Comments on: Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown…

By: Janine

Janine — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 16:30:18 +0000

This certainly is a complicated issue. After all the scandals unfolded I felt the need to divorce myself from the Michael Jackson I loved. I almost forgot the pure pleasure I got from his music and performing. The strange thing about his death is that it has allowed me to reconnect to that pleasure that for awhile seemed almost shameful to associate with. So now what-now that he is gone and no longer a potential threat is it o.k. to admit to loving him again-for his talent and what to do with the memories of what he became and what he might have done to innocent children.

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:42:13 +0000

I (sadly) decided last night that MJ looks like a burn victim in one of his best videos- “You Rock my World”
The choreography in that will change your life, though.

By: Barlow Brewing

Barlow Brewing — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 12:39:08 +0000

Can’t we have both? If memory serves, we had Young Elvis and Fat Elvis stamps.

We can have Rock with You MJ, or Black or (Mostly) White MJ.

I respect MJ and his accomplishments, but I’m glad that almost all stamps are self adhesive. I’m not going to want to lick the back of either.

By: Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 03:04:43 +0000

Maybe we could compromise and put out the Tito stamp?

http://blogs.nashvillescene.com/nashvillecream/Tito%20Jackson.jpg

By: Holland

Holland — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:47:39 +0000

20 years from now, will we be voting which Michael makes it onto a US postal stamp? I would personally prefer to block any post 80′s Michael out of our collective memories.

By: Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 20:57:45 +0000

Wow, that’s great stuff Marjorie. I hope everyone who comes to this site checks out your piece!

I think it’s safe to assume that, on one hand, we will have no shortage of “revelations” (the good, the bad, and especially the ugly) about what MJ did these last two decades; on the other hand, much of it can (and will) be exposed as the opportunistic trash it is. While I don’t expect the worst, I’m not quite as optimistic as others have been. More on this, later…

By: Marjorie

Marjorie — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 14:59:13 +0000

a. Part of what made Jackson a persona worth noting was his glorious and inescapable freakishness. That alone could never make him tragic, from my perspective. It’s kind of WHY I feel some nostalgic affection (and desire to champion him) in the first place.

b. I’m deeply, deeply troubled by the fact that his “pedophilia” (technically, it’s hebephilia, but whatev)is assumed. Here are a LOT more of my thoughts on that: http://brownrabbittanning.blogspot.com/2009/06/freak-vs-perv-battle-for-public-opinion.html

PS. Bonjour, Sean! A nice, sensitive piece here.

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 12:48:14 +0000

MJ is such a tragic figure- we will probably never know the extent to which he was traumatized during his childhood- but it is evident in the adult he became. I’m sad for the talented little boy whose life became a circus- a freakshow- in a large part due to that abuse and/or other factors. It is a complicated isssue- I don’t think most people find it “easy” to overlook his possible (likely) pedophilia. I don’t. It’s depressing to think of the trauma his victims suffered- in the same way it is depressing to consider Michael’s own abuse and its aftermath.

By: mike shields

mike shields — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:24:47 +0000

I was just going to email you but I thought I would comment since my thought on this is actually a question that might be worthy of discussion: at what point in our society do we “discard” someone who has committed terrible acts? Granted, I was gone during the zenith of his influence on pop culture, but I still felt it both as an american in england with ties to the u.s. But also as a citizen in england where the phenomenon was also felt. So sure maybe I’m missing something. But while I can totally appreciate the sentiment that he’s a part of our history, and his music is a part of our lives’ soundtrack (which is ultimately about US not him), I also can’t help but think – as I watch people laud him, cry for him or – in your case – wish him well thayt the man was very likely a pedophile. Ok sure in our system you are legally innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. But in terms of common sense and the ecidence we know about, does anyone believe he wasn’t? And if so, this where my question comes to play: at what point can we all agree “this person is so reprehensible as a person that I find it distatseful to laud his work?” I mean, I think OJ is there. Sports center types find it hard to say anything good about what he did as a football player with caveating it. And most of the time, he’s just left out of the discussion (which, if you’re going purely on performance, is wrong.) At the height of the michael vick dog fighting story, it would have seemed ridiculous and to may offensive to have openly waxed sentimental about his “impact” and wished him well based upon his performance. What else we know about him “ruined” what we had previously liked about his performances. And that’s kind of where I’m at with MJ. Will I listen to his music? Sure. Have it in my ipod. That’s about me, and about my own memories. But wishing him well? That’s tough and I wonder how eeryone else seems to find it so easy. Lots of media have referred to his “high jinx,” “troubled past” and such without saying the facts – the guy lured children into his house and *possibly* destoyed their innocence and lives in a predatory maner that – if he was on “to catch a predator” on dateline – would cause a movement to have whatever form of balls he has left cut off. I personally think the media knew this was a huge story so why ruin it by bringing up that icky part too much and ruining it. So, where’s that line? Do we een have one? Do we really care? If you’re famous and a celebrity in a celebrIty culture, you can be a pedophile, you can murder people, you can be a racist – whatever – and our value system and collective moral compass isn’t really strong enough to care and say some people are too reprehensible as human beings to deserve our admirationa nd attention?

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 00:11:37 +0000

It’s all so complicated, isn’t it? This is the first time I’ve REALLY mourned a celebrity death. I’m surprised by the depth of my sadness. I knew MJ first through Thriller- I became a fan of his earlier work later. But to say I was just a fan. . . I feel like I knew the PERSON, like I helped write those songs we know so well. When I was 12 I dragged my reluctant father on an airplane ride across the state of Florida to see the Jackson’s Vitory tour; for years I had a poster of Michael in a yellow v-neck sweater vest hanging in my bedroom. For a lot of us Michael (Thriller) defined our childhood. Everything that came later confused and disappointed me, but it never diminished my admiration for. . . his music? His talent? His charisma? Maybe just for the big, happy chunk of my childhood he claimed.