Sorry, I can’t separate the *man* from his art. I grew up during the height of M.J.’s popularity, and to hear people compare his death to 9/11 or JFK’s assassination saddens and disturbs me.
Here’s some well-meaning young ladies on the beach in Los Angeles today who don’t share my cynicism. Ah, the innocence of youth - something that M.J. knew all too well.
Early return on C.O.D.: Overdose of a painkiller, which rules out death-by-stairmaster.
12:10 am on June 26th, 2009
The R.I.P. is referring to what lies underneath it.
12:41 am on June 26th, 2009
Why is anybody honoring this man? He was a child molester!
Don't these people get it?
3:04 am on June 26th, 2009
I was in my mid teens during MJ’s Thriller days, so in his honor I will listen to AC/DC. Ok, I was never a big Jackson fan.
6:11 am on June 26th, 2009
RIP the Jim Rome "adult alarm". MacAulaaaaaaay!
6:23 am on June 26th, 2009
He was a sick, sick man in many ways. Mentally and physically by the end. No one is honoring him for the terrible damage he caused to children. I'm a father and it makes me sick to think about. He however changed the face of music and dance like no one else has, could or will. He was a genius in his craft.
6:32 am on June 26th, 2009
Thanks Craig for a little practicality and clarity here…Wow, a person CAN hold two opposing ideas in his head at once! The rest of you can go back to perfectly respectable act of pleasuring yourself to underage golfers and tennis players.
1:32 pm on June 26th, 2009
How unfair. I mean, I've got an arrest warrant for a fling with a teenager WAY BACK in the 70s, but this guy, who diddled little pre-pubescent Websters to pass time, is idolized and mourned like the passing of Christ.
Maybe I should've chosen little boys. Apparently it's not that big of a deal in the States.
1:40 pm on June 26th, 2009
Good god. You cannot seperate the boy-man (as McCartney described Jackson) from his actions. If his abilities made him a great artist, fabulous dancer and philanthropist to many causes dealing with children; his actions also led him to molest children. To honor one aspect of his life while completely ignoring the other is ridiculous! It is irrelevant that he gave generously to children's causes all his life, or using his talents to entertain children, if at the very same time he was offering children alchohol, drugs and pornography in his bed. Synthesizing these two facts about this boy-man's life ought to be fairly easy. He was a great talent with a very dark and disturbing soul.
Having these two thoughts in my head have led me to conclude that the evil far outweighs the good…because he used this good to conduct the evil.
I cannot in good conscience honor such a person.
1:51 pm on June 26th, 2009
fl - Well said. That's a major problem with today's pop culture; no one is willing to call a person out for their behavior. Oh, he's just an actor, or she's just a singer, what they do, what they say, etc, has nothing to do with their profession.
BS. The sooner people start calling these scumbags out for what they are - and then NOT buying their records, or going to see their movies, or watching their TV shows - the better.
Celebrities do what they do because they can. As soon as they realize they're losing popularity for being a creep, they shut their stupid mouths and stop acting like animals.
7:34 pm on June 26th, 2009
What's so sad is the media's disconnect from society. ALL the coverage is celebrating M.J., yet it seems the vast majority of those over the age of 25 realize M.J. for what he really was.
Under 25ers (not all, I know) now live in the internet-generated celebutard culture, where no-talent dolts like Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian are icons. Pseudo-celebrity generated by sex tapes. Great.