I don’t know if you heard, but…
Michael Jackson died.
I know plenty of people will miss him as an entertainer. Frankly I never was a fan of the guy. I like some of the songs, but I never understood the frenzy surrounding the guy as a singer and dancer. He was cool, but not that cool, and I didn’t know many people that bought his albums.
Even so, I find that I am going to miss Michael Jackson and that I have been robbed of years of entertainment from him due to his untimely death.
See, I was a fan of the freak show that was Michael Jackson.
I’m not the type to follow celebrities, I just don’t care who is having babies, or gaining weight, or whatever. Hell, I didn’t even care about Michael.
But I loved watching how freaky weird his face got. I loved hearing about his weird behavior, like baby dangling, wanting to buy the Elephant Mans bones, having a pet chimp, and hanging out with Emmanuel Lewis and McCauley Culkin… I wonder what that was all about, (wink wink)?
My interest in celebrities lives is the same as my interest in the lives of the guy at the gas station, or a bartender, or the janitor at work. They are just people that provide various services for me and the rest of the public, but I have no interest in their lives. Celebrities are just the people that provide the service of entertainment. They are regular people, like you and I, except that us regular people won’t let them have a normal life. For some reason, we feel we have a right to know all the sordid details of their lives.
Frankly I felt sorry for Michael that he lived in such a huge spotlight, that he became a freak. Dude may have been a weirdo, but being under the constant gaze of society, the press and the paparazzi, he became a MAJOR weirdo. He was a weirdo that never grew up and had issues with his image and developed weird perversions that led to him allegedly molesting little boys. And to a degree, this is partially our fault.
But this is what I found so fascinating about Michael Jackson. I enjoyed the mutant freak of the entertainment industry that he became. I enjoyed seeing what happens to a person when they get that famous. I enjoyed the train wreck that was his life. I guess it is a form of schadenfreude, and even though I was not the type to follow everything he did, I was still a part of the force that made him who he was, because I enjoyed watching someone who is always being watched.
So now I am feeling guilty, but I am also enjoying the frenzy surrounding his death. I can’t wait for the conspiracy theories about how he faked his death, or was murdered or whatever they will be. I just know they are coming.
I am enjoying watching how ridiculous the press and media truly are by watching the amount of coverage they are giving to the story of Michael’s death.
But I am also sickened by how much attention we are giving this. Even in death we can’t leave the guy alone for one second. And as much as I would like to think I am not a part of the problem, I am still following the news on it, trying to convince myself that my motives are different than the rest of the masses that are following this. I like to think I am not contributing to this, but even now, I am writing this post, and you are reading it, and the cycle continues.
So, for what it is worth, rest in peace Michael.
Now… has anyone spotted him alive yet? Was he with Elvis? Has he appeared on a tortilla in Mexico? I have to know.
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July 1st, 2009 at 12:01 am
The price of being a celebrity. But I find it disturbing that some people can be entertained by the troubles of someone famous.
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July 1st, 2009 at 12:47 am
That death was SO faked.
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July 1st, 2009 at 12:58 am
They couldn’t leave Diana alone after her death and the media was a direct cause!
I liked the art, didn’t particularly care about the artist.
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July 1st, 2009 at 1:31 am
Wait, Michael Jackson’s dead? When did this happen? :-o
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July 1st, 2009 at 4:29 am
I have never been a Michael Jackson fan. I don’t hate him, I just never thought he was that good. The only part that I will miss is the death of the living example of the American Dream, where somebody can start off life a poor black boy and grow up to be a rich white woman.
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Maj Mac reply on July 1st, 2009 6:07 am:
American Dream…rich white woman. Your killing me! That was good. I agree with Michiel to a degree. We do it to them. But I don’t blame society for those celebrities who become high and mighty. Regardless of the lean of their opinion, I despise people who grasp an issue, jump up and down while screaming to make you think likewise while refusing to acknowledge opposing opinions or evidence. Like those who supported cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
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July 1st, 2009 at 6:16 am
I was never a Michael Jackson fan. I liked Off The Wall, but after that everything sounded like another Michael Jackson song. I prefer someone like Madonna ofr the Beatles, whose music evolved over the years. Besides, the best of MJ’s music was performed by Weird Al Yankovic.
Captcha: Rolls-Royce alleging – Even Michael’s cars are trying to cash in on him. I’ll bet the back seat could tellsome interesting stories…..
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July 1st, 2009 at 7:19 am
The Alien Space Bats took him, and replaced him with a clone. That clone is now dead. I though everyone knew that.
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July 1st, 2009 at 8:08 am
Screw the Jackson boy. We should all be talking about Billy Mays’ death.
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Minty reply on July 1st, 2009 9:57 am:
Yeah! I mean, what the hell happened there? He was so young.
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speed reply on July 1st, 2009 12:49 pm:
Both were 50. Coincidence? You decide.
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July 1st, 2009 at 8:16 am
I was on a school trip when he died and my advisor was surfing the radio channels trying to figure out what was going on.
Finally, he said, “You know, the minute he was declared dead they probably started carting him away to be cryogenically frozen.”
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July 1st, 2009 at 8:26 am
The only “good” thing about those rumours that are bound to come up is that somebody will still be getting entertained by them. Frankly, the whole celebrity surveillance thing sickens me and I’m just waiting for the point when they replace all those meaningless stories and junk on tv with endless footage of a man jangling a bunch of keys going “ooh, shiny shiny keys!” – it’ll still be the same level of entertainnent to some people.
Captcha – Iobes Kolbert: is this the weird name of another throwaway celebrity?
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July 1st, 2009 at 10:04 am
Honestly, I was never a big fan of his music. Nothing against it, it just didn’t click with me. And I was never a big fan of the freak show. It repulsed me, and I tend to stay away from things that repulse me.
I didn’t know the man personally, and the likelihood of me ever meeting him was nil. Therefore, in regards to his death, I have to admit my sorrow is little more than a culturally-programed reflex. That being said, I’ll tolerate the 24-hour news coverage of his death up to one day after the funeral, at which point I’m going to start whining.
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July 1st, 2009 at 10:17 am
Does nobody else find it ironic that despite the fact that he died kinda young, 50, and yet, one of the things the news said marked his decent into weirdness was his machine that was supposedly supposed to keep him alive longer than a normal human life span?
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July 1st, 2009 at 12:48 pm
There’s a cheeto for auction on ebay that is supposed to look like Michael Jackson moon walking. Seriously.
A local DJ said to look forward to the tell all books, in fact he said he was marketing “Vanilla Thrilla” as a possible title.
And now Karl Mauldin died. Dang space bats.
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July 1st, 2009 at 1:19 pm
well I ate a couple of tortillas yesterday but nope no michael j over here…. this is just in straight from Mexico he has been spoted trying to eat baby and rent hookas!!!!
o wait thats just elvis :P
captcha; maverick 1972-73 he left us so young….
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July 1st, 2009 at 5:14 pm
http://noticias.terra.com.br/popular/interna/0,,OI3851955-EI1141,00-Imagem+de+Michael+Jackson+aparece+em+forma+de+carne+assada.html
Tortillas, no, grease pan, yes.
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Minty reply on July 1st, 2009 9:32 pm:
I disagree–I think that looks more like Judy Garland than Michael Jackson.
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July 2nd, 2009 at 5:03 am
They’re dropping like flies! Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, Karl Maldin, and now Mollie Sugden!
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July 5th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
i found it amusing that the retail store i worked for roughtly the same evening he was confirmed dead they sent out an email to all the stores and raised the prices on albums ect.
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