So, apparently somewhere in his worldwide travels Michael Jackson acquired a monkey's paw. And sometime in the last week he decided to use it. "I wish that the whole world would love me again" he said. Done.
Yes, in another one of life's ironies Michael Jackson died on the eve of embarking on his "comeback tour" and in so doing managed to revive his career and image far more effectively than he ever could have done while alive. I believe that it's quite probable that his music will be more popular now than it has been in 15 years. And anyone currently under 10 years old will probably grow up knowing about "creepy Michael" only as a side-note instead of the main attraction it had become for the rest of us these last 10 years.
I look around at all the tributes being paid to him and I am quite perplexed. I can't escape the feeling that no matter how you look at it a disservice has been done to someone. Although he still had lots of fans (as evidenced by the sold-out venues for his planned tour), most of the world was done with him. The general consensus seemed to be "Yeah, you were a good entertainer for a long time, and you made some great music. But you are just too creepy, and we can't get past it." Even the majority of the black community had turned on him. Seriously, you were more likely to hear a black man defend O.J. than defend Michael Jackson. I think Chris Rock's comments from Never Scared in 2004 sum it up pretty well:
Damn. It's all fucked. The world's fucked up man. Michael Jackson lost his mind. What the hell is wrong with Michael? Another kid? Another kid? I thought it was groundhog's day when I heard that shit. Another kid. Get the fuck out of here. That's how much we love Michael. We love Michael so much. We let the first kid slide. Another kid. I'm fuckin done. I'm done with Michael. I was a fan my whole life. I am fuckin' done! I'm handing in my glove. I saw Michael on 60 Minutes. Ed Bradley tried his best to make Michael look like a mammal. Someone that drinks water and breathes air, right? He gave Michael the easiest question in the world, the easiest GED questions in the world, and Michael could not pass the test. He said, "Oh Michael, do you think it's proper for a 45 year old man to sleep in the bed with 13 year old boys?"
[as Michael Jackson ]"Yes".
[as Ed Bradley]"Ok, ok, oh let me rephrase that question. Michael, would you let your children sleep in a bed with a 45 year old man that has been accused of child molestation?"
[as Michael]: "Yes".
Ed Bradley looked at Michael Jackson like he wanted to say, "Nigga, is you crazy?" Like he wanted to take the 60 Minutes clock and push the shit forward and say "get the fuck off my show!"Did you see Michael going to court? Motherfucker going to court 20 minutes late! What kind of black man gonna go to court 20 minutes late? This ain't Barbershop 2. This is court motherfucker. And he ain't even wearing a real suit to court. Coming in there looking like Captain Crunch. Shit, who's your lawyer, Franken Berry? You better take your black ass to Banana Republic to get you a decent suit. What is up with that boy?
[as Michael Jackson ]"Yes".
[as Ed Bradley]"Ok, ok, oh let me rephrase that question. Michael, would you let your children sleep in a bed with a 45 year old man that has been accused of child molestation?"
[as Michael]: "Yes".
Ed Bradley looked at Michael Jackson like he wanted to say, "Nigga, is you crazy?" Like he wanted to take the 60 Minutes clock and push the shit forward and say "get the fuck off my show!"Did you see Michael going to court? Motherfucker going to court 20 minutes late! What kind of black man gonna go to court 20 minutes late? This ain't Barbershop 2. This is court motherfucker. And he ain't even wearing a real suit to court. Coming in there looking like Captain Crunch. Shit, who's your lawyer, Franken Berry? You better take your black ass to Banana Republic to get you a decent suit. What is up with that boy?
So now the guy dies and all of a sudden it's like he was still the beloved figure that he was the year after Thriller was released. Like the last 27 years didn't happen. I'm all for paying tribute to someone's life, but it all seems just a bit phony to me. It's like, if you really were still a huge Michael Jackson fan, where you been the last 10 years? Where were you to show your support for him and let him know that you still stood by him while he was still alive and could have benefited from it
To be clear, there were a number of celebrities and family that really did stick by him through it all. I'm not talking about them. Nor am I talking about the fans that bought all of his albums and even the ones that were psychotic enough to stand out front of the courtroom and cheer for him during his last molestation trial. What I'm talking about are the endless parade of celebrities that are using his death to shove themselves in the spotlight for an extra 30 seconds. The media pirranhas who have made a living on blasting his every move for the last 15 years and now will put out an endless series of "special tribute" issues. Just last week, Us Weekly ran a page making fun of "Wacko Jacko fashion". What do you think the odds are that this week's issue will be a gushing 20+ pages of over-the-top sentimentality? And I'm talking about the legions of "fans" who were all too happy to pass on an endless parade of Michael Jackson jokes over the last 2 decades and now will shake their head and mutter something about "the tragedy of losing someone so young."
Look, I don't have a problem celebrating the guy's musical accomplishments (of which there are many), or somewhat looking the other way on some of his private issues (if nothing else, it is true that he was never convicted of any of his alleged sex crimes; though of course he settled more than one out of court). I think I am just a big believer that how people talk about you when you're dead should be how they talked about you when you were alive. In sci-fi terminology, I guess I am looking for more Speakers. A person's life should be remembered by the actions they took and the effect they had on others, not on how we later choose to remember those actions and effects. You wanna know how history gets rewritten? It's subtle ways like these
As a final note on this, I am reminded of the Japanese author Mishima. He was rather obsessed with death and basically believed that all things (people, plants, animals, or artistic creations) should be cut down at their peak physical form and beauty so as to avoid decay and be preserved that way for all time. You can't help but wonder, how many of those that died so young actually ended up preserving a far better legacy for themselves? People like Buddy Holly, Richie Valence, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, and Sam Cooke come to mind. Did we miss out on 30 more years of genius, or a tragic downfall? We'll never know. If you could have asked him just before he died, would Michael Jackson have been willing to trade the years from ~1987 to 2009 to be remembered for all time as simply the greatest musical performer ever? I wonder what he would have said.
To be clear, there were a number of celebrities and family that really did stick by him through it all. I'm not talking about them. Nor am I talking about the fans that bought all of his albums and even the ones that were psychotic enough to stand out front of the courtroom and cheer for him during his last molestation trial. What I'm talking about are the endless parade of celebrities that are using his death to shove themselves in the spotlight for an extra 30 seconds. The media pirranhas who have made a living on blasting his every move for the last 15 years and now will put out an endless series of "special tribute" issues. Just last week, Us Weekly ran a page making fun of "Wacko Jacko fashion". What do you think the odds are that this week's issue will be a gushing 20+ pages of over-the-top sentimentality? And I'm talking about the legions of "fans" who were all too happy to pass on an endless parade of Michael Jackson jokes over the last 2 decades and now will shake their head and mutter something about "the tragedy of losing someone so young."
Look, I don't have a problem celebrating the guy's musical accomplishments (of which there are many), or somewhat looking the other way on some of his private issues (if nothing else, it is true that he was never convicted of any of his alleged sex crimes; though of course he settled more than one out of court). I think I am just a big believer that how people talk about you when you're dead should be how they talked about you when you were alive. In sci-fi terminology, I guess I am looking for more Speakers. A person's life should be remembered by the actions they took and the effect they had on others, not on how we later choose to remember those actions and effects. You wanna know how history gets rewritten? It's subtle ways like these
As a final note on this, I am reminded of the Japanese author Mishima. He was rather obsessed with death and basically believed that all things (people, plants, animals, or artistic creations) should be cut down at their peak physical form and beauty so as to avoid decay and be preserved that way for all time. You can't help but wonder, how many of those that died so young actually ended up preserving a far better legacy for themselves? People like Buddy Holly, Richie Valence, Kurt Cobain, Heath Ledger, and Sam Cooke come to mind. Did we miss out on 30 more years of genius, or a tragic downfall? We'll never know. If you could have asked him just before he died, would Michael Jackson have been willing to trade the years from ~1987 to 2009 to be remembered for all time as simply the greatest musical performer ever? I wonder what he would have said.
21 comments:
"If you could have asked him just before he died, would Michael Jackson have been willing to trade the years from ~1987 to 2009 to be remembered for all time as simply the greatest musical performer ever? I wonder what he would have said."
Ooh. Heavy. In his case especially, I wonder indeed.
Also, I love that you just referenced Orson Scott Card. Although I recently found out he's a big fat homo-hater which means I kind of have to not like him now. Sad.
So I read the wikipedia article on Yukio Mishima. Wow. I assume you know about him 'cause of movies?
Yep; I saw this movie because Dan recommended it. It is one of his favorite movies, although I think he likes the score more than the movie itself. That's understandable; the music is by Phillip Glass and it is awesome. It's strange because it's an obscure movie but it really shouldn't be; it was directed by Paul Schrader (who wrote Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, American Gigolo, and the Last Temptation of Christ) and it was produced by Francis Ford Coppola and George Lucas.
I could talk for a decade about the media and their coverage, and why they thing other celebrity opinions are important, and blah blah blah...
But I want to say that you are drastically underestimating the people here. He sold out 50 concerts in like 5 minutes. I'm sure he would have done the same thing in Asia and North America too. And I don't think that it has anything to do with a freak show attracting spectators, rather people are still big fans of the music.
I sat through, and participated in, all the nostalgia this weekend along with everyone else. It was fun. Everyone's memories came from the early years. Everyone glossed over the diddling and the dangling and the plastic surgery.
Or, to put it another way, no one cares or remembers Jordan playing in Washington for 2 years at the end. And that was only 6 years ago. Time heals a lot of wounds, and death even more.
Weir, I somewhat see your point but in terms of tarnishing a legacy are you seriously comparing 2 years of mediocre basketball play to allegations of child molestation and Mystique-like changes in appearance?
(Yeah, that's right, I pulled out the X-Men reference)
I heard a stat this morning that MJ radio play is up 17,000%. I added the comma to emphasize that it is NOT a typo. Crazy what nostagia will do.
And, I'm not saying it is right, but a lot of people either don't care or don't believe in the molestation charges. Do you remember the trial? When throngs of people sat outside with signs proclaiming his innocence just because of his celebrity. It was crazy stuff.
On another topic, I keep hearing "greatest entertainer of all time" and similar titles being thrown around. I can't stand this. The guy had 3 good albums. Granted, they were 3 of the best albums of all time, but everything after 'Bad' was really just mediocre at best.
Well, titles like that are obviously extremely subjective and fairly meaningless, but I don't think it's valid to dismiss it based on the number of quality albums he produced. I don't think anyone would make the argument (at least I hope not) that he was the greatest musician or songwriter of all time, but when you talk about "performer" or "entertainer" you're talking about more than just the quality and quantity of music.
I think he gets that label because he was the first true crossover musical superstar. The Beatles were huge, but next time you see footage of them in the 60s try and play Where's Waldo and spot someone who isn't white in the crowd. And not only did he cross racial lines, he crossed age lines as well. I can't think of another artist who, at the height of their fame, was the most popular artist among the age group 11-20 and the age group 41-50 at the same time (and all ages in between). That just doesn't happen.
Finally, he gets that label because there really will never be anyone that huge again. There can't be; he was a product of his time. It is much the same way that the finale of M*A*S*H will always be the most watched finale of all-time. It's not because it was the best and can't be surpassed in quality, it's that there are just too many other options out there today. Back then, when something got big it was EVERYWHERE. You couldn't help but see it. Now, you always have a choice whether or not to pay attention to it. There will always be superstars and with a growing world population I'm sure that Thriller won't always be the greatest selling album of all time, but there won't be another person who captivates the world for a 10 year period like he did from ~78-88.
John:
Who told you I liked the score more than the movie itself? I think it's incredibly well written and is adept at beginning to explain a very complicated psyche. And I believe you simplified Mishima's philosophy a little bit and you missed a correlation between his life and Michael's. His obsession with beauty was kind of secondary to his greater approach to art. He, as many artists do, experienced an unyielding desire to change reality, partly because of a sense of inferiorty, party because of a hatred for the society he grew up in, and partly because of good old fashioned boredom. As his career wore on, he realized that writing, and later on acting and filmmaking were never going to be expressions that could satisfy his desire to distort the world (remember the section form the film, "Stage Blood is Not Enough"?). He wrote extensively of the limitiations of words and art in general. As you know he eventually turned his life into a piece of art and culminated the work in the ultimate sacrifice an artist can make to his craft, suicide. I think Michael Jackson sort of did the same thing with all of the surgey, drama, etc. and created with his life a perfet American tragedy. I'm not sure if it was a concious performance, like Mishima's life was, but who knows, maybe it was.
Dan, sorry that was just conjecture on my part based on a conversation I vaguely remember from a few years ago that apparently I'm mistaken about. Didn't mean to misrepresent your position. I agree that it's a very good movie and does a good job of introducing the viewer to the Mishima philosophy in a fairly unique way.
And yes I dramatically oversimplified his philosophy. I didn't remember that one section until you mentioned it, but I agree that it's another interesting parallel.
So his suicide was supposed to be an act of beauty? I suppose it is the ultimate representation of free will, if that's what he means.
Maybe, as an artist, it gets pretty boring being bouded by reality... bumping up against a wall and realizing when you get bored with the options you have, there's nowhere else to go. Isn't that what Hunter S. Thompson did?
Wow, this is a lot of suicide talk. :S
Are we sure Michael Jackson committed suicide?
No, he didn't commit suicide. Or at least it doesn't appear that he did.
I believe what Dan was saying (and I am conjecturing again) was that Jackson's surgeries and things like the Neverland ranch were artistic attempts to alter the reality of the world (or at least the world he saw) and in that way paralleled some of Mishima's life and philosophy.
I think my point is that Mishima conciously made his life a piece of art, because he found other art forms to be too limited forms of expression. I then wondered if Michael Jackson either conciously or semi-conciously did the same thing with his life. I mean, for a tortured and talented artistic soul like his, how much artistic satisfaction can be derived from singing "Beat It" 7 billion times?
Nah, I think the body dismorphic disorder idea was closer to the mark.
It makes sense for how apparently starved for love he was. He was just constantly trying to change himself to try to get it.
Gosh, psychoanalyzing people is fun. :)
I've beat it about 7 billion times and I still get plenty of artistic satisfaction from it. (rimshot)
Yes, I am still 12 years old.
Probably the only thing I ever took from Love Live was something Dr. Drew said one night that was basically that if a girl is abused she'll often maintain the voice pattern of the age at which she was abused. IE, if a girl is molested at 6 years old, she'll frequently keep the higher pitched voice of a 6 year old for the rest of her life.
I seriously think that was what happened to MJ. He was forever stuck (either consciously or unconsciously) as a child in a body that was forever growing older, and the surgeries, the amusement park home, the pets, the 12 year old boys, etc... were all reflections of his wish to remain young.
Now, whatever form of abuse this was might be public (all the crap he got from his dad, fans, media for being a child star) or private doesn't matter. Call it whatever you will, I doubt he had the emotional maturity of someone over the age of 14 or 15. He just always had the money to cover it up. I mean, remember that "Michael & Me" documentary? Half the time when he was speaking he sounded clinically retarded, but most people just passed it off as another rich eccentric.
Also, a recent poll from the University of Michigan says about 2/3 of people think the coverage of his death is excessive. And yet the coverage still comes because those 66% are still watching and spiking ratings. We're all Hippocrates. Except me, I stopped watching on Saturday. (But I'll still talk about it for hours...damn!)
We're all the father of Western medicine? Sweet. :)
Yeah, but you're right. I'm wondering where this slippery slope ends... because with every celebrity scandal/tragedy, the vulturing gets worse.
I can (proudly?) say, though, that I also stopped watching some days ago. So... there's hope for humankind?
Oh, Weir, on the high-pitched voice thing, I just remembered. I read a Twitter excerpt yesterday (hey, what's good enough for CNN....) by I guess a good friend of Jackson's, and he said that the soft, high-pitched voice was only his public voice, but that in real life he talked "like a real man." Besides the kind of creepy vibe coming off the Twitter friend, it is an interesting other angle.
For the record, thanks largely to the fact that I didn't have access to TV last weekend I have literally not seen one single second of Michael Jackson tv coverage in the last week other than news promos that have come on while watching Cubs games.
I did read the New York times article on his death and I've also read a couple articles in the Red Eye and on Yahoo news.
I was more saying that it is proven that trauma can stunt your emotional and mental growth, and that MJ never seemed to grow beyond 13 or 14.
But that is interesting dichotomy between his public and private personas.
(Hmmm, spellcheck is telling me that 'personas' is not a word.)
Ready for a little way-back-machine?
When Scientists Visit the Creation Museum
!
I remember your field report on that, and the creepy photo of the exhibit with people and dinosaurs hanging out together. Yikes.
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