, the National Enquirer could report that Jackson infact slept in said hyperbolic chamber... and suddenly it became an accepted part of our consciousness.   It was fascinating to me that a word-of-mouth rumor could spread that Michael Jackson literally bleached his skin with over-the-counter chemicals... and large chunks of our braindead culture could just accept this as reality.   No matter that you can find countless documentation, interviews and medical reports that state that Michael Jackson had a skin disease called Vitiligo that robbed him of his skin pigmentation.  For those still not in the know... vitiligo does this to your skin:  http://www.bagofnothing.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/bwthomasap.jpg ... Large blotches of lossed pigmentation.  The most common way to deal with this skin disease is to take medication that gradually causes your entire body to lose all pigmentation.  Either look like a blotchy leper or look like an albino.  Pick your poison.  Also effectively made it so that he couldn't go anywhere near sun (hence the massive glasses, the surgical masks, the massive hats, etc) ... the early blotches were also the cause of some of his more famous trademarks... such as the one glove.  Naturally, if you brought this up to any of the masses they'd just say, "ha ha... RiIIiight... we all know he just hated being black"... that kind of collective ignorance is fascinating, you know?  It's that kind of perpetual stupidity that allows websites like snopes.com to survive... dispelling illogical urban legends one at a time. 

But with MJ it just kept coming.   If you watched the "Jacksons" TV movie (which plays once a month on VH1) you'd be aware that he was portrayed as a tragic figure that was abused on some level as a kid and robbed of his childhood.  He spent the rest of his life trying to recreate his lost childhood.  Surrounding himself with children and toys, turning his home into a magical theme park and dedicated his life to helping children all around the world.  Naturally, the media was able to spin this into depraved depths.  Again, I understand that MJ was weird.  The weird outfits and the weird hair are all on him.  The nose jobs are all on him.  Supposedly his family use to tease him about his huge nose when he was little so he tried to remedy that as an adult.  I think plastic surgery has probably come a long way since the mid 80s.  [dang] shame he didn't have Ashley Simpson's doc, I guess.  Who knows how many he ended up having.  Supposedly he had to have corrective surgery on his nose at least once to fix a problem with his breathing (that was caused by his original surgery).   That along with the aforementioned vitiligo certainly didn't help his image.   He had always been a reclusive and private figure and his reluctance to do interviews or speak to the media was intentional.  He was keen on keeping a certain mysticism about his persona... and this clearly backfired on him, because it allowed the media to create their own false truths about him.   So yes, I understand fully that he was "different".  He was a global icon since the age of 11... the guy lived a weird life... I'd expect him to come out a little different.  Yes... he was weird.  But some of the allegations about the guy simply were not true.   

I honestly DO NOT believe at all that he molested a kid.  I think it was easy to believe, though.  And I understand how a constant weirdness can perpetuate a perception and make it easy for the masses to accept that the pale pop singer with the makeup, a nose job and an unusual fondness for children would do something as sick and depraved as molest a child.   That's easy to believe, right?  He spends his entire life giving millions to children, posing as one of the greatest humanitarians in the world simply so he can get some 12 year old boys naked?  This mindless ignorance is certainly what they were counting on when they decided to extort money from Jackson.  I probably believed it at some point too.  But, if you do any research on the 1993 allegations you'd find out how bs they were.  There was an amazing article published in GQ in October 1994 on the original allegations:  http://www.buttonmonkey.com/misc/maryfischer.html  ... find out how Michael Jackson's career was ruined so that some fella could have enough money to make "Robin Hood Men In Tights".   Not a bad movie, but bummer for MJ.  Give it a read if you have patience.  It's pretty wild.  But of course, I don't expect the people reading this to care enough to read the truth.  I'm sure they are all still just sitting wide-eyed about how loopy I sound defending Michael Jackson.  Everyone is so effectively brainwashed that anything differing from the collective opinion is seen as "crazy" and a "conspiracy theory". 

1993 Allegations were bs.  See the above article.  MJ's only mistake was not fighting them.  He was presented with the option of cancelling his concert tour and allowing his name to get dragged through the mud for an endless "trial of the century"... or settle it out of court and hope it died off.   Clearly he went the wrong route.  Obviously he didn't have the same luck as Kobe Bryant.  And years later he had to go through the exact thing he feared (long drawn-out trial that dragged his reputation and career in the dirt) with a different boy and a different set of bs allegations.   But, 1993 created the perception.  And as we know... perception is reality.   You plant that seed in the social consciousness and anything after it is fair game.  Any bizarre nutty rumor is fair game.  (Related side note:  Elliott Smith spent years writing songs about killing himself... when he finally DID kill himself, the police neglected to investigate foul play despite the fact there was significant evidence that pointed to a potential homicide... such as him misspelling his own name in the suicide note.  amazing)   Anyways,  It also opened the door for a few other nutjobs to come out of the woodworks and claim Jackson molested them.  None ever amounted to anything.  National Enquirer might have reported some but they were all quickly squashed as garbage.   It was only the 2004 allegations that actually lead to anything significant.  The media created the perception.  The public had their reality... and so the general population once again just accepted that MJ would do something that disgusting.   It didn't matter that once again (like 1993) it was a total fabrication. 

Just a quick recap of the 2004 allegation for those who aren't aware.  MJ met some 12 year old cancer patient.  He spent a fortune on getting the kid healthy.  The kid actually beat cancer.  He became so fond of the boy that he actually invited his entire family to live at the Neverland Ranch.  Unfortunately, the boy's mother had been in and out of nut houses.  She had tried in the past to extort money from a variety of celebrities... including George Lopez and Jay Leno (which is why they were both at his trial, btw).   Also, her son was a little prick who once shoplifted from a JC Penny.   When security caught him, his mother successfully sued JC Penny for thousands of dollars by claiming the security guard beat up her son.   This is a true fact, folks.  Look it up.  The woman had a history of extorting money from people.   You can't make this **** up.   So the family is living off Jackson's dime when Martin Bashir decides to do his widely seen "Living with Michael Jackson" special.   You might remember this special, because it had the famous "baby dangling" incident and had the infamous line of Jackson exclaiming, "there is nothing wrong with sharing your bed with a kid... I share my bed all the time".   Jackson's intention obviously was not to paint himself as a pedophile.  He was referring to the fact that his bed was massive, he'd stay up all night playing video games and once in a while they would pass out on the bed.    Bizarre?  Probably.   Criminal?  No.    Nonetheless, the media made a HUGE deal about it.   The kid sitting next to him during that quote was in fact the supposed molested boy.  So what happens?  Gloria Allred and Nancy Grace start calling for Michael's head and say he needs to lose custody of his children.   MJ's people in turn decide that it's best if he cuts ties with the cancer boy's family.    Cancer boy's psychopath mother in turn decides now might be a good time to come up with some molestation allegations... so she goes ahead and contacts the same DA who missed out on his "trial of the century" in 1993.  And there you have the makings of the "Michael Jackson Trial".     Look it up, folks.   Read about it.   Stop accepting all this mindless horse**** that the media perpetuates and actually look into it.   Know that when the boy's mother was on the witness stand the jurors literally started laughing.   Her timeline was that Michael FIRST molested the boy 5 days after "Living with Michael Jackson" aired.  Stop for a second and think about that.  Does that make sense to you?  As crazy as you might think Jackson was... can you imagine a kind of git who would be dogged by constant hate for 10 years, film a documentary where he says he doesn't mind sleeping in the same bed with kids... wait for that documentary to air... wait for the public to freak out... wait for Gloria Allred and Nancy Grace to call for his head... and then decide, "gee... you know what?... now might be a good time to start diddling Gavin".     Amazing.   On top of those allegations the mother also claimed that Jackson had kidnapped her family and kept them capative in the Neverland Ranch.   The defense attorney presented her with thousands of dollars worth of receipts from various restaurants and malls from the "kidnapped" time period in which she had been using Michael Jackson's credit card... outback steakhouse, gucci, tiffany... a receipt for a full body wax.   The woman's response?... "It was not a body wax it was a leg wax!!!"  She then turned to the jurors and howled, "he is LYING to you!  It was a leg wax not a body wax!!!" (I've relayed this story to certain friends over the years in an attempt for them to understand how various arguments with a certain ex girlfriend use to go for me... )  The point is...  People wonder why he wasn't convicted.  Read about it... it's not hard to understand.

And yet perception becomes reality.  Jackson was a freak.  Jackson molested kids.  He slept with elephant bones.  The National Enquirer paid some former fired housekeeper to come up story that he saw Jackson performing oral sex on Macauley Culkin in a shower.  Some people ate that up.  It was actually presented during the trial.... the receipts from the National Enquirer hurt the story.    But it just added to the public perception.  Smoke = Fire, I guess.   

So MJ had been dealing with constant depression and health problems for years now, supposedly.  Since 1993 he's gone on a "downward spiral".  His career was effectively ruined.  He admitted to having a problem with pills for a while. All sorts of alleged financial troubles.  He was reportedly on the road to a major comeback.  A set of 50 shows in London and potential plans of a world tour to follow.   He had been rehearsing 4 hours a day for the last month or so.   I was actually pretty excited about it.   Despite his bizarre behavior and all the allegations, he was still a world-class talent and an extraordinary performer.  I didn't have much faith that an igorant mass would collectively education themselves on the guy's true character... but I figured maybe a major comeback would allow them to conveniently "forget" (like Kobe's recent success has allowed people to suddenly "forget" about his troubles a couple years ago).  Now MJ's dead.   It's a bummer.   The media killed him.   But you know... they love building people up... tearing them down... and building them up again.  So maybe we can all look forward to a bunch of glowing pieces about what a misunderstood genius he was... now that he's gone.   yay....

[RunningTheFloor]

LarBar33:

I am also a fan and a lot of my thoughts co-exist with yours (although I didn't have all of the facts to back it up).

Thanks for taking the time to put your thoughts together.  "You Are Not Alone" in your thoughts about him.

[ACF]

R.I.P.

[RAcker]

i guess paul mccartney can buy all his own songs back now

Thanks for mentioning that. This has always bugged the crap out of me.  However, it was a smart investment for MJ.  I have to give him that even though I thought it was pretty scummy to do to a "friend".