Michael Jackson heart problem

[becca]

Stevie Wonder stayed in his community, employs people in his community, built and didn't wall himself off in mansions like Michael and O.J. Same with Smokey and many others who don't blow their own horn or draw attention to themselves like many others. I see the fruits of people influenced by them and compare and their fruits are lasting, Michael did not and will not. He made dance music about zombies and people trying to get money from him and his self-absorbed loss of his childhood. He did not overcome, he has not prevailed, except on white bankers pieces of paper. Thank you for this space and I've said all I want to now. Think about people homeless families on the street of your town or in Tehran fighting for scraps of freedom instead of this entertainer who overdosed and who many that crossed his path in real life have some very bad things to say about.

[goldustboi]

Originally Posted by becca

Stevie Wonder stayed in his community, employs people in his community, built and didn't wall himself off in mansions like Michael and O.J. Same with Smokey and many others who don't blow their own horn or draw attention to themselves like many others. I see the fruits of people influenced by them and compare and their fruits are lasting, Michael did not and will not. He made dance music about zombies and people trying to get money from him and his self-absorbed loss of his childhood. He did not overcome, he has not prevailed, except on white bankers pieces of paper. Thank you for this space and I've said all I want to now. Think about people homeless families on the street of your town or in Tehran fighting for scraps of freedom instead of this entertainer who overdosed and who many that crossed his path in real life have some very bad things to say about.

I'm not sure what you're saying here - are you implying that MJ hasn't influenced others? If you are then I'd say you need to watch the BET awards which are a tribute to MJ and find out about all the artists (ranging from Justin Timberlake to Coldplay) who are expressing their interest in performing at other tribute shows.

How can you trivialise Thriller as 'a dance song about zombies'? The album was the biggest seller of all time before the video was even made and the video itself completely revolutionised music video. His influence is literally everywhere. MTV would not be the same without MJ - before 1983 MTV refused to play videos by black artists, until the vid for Billie Jean came along and they had no choice.

I'm glad other people are now starting to appreciate 'MJs music after years of it being overshadowed by his private life. As for the homeless people on the street, MJ has done more than his fair share for people less priveliged than himself - he's in the Guiness book of records for being the celebrity whose donated more money to charity than any other.

[sparky]

The entire clown show that is unfolding, and will likely explode like an atom bomb over the next few months in the wake of MJ's death fascinates me.

Even the responses in this thread are interesting.

The news shocked me in some way, but it did not surprise me. For many years now, MJ has been a circus freak. His eccentricities and scandal had come to overshadow his talent so much that most people had forgotten the enormity of his popularity and the massive machine that sprung up around the empire his success created.

I never liked his music very much. At his peak, I found him annoying, hyper produced and so full of the vocal ticks David pointed out that his singing made my flesh crawl.

But, in hindsight, his career at that time was utterly huge. I did not know a single soul who was a big fan, but the brouhaha that surrounded him in those glory years still makes every other pop phenomenon look dinky and like a flash in the pan.

But none of this death parade has much to do with that.

Ultimately, I think Michael Jackson has ended up having been a bit player in his own life. The real drama of this concerns what he represented. The reaction to his death says more about the machinery of the media, the star making process, and his fans and detractors than it says about him.

The devotion I always saw, and now see again in his fans boggles the mind. But it smacks of the same flavor that chiffonheads exhibit.
More than anything, he was wounded. Even his most aggressive songs had vocals that carried a tinge of sadness and the ferocity always looked to be coming from the POV of a person who only struck back because they had been trod upon. It isn't particularly unique or even interesting for an artist who comes across as primarily weak and wounded to have a large following. Many extremely popular artists give off that vibe.

But the way his story has unfolded is that archetype amplified in screaming technicolor and exploded in our faces. He really was a sad human being who was utterly unequipped to deal with the consequences of his fame and financial success. And people eat that **** up.

The way all the vultures swooped in on him, and will continue to swoop in is a train wreck of historic proportions. Here comes that charlatan Al Sharpton. On his heels is the opportunistic and utterly shameless Jesse Jackson. And his family, who he had evidently shunned to a large degree, is swooping in with exposed claws and gnashing teeth to pick the emaciated, surgery scarred carcass clean.

It all takes on such a grandly symbolic, historic passion play scope and the stars of the show are greed, exploitation, dishonesty, avarice, and the greatest hits of the seven deadly sins.

The poor man was doomed the second he was filmed and recorded way back at the beginning of his career in the Jackson 5. Ironically, it seems that the only people born with gifts that vast are utterly unequipped to survive all that such talent will bring. It eats them alive.

And human beings, by our very nature, seem to love nothing more than to watch them combust, self destruct and splatter into the sky in a fury of blood and guts.

It isn't a new story. Shakespeare wrote it, so did Sophocles, and the story is in the text of every religious text that exists.

It is who we are as humans. It is what we do.

I think his story is in the same vein as all the great tragic stories
ever written and lived. He just played the part.

And the audience for such a performance will never be lacking.

[danax6]

I love you, Sparky.

[shackin'up]

Originally Posted by danax6

I love you, Sparky.

I adore you Sparky. No, worship you.







serious: thet's the best post about this man. I haven't read something like it anywhere yet. Very cool.

[TrueFaith77]

Originally Posted by becca

"if you take Michael Jackson out of the equation, we would be without a lot of people who found their way to entertainment."

No Michael Jackson = No Scritti Politti

[BombaySapphire3]

So Michael and Latoya aren't the same person after all?!

[skcin]

Originally Posted by sparky

The entire clown show that is unfolding, and will likely explode like an atom bomb over the next few months in the wake of MJ's death fascinates me.

Even the responses in this thread are interesting...

I see his death moved you enough to post here.

[JWS]

Originally Posted by sparky

The entire clown show that is unfolding, and will likely explode like an atom bomb over the next few months in the wake of MJ's death fascinates me.


The way all the vultures swooped in on him, and will continue to swoop in is a train wreck of historic proportions. Here comes that charlatan Al Sharpton. On his heels is the opportunistic and utterly shameless Jesse Jackson. And his family, who he had evidently shunned to a large degree, is swooping in with exposed claws and gnashing teeth to pick the emaciated, surgery scarred carcass clean.

You just knew they would come. At every black tragedy, Sharpton and Jesse "Johnny on the spot" to stick their nose into it for their own self-promotion. Next lined up are the lawyers and accountants to get a piece. And, this quack "doctor" from Texas who gave up his "practice " to go on Jackson's payroll...then fled the scene like a hit-and-run. The whole thing is one big mess that will take years to play out.

[sparky]

Originally Posted by danax6

I love you, Sparky.

Vanessa!

Originally Posted by skcin

I see his death moved you enough to post here.

I want to make a reference to Frank's Red Hot but can't manage the right joke.

Originally Posted by JWS

The whole thing is one big mess that will take years to play out.

I am predicting a decade. Just in time for the kids' tell all books to come out and then we will watch the whole thing erupt anew.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by trackaghost

Thank god for Becca and Gerald. I hate it when someone dies everyone suddenly such a huge fan.

That's not it. We are losing an iconic part of our childhood, therefore the loss is personal. If you didn't grow up with the Jackson 5 and MJ then maybe you just don't get it. But it's certainly not your place to sit in judgement of the grief of others. I don't know maybe you have to be American to understand this.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by becca

Stevie Wonder stayed in his community, employs people in his community, built and didn't wall himself off in mansions like Michael and O.J. Same with Smokey and many others who don't blow their own horn or draw attention to themselves like many others. I see the fruits of people influenced by them and compare and their fruits are lasting, Michael did not and will not. He made dance music about zombies and people trying to get money from him and his self-absorbed loss of his childhood. He did not overcome, he has not prevailed, except on white bankers pieces of paper. Thank you for this space and I've said all I want to now. Think about people homeless families on the street of your town or in Tehran fighting for scraps of freedom instead of this entertainer who overdosed and who many that crossed his path in real life have some very bad things to say about.

Come down from your ivory tower already.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by goldustboi

I'm glad other people are now starting to appreciate 'MJs music after years of it being overshadowed by his private life. As for the homeless people on the street, MJ has done more than his fair share for people less priveliged than himself - he's in the Guiness book of records for being the celebrity whose donated more money to charity than any other.

Thank you.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by BombaySapphire3

So Michael and Janet aren't the same person after all?!

Makes you wonder:

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by JWS

You just knew they would come. At every black tragedy, Sharpton and Jesse "Johnny on the spot" to stick their nose into it for their own self-promotion. Next lined up are the lawyers and accountants to get a piece. And, this quack "doctor" from Texas who gave up his "practice " to go on Jackson's payroll...then fled the scene like a hit-and-run. The whole thing is one big mess that will take years to play out.

Daddy Money Joe Jackson's speech on the red carpet at the BET Awards was just gross to watch.