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Ok, ok, I’ll write a post about Michael Jackson

When I was a kid, like everyone else, I was a fan. Not a huge fan, but enough of a fan that I ought to apologize to my mom for insisting that we listen to “Thriller” so many times while driving in our car that any normal adult would have gone mad. My friend Bill somehow got a tape of the video and we loaded it into his parents’ huge, clunky VCR and played it over and over again.

At some point the weirdness took over and I wasn’t able to hear “Thriller” or “Beat It” or “The Girl is Mine” without being soured by the bizarre details of this guy’s life. By singing along to “Billie Jean” was I tacitly approving of a man who had sleepovers with young boys and dangled toddlers off balconies? It’s been years since I could really enjoy the music. Maybe this is why you don’t hear much Michael Jackson on the typical 1980s nostalgia radio stations.

Anyway, since Thursday, the joy is back. I’ve watched a few of the old videos on YouTube, and it’s fun to experience them for themselves again. It’s the way people must feel when an Alzheimer’s sufferer dies and relatives can finally revert to the memories of that person as she was in her prime. And by thinking of Jackson in that way again, I feel a little closer to my childhood than I did a week ago.

Posted on 29 June '09 by Dillon, under Uncategorized.

2 Comments to “Ok, ok, I’ll write a post about Michael Jackson”

#1 Posted by Sebastian (29.06.09 at 14:10 )

Nice “looking back” post about MJ. We actually played the ultimate tribute over the weekend, perfoming Billy Jean doing karaoke. Let me tell you, it’s HARD.

I still remember watching as a kid the Thriller video, as if I was doing some borderline illegal. Times have changed.

#2 Posted by vshawnt (29.06.09 at 14:17 )

I definitely went through an anti-Jackson period, where I decided he was too f’d up to warrant my attention or concern. His death has inspired some reflection.
1. His music career is unassailable. The guy was brilliant. Has there ever been a better video than Thriller?
2. He was exploited by almost every person around him from the very beginning. Gotta feel for the guy on this front.
3. He was undeniably eccentric…but, most super-rich/famous people are. Admittedly, he was among the strangest. But, how many “normal” people ever excel creatively?
4. Child molestation stuff was a big hit to his reputation, but I’m not convinced. Sure, the guy had a thing for kids, but he was acquitted of any criminal behavior. Besides, if you had been f’d over by every adult you ever came in contact with, I guess that it’s not exceptionally weird that he sought out people who wouldn’t try to exploit him.
5. It’s hard to defend dangling his kid over the balcony beyond saying that a lot of famous people do a lot of stupid stuff. Many of us “regular” people do too, it’s just not publicized. I’m glad that my lowest/worst moments haven’t been captured on video & that there aren’t millions of people obsessed with watching them over and over on Youtube.

All in all I guess I’m fairly sympathetic toward him…and, like Dillon, I’ve enjoyed delving back into his music/video career over the last few days.