Michael Jackson died last night. Sad, isn’t it? Sad for his children and sad for his family. Sad for his many millions of fans. Sad, in a weird kind of way, for music. Sad for everyone who bought tickets for his shows at the 02 Arena. I have absolutely no idea why anyone ever thought he would fulfil that obligation, but he was one of the most famous people on the planet and, despite not having made a really good record for over two decades, the power of that fame could have filled stadiums anywhere. So yeah, rest in peace, Michael Jackson. You crazy, moonwalking bastard.
On the other hand, screw Michael Jackson. I know it’s easy to take pot-shots at the dead, and the jokes are all over the internet already. People have no respect, right? Well, yeah, that’s certainly true, but then I had no respect for Michael Jackson yesterday so why would that suddenly change today? The fact is, that man was (and is) idolised by millions around the world, but that idolatry is based primarily on the Michael Jackson of Thriller, Off The Wall and I Want You Back…the guy that sang Ben and made little girls’ hearts melt, and the guy that changed what it meant to be a pop star, spectacularly and irrevocably. But he ain’t my fucking hero. He isn’t my king of pop. Not by a long fucking chalk.
None of my heroes squandered millions and millions of dollars on the maintenance of a childish fantasy lifestyle. None of my heroes squandered their talent, wilfully and with thinly-veiled contempt for an audience of millions that waited patiently for new music year after year. None of my heroes were ever widely suspected to be guilty of child abuse or, if we’re going to be generous, having a highly dubious and inadvisable attitude towards relationships with children. If Michael Jackson was a normal guy with a normal bank balance, he would’ve been in prison yesterday. If you or anyone you know has ever been affected by child abuse or its impact on real people’s real lives, you’ll know why I and a lot of other people feel a little bit sick when we hear people talking about how brilliant Michael Jackson was and how he brought “magic” to the world. Maybe all of those accusations were unfounded. I don’t know. But I think you have to be extremely naïve to think that Michael Jackson was entirely innocent of all the charges that have been thrown at him over the years. And even if you ignore all of that and give him the benefit of a huge doubt, his contribution to the world of music since, say, 1990 has been negligible. He’s been a freakshow and little more. He was clearly suffering from major mental health issues for years, and yet because he was obscenely wealthy, no one ever had the balls to take him aside and compel him to get proper help. Everyone panders to the rich. That’s why the rich always have the option to exist outside of conventional morality, of conventional sanity. So no, he wasn’t my fucking hero.
I didn’t snigger or sneer when I heard that Michael Jackson was dead. I felt nothing, much as I felt nothing when I heard about Princess Diana’s untimely demise. These people, for all their desperate attempts to relate to ordinary folk and to convince us that they cared and loved the millions that fawned at their feet, lived unreal lives in total separation from the harsh, dispiriting reality of most people’s slow stumble towards the grave. That’s no reason to hate them, but I can never idolise someone whose humility was artificial and displayed for effect. I won’t deny it…I love Billie Jean and Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough and pretty much any of those dazzling, vibrant Jackson 5 records. He made some great music, made a lot of people happy and made a lasting contribution to my generation’s cultural memory banks. But I’m not joining in with this global outbreak of vicarious grief. I’m not going to take part in this retrospective rewriting of history. I’m not going to pretend that Michael Jackson “rocked” or that he had any particular relevance to my life. The Michael Jackson that I admired as a child died a long time ago. No gods, no masters, no kings of pop. Count me out, thanks.
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Interesting stuff.
ReplyDeleteI don’t have heroes, it seems to involve a huge leap of faith to place an individual, particularly one outside of genuine brave and heroic feats, in such a way. All people are fallible, particularly if put in the spotlight.
We now have a grief industry, perpetuated by a 24-hour media cycle and an abundance of real-time information. We only have to consider Jade Goody’s case to see how base and perverse this industry has become. The media, egged on now by the web 2.0 freetards, merely ramp it up, set the narrative and let people rip.
The problem you perhaps present is that the very same culture you take (rightly) to pieces, has probably provided us all with those myths you see as faults with Jackson. This is no defence of his behaviour, but the guy was cleared in a court of law (I offer no opinion on that legal judgement). Any of us making judgements based on second hand accounts outside of that seems to be indulging in the very same vacuous hyperbole the MJ zealots indulge in.
You are right though, he appeared to act corruptible fantasies that would not be tolerate in normal walks of life. However, I certainly only ever made those judgements based on media reports and hardly water tight evidence.
No, you're quite right, but having heard and read a lot of the actual evidence presented at that trial, it beggars belief that he escaped conviction. We'll probably never know what really happened, but there's more substance to my suspicion than there is to the millions of people who remain in denial about their "hero".
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, though! It's all just me spontaneously spouting off so I don't claim to have thought everything through properly (or at all)!
Nah man its cool, i liked the post. The case around MJ just seemed extraordinary. Regardless of the legal ruling, as a young father myself, i would take huge offence to such behaviour being around my son. The people who jealously guard his persona as only positive, as you have pointed out, seem blind to that.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately we have a rump of rather reactionary people who act like a bewildered herd if the right buttons are pressed. It is that irrationality that makes these things so crazy i guess.
Anyway, although we probably can, we cant only talk about heavy guitar music right?
Hey Dom. Again, I'm in complete agreement with you. Whilst you can't deny the power and profile that Jackson had, I, like you, really didn't regard him as my King of Pop. A few good songs in the early eighties and not a lot of note since then. As far as I was concerned, he was a good dancer, not a great singer and, to be honest, I thought prince was a greater talent in that particular field.
ReplyDeleteFive years ago, the world was ready to lock him up because of his alleged crimes. I've always believed there's no smoke without fire, and that possibly because of his abusive upbringing, he may have inapproriatly behaved with young children without realising that what he was doing was criminal. I'm not saying he molested anybody, but a grown man sharing a bed with a twelve year old boy does raise a few questions.
Of course it's a shame when somebody dies. He did have children, brothers and sisters and parents, and obviously they will grieve as would anybody, but this outpouring of grief from a world who stopped buying his records years ago (if they were so devoted, why didn't his last studio album do as well as Thriller or Bad?) is, at best, hypocritical. Let's not forget, Farrah Fawcett also died yesterday, but there wasn't one single mention on the news this morning.
Reactions to his death have been overplayed. Yes, it's a shock that a 50 year old man who was seemingly okay yesterday has died, but let's keep things in proportion. He was a successful singer, with a dubious personal life who used his fame and wealth to get him out of whatever trouble he was in. He certainly wasn't a King of anything.
As a side note, I had a confrontation with somebody this morning who said that Jackson was cleared of the alleged crimes and that he was innocent. I asked this person, would they leave their young child alone in a room with Jackson or somebody who had been accused of similar things, and guess what the answer was? No.
ReplyDeleteI rest my case.
"Let's not forget, Farrah Fawcett also died yesterday, but there wasn't one single mention on the news this morning."
ReplyDeletewell, only a Daily Mirror Front page, but i take your point.
"If Michael Jackson was a normal guy with a normal bank balance, he would’ve been in prison yesterday."
ReplyDeleteI know what you're saying, but a) you could say the same about Jimmy Page (though he'd probably be out by now) and b) if he was that none of it would have happened in the first place! He'd have been a completely different person. Also, arguably, writing blogs about how ambivalent you are to the death of an extremely famous person is as much "joining in with this global outbreak of vicarious grief" as writing blogs about how awesome he was.
People cling to this kind of celebrity crap because they have nothing worth while to fill thier lives with. Celebrity is everything because I guess for those inclined, it masks the harsh reality of life. Sort of a dream world or fantasy, that they may in some way be on a level playing filed with these "celebrities". Fact is that most of them share the same single figure IQ and have trouble stringing two coherent words together most of the time. We live in a world dominated by dumb asses on telly being followed 24/7 by even more dumb asses. Be yourself, not somebody else. Its far more interesting and rewarding. It's called a life. Go get one and give it a try.
ReplyDeleteDamn right, I was at Graspop Metal Meeting when I first heard the news, some bands having jabs at it, others dedicating songs to him.
ReplyDeleteAnyway... When I was back among the common folk (at the office, etc...) It was still a hot topic, 4 full days after his death. My opinion to MJ is Swiss, completely neutral, don't especially like or dislike any of his music. What most of all disturbed me is how he got from mostly forgotten and ignored to legend within hours.
Take Last.fm I rarely ever look at the global charts, why should I? Coldplay and U2 will be somewhere high in there along with a lot of modern pop artists and Metallica. What you don't see on any given day is Micheal Jackson, well maybe you would but for the sake of the example... The guy dies and suddenly the whole top 10 songs are of his work?! Do we suddenly like his music more because he is dead? Do we need to listen right then or chance to miss the moment where it is cool to listen to MJ again as opposed a year later when "he's been dead for a year!!!"...
If history repeats itself? will I be able to be married by hundreds of Michael Jackson clones in Vegas within the year?
MJ has left the building...
meh!,
PJ