Michael Jackson > the Beatles

He was scheduled to start the first of FIFTY sold-out concerts next month, so a few people cared. But yeah, he wasn't everyone's cousin or anything. And you got worked up over Klondike Bar adverts this week, so you can probably admit this is bigger.

Probably the last worldwide star of this magnitude to die suddenly was Princess Di 12 years ago.

I didn't get "worked up" over Klondike bar adverts--I got "worked up" over obnoxious sexism and idiotry. Regardless, I would argue that Klondike bars are, on the whole, more relevant--not to mention delicious--than Michael Jackson.

I loved this because it is what I have been saying (minus Tweeting). Sure there are the freaks who sold out his 'come back' tour to see a pedo dance around on stage supposedly for one last time but the MJ who was any good died when his skin color changed in my opinion. As far as Ms. Fawcett goes, at least she was brave enough to try and document her struggles at the end to possibly help others. Michael just plastic surgeried & pilled himself into the grave. How admirable. Please.

I admit, last night, I pulled out the Thriller album and gave it a listen to, but now that he's dead, I hope the Beatles catalog goes back where it belongs.

And yeah, he's a creep and as a person he disgusts me. But that music is really, REALLY good.

Ah to be young again and have no memory of the past. I realize both of these people are just wikipedia entries to you and most of your readers but some of us grew up with these people.

I predict in 20 years you'll be repeating my words to some 20-somethings who are making snarky comments about some "washed-up celebrity" that died. However, there isn't a music icon from your generation that comes even close to the level of success and popularity of Michael Jackson 20-25 years ago. Go ahead, try to name one.

i love this. excellent.

yeah, it really is sad that MichEAl won't get another chance to molest more children. Looks like Farrah picked the wrong day to die.

Quite honestly, the people still laughing at MJ for the pedophile trials should actually bother to read a bit about the subject. He had had at least over 100 kids at that Ranch over the years, and 2 children-- 2 children who either made statements that they couldn't wait to win a child molestation trial so that they could get lots of money, or who had parents who were pushing for it to get money-- and 2 is all you have? At the time of the first trial, there were 30 other kids questioned, all of whom denied abuse.... I'm sorry, if he was actually a sex abuser, you wouldn't have kids denying it, you'd have them crawling out of the woodworks like we saw during the Catholic Church scandal.

As for his skin condition? He does actually have vitiligo, you can look up YouTube videos of some of his old concerts back in the 80s and see moments where there are white patches of skin against his at the time medium brown skin. That's probably part of the reason why he wore the outfits that he did. He admits to having had the bleaching done because the blotching had grown progressively worse. As for his mental state-- it's a shame that he hadn't really received better help that could have possibly allowed him to avoid his addiction to painkillers and anti-anxiety pills, because he did show signs of depression, body dysmorphism, and had been abused as a child himself by his father.

But I guess it's good to know that people with mental disorders are just considered to be freaks rather than as people who need help, sure brings us back to medieval times, doesn't it? I'm especially amazed you wouldn't jump on the depression and dysmorphia angle, but I suppose being "offended" over Klondike bars is more important than reading on actual subjects that might affect more than just a party of one.

Lindsayism said
it better than I could

Rob - I'm not arguing against "sentiment." I'm arguing against faux sentiment, which is what the Internet is buried up to its little eyeballs in right now. Real grief? Yes, please. Twitter grief? Oh, please.

La Rue

thisisjustatest

i'm just curious. who was it that said that he loved to share his bed with children? who was it that said that was the most loving thing you could do with someone, including children? seriously? the fact that more kids aren't "coming out" means ipso facto that MJ is innocent? really? TWO KIDS IS ALL YOU NEED! do you think OJ Simpson is innocent too? i mean thousands of fans deny ever being murdered by him, so he must be innocent of those pesky two in Brentwood. otherwise other people would be coming out of the wood work. it must of have only been the Brown family trying to make a quick buck, because it could never be that our justice system would fail us in either OJ or MJ's case, right?

are you also the type that if your son or daughter came to you saying that they were sexually abused would you blame them for it? or deny it ever happened?

give me a break!

Have you actually READ anything about the cases? Because you would see that those children were basically led to lie. In the first case, you only heard of allegations of sexual abuse *AFTER* the father, a registered dentist, administered a controversial sedative to his son to extract a tooth, and the son claimed (or was possibly led to claim) that he had been sexually abused. Also noteworthy were these words from the father:

"There was no reason why he [Jackson] had to stop calling me...I picked the nastiest son of a bitch I could find [Evan Chandler's lawyer, Barry Rothman], all he wants to do is get this out in the public as fast as he can, as big as he can and humiliate as many people as he can. He's nasty, he's mean, he's smart and he's hungry for publicity. Everything's going to a certain plan that isn't just mine. Once I make that phone call, this guy is going to destroy everybody in sight in any devious, nasty, cruel way that he can do it. I've given him full authority to do that. Jackson is an evil guy, he is worse than that and I have the evidence to prove it. If I go through with this, I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever...Michael's career will be over"

This comes from an article put out by GQ in 1994, a link to it is here: http://www.buttonmonkey.com/misc/maryfischer.html

And that's just for the first trial, there are a lot of spurious details about the 2nd trial. According to psychologists, people who were with Michael Jackson and witnessed the interaction between himself and the children, and even the children themselves (there was some recanting), there was no actual evidence that there was any sexual misconduct happening. Plus, if you want to pull that whole "I'm going to pull emotions" BS, then answer me this: if your son or daughter was sexually abused, wouldn't you go to the police first rather than a lawyer like the parents of the two children who "claimed" they were sexually abused?

Couldn't agree more!!!

I may not actually be sad that Michael's gone. But I am sad for those he's left behind.

http://blogs.myspace.com/lisamariepresley

thisisjustatest

wow. you know you've convinced me. i mean if GQ says it, it has to be true. i mean the media would never be partial and the U.S. justice system really has to work all the time. plus they're both rich and talented so how could we send them to jail? holy shit, why didn't i see that before? and you know what, come to think of it, OJ's glove didn't fit so i suppose they had to acquit!

thanks for turning me around here. i'm off to stick my head in the ground too, right after i give some more of my money to the good people running AIG. thanks again.

I've noticed a big difference in reaction to Michael Jackson's death between those over about 25 years old and those under. If you're under, you probably don't get it. Michael is far more an 80s icon than a 70s icon, btw.

God- I knew there was going to be a shit storm here.

I personaly didn't care for either. I was too late for Fara and I hate MJ's music with a burning passion. (Though I did like Weird Al's Eat It.)

It just goes to show why I hate the general public. How many people were worked up when George Calin died? Bea Arthur?

Hey Cyrus, you're just one of those silly sheep like the ones that Heartless Dolls are ranting about, who just believe what the majority thinks rather than putting some actual thought or research into why they do so. Fact of the matter is that there's no actual proof that MJ was a child molestor, all you have is testimony from two boys who were most likely forced into claiming such things by money grubbing parents. As for trying to bring OJ Simpson back into it-- there really isn't much of a comparison, it was mostly the LAPD and the prosecution who screwed up that potential conviction, I honestly don't know whether he did it or not.

thisisjustatest

blah blah blah i'm bored of your bullshit. OJ Simpson and Robert Blake are murderers, Kobe Byrant is a rapist, MJ and R. Kelly are pedophiles (and they even had a tape of R. Kelly in the act!!!). what do they all have in common? they're all entertainers, they're all well loved and they're all rich enough to buy their way out of the shit they do.

go on with your mindless worship, i don't care, it's your right to be a fucking moron i suppose. but you'll excuse those of us that disagree and still hold MJ in suspicion. because for someone that is so innocent, MJ sure paid a lot of money to the families "falsely" accusing him to make everything go away. hmm...i'm sure that was just because he was such a great guy-he was looking at the "man in the mirror" after all. however, it does bring new meaning to the phrase "Beat It" doesn't it?

as for me, this black sheep won't blindly follow after criminals just because they happened to entertain us once. have fun flying with Peter Pan in Neverland.

i'm done with you.

His last album with new material was released in 2001, it charted in 16 countries and went platinum in America. It had two singles to chart in the top 20. I didn't think that qualified as washed up. The problem with Michael Jackson is he made the world's most popular album in 1982, and then people compare everything else he did to that album. So even if he made some decent music, still continued to chart, and still sold out shows to millions of people. The shows in the UK sold out in hours, and there were a million tickets sold.

Wow it is apparently very obvious that Andrea has no clue how long MJ has been making music, how many countries he went to in the name of peace, that fact that he was a philanthropist, and that he met the world leaders of just about every country on the globe(Remember him playing after the wall came down? Meeting with princess Di, Reagan and so forth?) Anyway as this is only the Sfweekly and I'm sure Andrea is a legend in her own mind keep so this in mind HON:

The best-selling album of all time is Thriller by Michael Jackson (USA), with global sales of over 51 million copies to date since 1982. The success of the album also helped Jackson win a record eight Grammy Awards in 1984.

Most Grammy Awards Won In A Year By A Person
At the 26th Annual Grammy Awards in 1984 Michael Jackson won eight Grammy awards, which included Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "Beat It," Record Of The Year with "Beat It," and Album of The Year with Thriller.

So Andrea when your name makes headlines like this I'll make sure to "twitter" my little heart out for you. These little twitterlings have access to info and music that apparently you don't. Your age is showing. Mine is already here and for that I am grateful. I am grateful for every dance, video, club night, moment of laughter, and feeling of pride inspired by this man.

I'll go ahead and hold my breath for your achievements that will outshine his.

Oh and that "Charlies Angels lady" made it possible for women in TV and on the big screen to negotiate and get better contracts and pay. She also shined a huge light on domestic violence and inspired women's self-defense classes, abuse counseling centers, and helped to change domestic violence laws across the country.

Inspiring laughs and bitter comments is...just great...when you inspire a nationwide set of actions that will forever affect how women are viewed and treated I'll twitter my little heart out. Oh yes and make sure to ensure that women nationwide are shown in the light in which they deserve. Go on...I'll wait.

Did ya hear about http://www.churchrafflesonline.com? Great Prizes worth up to $30,000.00 with an entry fee from $25 to $50 and unlike National Lotteries where your chances are one in 14 million, your chances there are never more than one in 20 thousand!

So one day when your mom is old and worn out, and you have not spoken to her in a month, and she has dementia so she has no idea who you are, and she is so old she can't walk anymore and depends on other people to help her, and her hair and teeth have all fallen out, and she resembles NOTHING of the mother you remember as a kid............so one day when she dies I guess you will also say "Meh."

The only reason why Michael Jackson didn't go to trial in either of those cases is because of his own probable mental illnesses, as theorized by a number of psychologists who have analyzed his behavior. Not the best analysis, true, but in his case, probably the closest we'll ever have. He basically regressed to being a 10 year old boy in response to his own lack of a childhood, according to at least one psychologist. Michael Jackson's own mental problems were the only reason why he couldn't defend himself in court the first time around.

I don't care about Robert Blake, I don't care about OJ Simpson, I don't even care about R Kelly in relation to evidence about whether they committed the crimes they were accused of or not. But being accused of a crime doesn't mean that one actually *did* the crime... innocent until proven guilty, remember? Michael Jackson hasn't been proven guilty because there is no evidence proving anything other that people like prejudging. But then I suppose this site is really judgmental in and of itself.