The media are full to the brim with Michael Jackson ‘news’. They all use epithets, the "King Of Pop". It takes me back to my childhood. When Elvis Presly died, I really thought "great, we won’t have to listen to his music any more". How very, very wrong was I?
His musical sales were, it almost goes without saying, enormous. It’s the way that he is perceived by the media and fans that I am interested in. Maybe it tells us something of the world that we live in today.
Who was he: pop-megastar, damaged personality, media-misinformation icon, multi-millionaire, plastic surgery disaster area, musician, dancer, trans-racial icon, child-molester?
No doubt there will be film companys setting up now to put the story onto the big screen. They’ll have to wait while the CGI animatronics are rendered though. There aren’t any human beings that could fill the role, nor do the morphing from black youth to distorted white mannequin. What is that little button between his eyes and mouth anyway? Could he actually draw air through it?
What really puzzles me is that black commentators don’t seem at all perturbed by a famous black man who has used a chunk of his wealth to surgically remove traces of his racial origins.
The Catholic Church must be looking on with some envy; the public seem to have been paid off when he got away with the child-abuse allegations a few years ago. Will the Pope be able to pull off the same stunt?
Probably.
A leg end
21°C, heavy rain. We missed the electrical storms though
Spirit of Turpentine 
I quite agree with your comments… I grew up hearing his music (not my sort of thing to be honest bar one or two tracks) and the many stories that revolved around him, and am at present amazed though not suprised at the reaction of the world to his death. I wasn’t born when Elvis died, and was far too young to remember John Lennon getting shot..So I suppose Michaels death may just be the first time I have witnessed such mass hysteria…Oops…apart from Princess Diana (almost forgot about her), although she didn’t sing did she???LOL xx
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He was a star all my life – and a very damaged individual. I like his early music, but then, I like most Motown. It will be wall to wall Jackson music and biopics – MTV etc are playing nothing but tonight. Won’t stop til we get enough! J x
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It’s not my kind of music either, but I certainly don’t look down on anyone who gets a buzz from that stuff. Damaged yes, did the media play a part in that damage- now I’m interested. I have a serious questions about the media’s role in individuals, their imagined role in democratic power and the overall suggestion that we live in a democratic country.As for the man, personally, I am quite "creeped-out" by images of him, especially in video footage. Now that is profoundly uncanny.
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He was an insult to transvestite men everywhere – who can look pretty damn good with makeup and can project alluring female charm – Mike on the other hand, didn’t even have the decency to stop grabbing his crotch every 1.0045 seconds.I think less time should be spent praising his music – and more spent asking the question "did he recycle his plastic noses".
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What about ginger people (and I AM ginger people) trying to erase traces of THEIR ethnic origins with heavy abuse of the ol’ St Tropez slap? The effect seems to be less ‘bronzed’ than ‘soiled’.Speaking of which, following parents’ eve last night, the Y1 teacher over the hall told me this morning that a kid in her class shouted out "My dad pooed his pants last night!" as the parents emerged from their interview. Amid much shushing and hustling out of the embarrassing little grunt, he turned back to her and mouthed "He DID". Great.
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