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HOLY HOT FUDGE SUNDAY!
It appears that Michael Jackson is DEAD. Perhaps a prescription drug complication.
For some reason I find this freaky and moving, so I'll leave it at that.
For some reason I find this freaky and moving, so I'll leave it at that.
(Anonymous)
Still it gives all the bloggers something to write about ....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....get me?
Scouser
(Anonymous)
Mike
Sadly, he will be remembered as much for his kiddie-fiddling and his freakish, surgically warped appearance as for his musical talents.
John B
I really was never a big fan. Never owned an album... BUT, his influence, both on music and pop culture can't be denied.
He was never "dead to me since..." This is the third time I've gotten this quote today. While I appreciate the cynicism, Michael Jackson was always very alive to me. I remember listening to songs from "Off the Wall" during my youth theater summers. I remember when "Thriller" came out and how I was a rocker and had to pretend to hate it so much. And I did. I secretly liked a lot of the songs, but I hated how POPULAR it was, how it was some sort of normal person litmus test that you liked the thing. It was like railing against The Beatles after they appeared on "Sullivan." I may have been righteous in my cause, but it was a losing battle.
And, yes, I did come around.
I remember in the mid '90's when "History" came out. I remember the uber-pretentious Stalinesque mural that adorned the wall of - what was it - Penny Lane in Lower Queen Anne? It was then that I knew it was over, that he had crossed the line from silly to sick.
People have already abused me for mourning MJ's death. I've already gotten my share of mocking laughs and ironic shrugs. Fair enough. He was a child molester. This is plenty to damn him anywhere. He was a freak. His plasic surgery catastrophes could elicit nothing but pity from anyone who was unfortunate enough to witness the photos.
You can condemn him on these terms alone.
But he was one of the purest pop geniuses to come around in a century. Lennon? McCartney? Wilson? He was their EQUAL. But, he was an absulote contradiction. He was brilliant and eternally flawed, so fucked up that many of us wished him this death some ten years ago. He lived and died by this wicked sword, but, like it or hate it, his impact on pop culture is more than indelible. As I said before, it's Elvisian. Both were tsunamis of effect. Both were massive in their day. Both were tragic. You can roll your eyes and sigh and tell me, "I told you so," but it doesn't make Michael Jackson unimportant. As fucked up as he was, he was a FORCE.
There are VERY FEW artists you can say that about.
Think about it.
Edited at 2009-06-26 05:14 pm (UTC)
Your argument is valid, not just for MJ but about any pivotal cultural figure constantly under the attention of people who's livelihood depends you acting weird.