I agree that we don't need to denigrate MJ.
I think that the negative comments here & elsewhere are more of a reaction to compensate for all the treacle we're having to wade through about him in the media at the moment.
If people are going to hero-worship him, & even, as Kayos pointed out, kill themselves over his death, then I think it's understandable if some people want to try & knock his image back down a peg or two.
As I said towards the start of this thread, it's all about getting things in perspective. Without going into the murky & controversial areas for which he stood trial, there are still plenty of other things that keep me from thinking that there was anything too wonderful about him.
- He's one of thousands of artists that I feel have added good songs to our heritage - nothing unique or special about him there, to my musical tastes at least.
- Just because he sold a record breaking number of Thriller albums, doesn't mean the glory is all his. I think Quincy Jones, & a huge budget might have had a hand in it, too!
- The Thriller video - come on, was it really that great?!! A derivative rip-off of so many horror flicks of the time, made to look "good" thanks to a huge budget. Personally, I thought it looked a bit cheesy. So it had some dancing in it -whoopee doo! Take a look at hundreds of early colour film Musicals, or live stage acts going on well before that video. Nothing new or clever there.
- The first black artist on MTV - well, that says more (bad things) about MTV than it says anything good about him. He was popular at the time, with a popular video, & a record label that was powerful enough to coerce MTV into showing him. So it got shown. No thanks to anything wonderful done by MJ. Right place, right time, & it made him lots & lots of money.
- The moonwalk - created by others, & re-used by him. Nothing pioneering there.
- The white glove on 1 hand - Oh Please!! It's easy to look iconic if this is all it takes: dress in a way that no-one in their right mind would want to dress & be seen in public. Still today, the only people you see wearing white gloves on one hand are other MJ wanabees. He hasn't exactly created a look for us all, now, has he?
- The eccentricity - well yes, a bit of clever marketing with some set-up shot of him lying in a gas bubble & similar stuff, coupled with a bizarre lifestyle of living with a chimp, apparent body dysmorphia, & all the endless other stuff, which I said I wouldn't go into. This shouldn't be stuff that enhances his reputation, but unfortunately the gossiping media & members of the public just love all that. The weirder the better. But people are confusing this hype, with greatness. It really isn't.
People bought into all his "I love you" lines, & "care for the children" (cough, cough). He may have cared, he may not have. So what? - he's not the only one around who cares about others.
Actions speak louder than words. And whilst he may have given a lot to charity (which is a good thing if done for the right reasons), I'm afraid I'm still left with one lasting memory of him;
The image of him during a TV documentary, walking around a large, super-expensive shop & pointing at items in quick succession. "I'll have 1 of them, 3 of them, 1 of them, 5 of them.....". These were garish trinkets, vases, statues etc costing umpteen thousands of dollars each. He barely glanced at the items as he pranced around the shop, buying up everything that met his whim at that moment. The staff who were trying to keep up with him couldn't write the items down fast enough. He seemed to buy enough to fill a lorry. MJ didn't even ask the prices. I was totally sickened by his incredible, selfish wasting of money.
This is how much he really cared about those starving children that he so often tried to make the rest of us feel guilty over.
These trinkets that he filled his house with, were more important to him than the lives he could have helped with the money.
Now, I'm not an expert on MJ, & am prepared to be corrected on any of the above points. But my general feeling remains: he was over-rated.
"Don't believe the hype"
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