LoungeNet

[el samayo grande]

What's the difference between Neil Armstrong and Michael Jackson?

Neil Armstrong WALKED on the MOON
Michael Jackson molested little boys.
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"Yes kids, we lied to you about Santa, but trust us, Jesus is real"
- Adult Swim

[lanclos]

Last time I remember a media circus like this, OJ Simpson was being chased by helicopters in a white Bronco.

[bforsse]

woot has a good article acknowledging the media blitz and some interesting less mainstream MJ videos.


http://www.woot.com/Blog/ViewEntry.aspx?Id=8620


He was a phenomenon who was able to a capture and hold the attention of the world for decades. His music and performances (and infamies) are stitched deeply enough into my memories that I am sad to see him go. I'm guessing this is the case for most people who grew up in and around my generation (eg most of this forum). Can I get a CHUMOWNAH!

[Argyle]

[Exit]

That was a hi-larious joke. He was a fascinating guy - being talented and adored as a kid, and how that messed him up SO badly as an adult. But he's definitely a social icon, and contributed a lot to the entertainment world.

[Meredith]

NPR's report on his death mentioned that he was the first black artist to appear on MTV. And that Fred Astaire called him up to give glowing praise after he invented the moonwalk. It's too bad that such a talented guy had to get so messed up.
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Are your dreams strange parables?

[el samayo grande]

Well his father was an insanely controlling, abusive narcissist - while talking to the press he took time to plug his record company - http://www.upi.com/Entertainment_News/2009/06/30/Joe-Jacksons-behavior-draws-criticism/UPI-98431246384748/.

And his mother was a fanatical Jehovah's Witness. So it's pretty amazing he didn't go crazier earlier.
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"Yes kids, we lied to you about Santa, but trust us, Jesus is real"
- Adult Swim

[Exit]

Yeah, I'd seen that plug at the end of the Daily Show. Just really disgusting

[lanclos]

The intense surge of interest in all-things-Michael-Jackson is quite the phenomenon. I can't avoid it, and it made me think about just how it was that he went from point A to point B in such a crazy, zig-zag fashion, and why it is that he continued to garner such attention throughout his life, and afterward.

In a nutshell, I think Michael Jackson transcended human society, much in the same way that agriculture allowed humanity to transcend subsistence farming.

From a very early age, he had no real association with what anyone would consider a normal life; in an extremely short period of time, he went from budding entertainer to #1 on the charts-- and stayed there. My totally useless speculation is that he grew up with no foundation in how to behave as a normal human being, knowing primarily the distorted, fabricated cushion of super-stardom, and allowed himself to escape what was otherwise a rough early childhood and accepted that fabrication as his new reality.

His continued success, in terms of both money and fame, reinforced this dissociation from reality. In effect, the aggregate attention of society enabled him to nurture and indulge what might otherwise have been a controllable neurosis, as what would have been unacceptable behavior by a "normal" person was instead validated by the collective lens of public interest.

So, whether consciously or otherwise, he played up his time in the spotlight, where someone else might have accepted their decline in a more graceful fashion. To his dying day, he continued to directly seek the adoration of his fans, seeking personal validation for his continued fame. Even in death, society continues to provide him that same circular validation-- he is famous, because society is interested in him, and society is interested in him because he is famous. As just one example, Paris Hilton rides this same gravy train.

Sub-consciously, I think this plays into why western society as a whole is so fixated on his death: having turned his life into a caricature of stardom in order to maintain that external interest, I think there is a collective, low-level guilt in how his life actually turned out, some small sense of collective responsibility for his fall from grace.

And thus, society can't look away, no matter how painfully bizarre it gets.

[meira]

I agree that the attention paid to him did very likely ruin his ability to grasp a concept of "normal" life and any chance of receiving help for his issues.
I would disagree with any association to the likes of Ms. Hilton or other members of the famous for being famous crowd (Kardashians, etc.). Michael at least earned his fame from his talent as a singer, dancer, choreographer, composer, and ground breaker. He was by no means the first or best African-American musician, but he blasted open a lot of doors in the music industry.
The man had talent. He will be missed as much for the media circus as for the art he produced for us.
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merf...

[lanclos]

I agree that he got to fame primarily via talent, as opposed to some other logically improbable mechanism. Once there, though, it was not his talent that sustained his fame-- it was the fame itself.

[Meredith]

The experiences of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan would seem to support your hypothesis about people who never get to learn what a normal life is before they get famous and thus can't maintain one.
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Are your dreams strange parables?

[El Kabong]

The great sage Matt Damon once said that you stop growing up the moment you become famous. So pretty darn young for our man MJ.

[asullivan]

Some manage. Natalie Portman seems to have it pretty together and I think Drew Barrymore finally figured it all out. Emma Watson from the Harry Potter crowd seems alright, Daniel Radcliff I hear already has a drinking problem. So it's different for everyone.

Probably an uphill battle like you said though.

A.
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