King of pop RIP thread

[TerranRich]

Yeah, it's the fans' fault for the celebrities' lives going to shit. Great logic.

[LimpingFish]

The man was an incredible performer and, regardless of his life devolving into some kind of freak show, he should always be remembered as such.

I was more surprised by his passing than anything else. Michael Jackson has been a defining part of popular culture for over three decades, and he had been performing for longer than the majority of people on these boards have been alive. I, like most older members here, grew up with him as a constant worldwide musical and cultural influence; when I was a child he had music in the charts, when I was teenager he had music in the charts, etc.

To note his passing is to note another point in my own transition through life.

To argue the relative worth of mourning him, or anyone, is as sordid as it is inane.

[Matti]

I can't possibly be the only person who actually prefers Weird Al's versions of MJ's songs over MJ's songs.

Can I?

No, I'm with you on that one (but that's not unlikely cause I don't like MJ's music at all)..

[auriond]

She's still not a celebrity though, but it makes her no less worthy of mourning than Michael Jackson.  Ultimately, this sort of situation always seems to devolve into people who idolize a dead celebrity because of their 'art' and those who are a bit more grounded in reality and see that, like everyone else, this was a human being who has died and is no less or more worthy of a tear than any other.  

I think this devalues the contributions of celebrities a bit too much. Some celebrities are celebrities because they did contribute something to the world. So when these people die, it's not just a person dying, it's their art dying with them. Often what these people could do was unique to them, and so when people mourn them, they're not so much mourning the person as mourning the death of that person's unique contributions. And the value of that may be worth more than just one person. That's the difference between the death of MJ and say, myself.

There've been a lot of deaths of celebrated people lately, MJ being the latest of them. I mourn for many of them and their lost art. Some of them I have never even heard of until their obituaries, but I still mourn their lost art because I discovered it too late, and there will never be new work from them to look forward to again.

Michael Jackson's impact on the world was undeniable. Perhaps it's less obvious over there, but if you come to Asia, people who don't listen to English music would probably name Michael Jackson as the only Western entertainer they have heard of.

Being a celebrity of Michael's calibre is a tragedy, I agree. However I think this is due to him never having had a normal childhood. Most people find fame in adulthood, or had a brief spark of fame as a child and fade into relative obscurity later. They have a frame of normalcy to refer to. Michael Jackson was a phenomenon from childhood. His life was destined to be a tragedy from the start, because he wouldn't be able to remember what it's like to be normal.

[Timosity]

major news outlets care enough to cover it.

of course, cause there's major money to make out of it.



I've never enjoyed his music (over his entire career), just never appealed to me, and I'm old enough to remember thriller. liked the clip but could never get into the music.

Pretty strange life, we'll never really know which stories to believe.

Good example that money can't make you happy, I guess it depends how you use it.

I found it sad that he went to the lengths that he did to look like his sister. He was good enough to just be himself. His parents robbed him of his childhood, which was the start of all his problems I guess.

Sad that he's dead, but I'm surprised he lived as long as he did with all the extra stuff he's gone thru. though that extra stuff would be a contributing factor to a heart attack, probably from getting hooked on some prescribed medication and abusing it. pretty common in our society, not just celebrities.

He would have done more in his life than most at 50, so he's had his time, and dying early will only create a more legend status.

I'm not going to lose any sleep over it (slept well last night actually)

didn't that famous chick die as well from cancer farrah fawcett or something, she's been building up for a celebrity death for ages, finally dies but happens to be the same day as someone more famous, oh well, we are all going to die at some point.

Just have fun now cause you could die while I'm typing this

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I didn't say it was entirely the fault of the fans, Terran.  Get a grip.  Fan lust and expectations are certainly a contributing factor, and to think differently would just be ignorant. 

So when these people die, it's not just a person dying, it's their art dying with them.

This is probably the most untrue statement in this entire thread.  Hundreds of years after Newton's death (think about that) and we still praise his grasp of physics and astronomy; Davinci is still revered and talked about for his many works.  Elvis is still 'the king'.  The point?  A person's contributions are the one thing that guarantee some form of immortality, because as long as there are people who valued their works they will always be remembered.  A person's art does not die with them; if anything it becomes more appreciated than ever.

[auriond]

You're not quite getting my point. Of course what has been done will live on, and possibly be expanded upon by others. But it's dead in the sense that there will be no more NEW work by that person. Newton will never come up with new discoveries or theories, Da Vinci will never paint or write or draw or invent anything else. Elvis will never put out another song. Michael Jackson will never perform his trademark dance moves again, or invent a new one. The potential is dead, and in that sense their art is dead. It cannot be changed or produced by them any longer.

But you're right that a person's work is their only hope of immortality. I accept that many people think that way, though I personally don't agree with it.

edit: Hmm, maybe it's a question of semantics. Would you accept that the person's ability dies with them?

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

If you're approaching the argument from that angle then there's really nothing I can say.  If you're lamenting his loss because of 'what could have been' that's rational enough, but based on his output in the 80's/90's vs the last 10 years or so I'd say his most prolific years were behind him like so many other performers, but that's purely opinion! 

[Invalid]

something just a little bit strange.... he died on my birthday (June 25th)
A sign of some sort to me? yeah right... anyways, he was awesome in every song he did.
my favorites were thriller, billy jean, and dont stop till you get enough

[uswin]

just listening the Jackson 5 albums, really great !, RIP my king of pop.
Somebody should create a RON game for MJ