Haven't commented on the whole MJ death/life issue, but figured I'd put my slant down on the issue - no arguments/agenda just my thoughts as someone who wasn't a huge fan but respected his music:
The guy was a human being, granted a bit messed up due to his immense fame and upbringing in his formative years. Until you've lived a life like his, I honesty don't know how anyone could jude him or know the pain he lived with. I'm sure any person who went through some/all of the things he did wouldn't come out of it a well rounded person.
The thing that hits me is him admitting to certain things (such as the kids sleeping in his room/bed at 'sleepovers'), now I could be wrong as I haven't had much to do with psychology for years, but that doesn't sound like the admition of a paedophile - rather a pretty screwed up person who hasn't really learnt the 'appropriate' behaviour norms society expects from a grown man.
I feel bad for his kids (whether biologically his or not should not be an issue, he was their father). Hopefully they won't be dragged into a media circus as 'the offspring of the genius that was Michael Jackson'. Here's hoping they have a relatively 'normal' life and keep their own memories of their 'great Daddy' without those memories becoming questioned/skewed by propaganderous media/people.
I think that was appropriately put as can be.
It's all about his children now whether they were his biologically or not. I hope they can live in some peace and not have their so call mother of 2 of them drag them through more dirt in the courts.
Peace
*We CAN bomb the World to pieces, but we CAN'T bomb it into PEACE*...Michael Franti
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
Icon this icon that, I just feel pity for the guy. And hope his kids are alright, and not scarred with a warp sense of reality as he seemed to be.
I could see them turn out much like Cobain's daughter (minus the crazy mom). She hasn't really done anything to stoke the flames of the media. Hopefully these kids won't either. Sadly I think yesterday was their intro to the world.
Sacramento 10-30-00, Bridge School 10-20 and 10-21-01, Bridge School 10-25 and 10-26-01, Irvine 06-02-03, Irvine 06-03-03, San Diego 06-05-03, San Diego 07-07-06, Los Angeles 07-09-06, Santa Barbara 07-13-06, London UK 06-18-07, San Diego 10-9-09, San Diego 2013, LA 1 2013
i think the real statement that needs to be made, is hopefully now the media will leave MJ's family alone, andact the way they should have when he was alive. Repectful. And kind.
Somehow I doubt that will happen, as the autopsy results are still awaited. And of course you have the allegations of malpractice against MJ's doctors. And then the paternity of the kids is in question.
The real deal about Michael Jackson
"The media coverage of Michael Jackson's death illustrates just how crazy the USA is becoming. A cowardly media will exploit any event for ratings. Remember, the same people extolling Jackson today were the ones giving his child molestation trial gavel-to-gavel attention. And after Michael Jackson was found not guilty, the American media did not exactly elevate him to hero status, did it? But now that he's dead, most likely from an accidental drug overdose, he is a hero. How does that work? How does that happen? It's another day in media world."
"The family of Michael Jackson honored his memory Tuesday in Los Angeles, and I do not wish to intrude on that. But Jackson's place in America is a legitimate topic of discussion and Talking Points is just about fed up with all the adulation. Yes, the man was an all-star entertainer, but that's it, so enough with the phony platitudes. The truth is that Jackson's interactions with children were unacceptable for any adult. His incredible selfishness - spending hundreds of millions of dollars on himself - should make any clear-thinking American nauseous. And why are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton making this a racial deal? To hear Sharpton speak, you'd think Jackson was Martin Luther King Jr. And if you disagree with honoring Jackson the man, watch out! Congressman Peter King called Jackson a 'pedophile' and was immediately branded a racist. The message is very clear: If you criticize Michael Jackson, you hate black people. Nonsense! The service itself was very well done, but the media coverage was a bit bizarre. The whole deal illustrates just how crazy the USA is becoming - a cowardly media will exploit any event for ratings. Remember, the same people extolling Jackson today were the ones giving his child molestation trial gavel-to-gavel attention. Now that he's dead, most likely from an accidental drug overdose, he is treated like a hero. Just another day in the media world."
The Factor welcomed professor Marc Lamont Hill, who took issue with the Talking Points Memo. "You can't say this isn't a racial issue," Hill declared. "This man's entire career has been marked by race, and the black community has embraced him because the media has assaulted him in ways they don't do to white people of that stature. In addition to being perhaps the greatest child prodigy since Mozart, Michael Jackson opened doors and was the Jackie Robinson of entertainment. You become an African American icon by being the greatest entertainer ever and by being an extraordinary humanitarian." The Factor vehemently disputed Hill's racial calculus: "The Jackson 5 was a crossover band, there was no racial component, and when he grew up every white person danced their buns off to Thriller. He was only criticized when he got into the bizarre realm of bleaching his skin, doing plastic surgery, and sleeping with children. If he were a white guy people would also say that is not acceptable."
Continuing with the story, Fox News media analyst Bernie Goldberg dissected the coverage of the Jackson memorial. "What makes this so sad to me," Goldberg lamented, "is that it is not enough for the elites to honor him as a great American entertainer, they have to make him a black hero. A black hero who paid white people to produce his children? A black hero who bleached his skin so he was as white as you and me? To honor him as a civil rights hero strikes me as ridiculous." Goldberg added this brutally candid hypothesis: "Not one of the people who paid tribute to him today and not one of the anchors who traveled across the country to anchor the coverage today would have let their kids stay overnight with Michael Jackson. If I am right, that tells you something about their coverage. But everything is about ratings and money."
Everyone is born, but not everyone is born the same. Some will grow to be butchers, or bakers, or candlestick makers. Some will only be really good at making Jell-O salad. One way or another, though, every human being is unique, for better or for worse.
The fact that MTV when it first started refused to play music videos by Black performers, and the fact that MJ broke that barrier is reason enough to recognize his music in terms of race.
MJ always identified himself as an African American.
The fact that MTV when it first started refused to play music videos by Black performers, and the fact that MJ broke that barrier is reason enough to recognize his music in terms of race.
MJ always identified himself as an African American.
im calling bullshit! MTV made a BUSINESS move... people have enjoyed black performers for as long as there has been music... and the man was so private outside of entertaining that he did NOTHING to advance ideas of blacks socially... he definitely pales in comparison to the cosby show or something along those lines that made blacks more relateable to white middle america... if anything MJ's had an adverse effect with his later life...
as far as the music video... MJ did what MJ wanted to do as an entertainer (regardless of race) and his fans bought and supported that music (regardless of race) for what it was... the fact that billy jean was the first video by a black artist speaks more to MJ's advancement of the art of the music video (in other words, WHAT HE ACTUALLY INTENDED TO DO AS AN ENTERTAINER) than it does about race... MTV saw the record sales, saw where the money was, MJ gave them a great music video by oldschool standards, and thats that.
he was a first class humanitarian and entertainer... why ask for more?
He didn't bleach his skin white. The dude had Lupus.
i believe it was actually vitiligo... but even in that case the loss of pigment wouldve been spottier... he definitely did something to have such an even white color
"Michael Jackson was diagnosed in 1986 with vitiligo and lupus; the latter was potentially lethal but was in remission in Jackson's case. In a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, Jackson dismissed suggestions that he bleached his skin, admitting for the first time that he had the illness. The admission went on to promote awareness of vitiligo, a relatively unknown condition before then."
I've had the opportunity to see dermatology patients in my medical career. Sadly, none of them looked as good as Michael Jackson. I have a feeling that MJ bleached his skin - it's too perfect for classic vitiligo.
Everyone is born, but not everyone is born the same. Some will grow to be butchers, or bakers, or candlestick makers. Some will only be really good at making Jell-O salad. One way or another, though, every human being is unique, for better or for worse.
The same guy, who had his home torn apart two times, in 93 and 2005. The only time the LAPD most likely did their job thoroughly.'
The LAPD and investigators, found NO wierd videotapes, no incriminating photos. No incriminating diary entries or documents in MJ's possession. They didnt find any dirty websites on his computer. They didnt find anything.
People always say he is a child molester. I am fine if you can present some damning evidence. I watched both trials intensely. I dont remember one shred of evidence beyond the original accusation.
Its odd to me, that people would call MJ a child molestor without evidence. If there was evidence, thats one thing.
But as I said, investigators brought this to trial, obviously high. Not one shred of evidence.
I'm with you on this.
Its not odd though, the world is full of scum, jealous people, biggoted people, who love nothing more than to see someone fail, they love a circus news story, they love to ruin lives......and then there are the section of society that are truely dumb, little sheeps, ignorant to a tee, and believe every thing written down because thats the easiest way....usually becuase they dont have a brain to work things out themselves...Hell the latest celeb gossip mag is the bible you know.
I'm with you on this.
Its not odd though, the world is full of scum, jealous people, biggoted people, who love nothing more than to see someone fail, they love a circus news story, they love to ruin lives......and then there are the section of society that are truely dumb, little sheeps, ignorant to a tee, and believe every thing written down because thats the easiest way....usually becuase they dont have a brain to work things out themselves...Hell the latest celeb gossip mag is the bible you know.
ets also discuss the mother of the accuser. Who I remember well. The courtroom, the jurors, the attendees at the court dates, all found her to be a liar. Thats why Michael was aquitted. I remember hearing multiple times htat the court erupted in laughs after many of her statements on stand. She is a documented liar. George Lopez said she approached him as to wanting more money, after he gave her some. Jay Leno said the same.
She had her son and others call MJ "daddy". Why would you call MJ "daddy"?
She stated on stand that she was held captive on Neverland and that she worried her family would be kidnapped on a hot air balloon by Michael jackson.
Lets also discuss the odd behavior of the DA. he said, when they arrested him "we finally got him". One of the oddest things a DA has ever said, and extremly unprofessional. Obviously they didnt have him.
There wasnt a single piece of evidence presented at the 93 or 2005 trials that linked Michael to the crimes.
Several of the jurors later said that he was guilty.
SLC 11/2/95, Park City 6/21/98, Boise 11/3/00, Seattle 12/9/02, Vancouver 5/30/03, Gorge 9/1/05, Vancouver 9/2/05, Gorge 7/22/06, Gorge 7/23/06, Camden I 6/19/08, MSG I 6/24/08, MSG II 6/25/08, Hartford 6/27/08, Mansfield II 6/30/08; Eddie Albany 6/8/09, 6/9/09; Philly 10/30/09, 10/31/09; Boston 5/17/10
I thought the world...Turns out the world thought me
ets also discuss the mother of the accuser. Who I remember well. The courtroom, the jurors, the attendees at the court dates, all found her to be a liar. Thats why Michael was aquitted. I remember hearing multiple times htat the court erupted in laughs after many of her statements on stand. She is a documented liar. George Lopez said she approached him as to wanting more money, after he gave her some. Jay Leno said the same.
She had her son and others call MJ "daddy". Why would you call MJ "daddy"?
She stated on stand that she was held captive on Neverland and that she worried her family would be kidnapped on a hot air balloon by Michael jackson.
Lets also discuss the odd behavior of the DA. he said, when they arrested him "we finally got him". One of the oddest things a DA has ever said, and extremly unprofessional. Obviously they didnt have him.
There wasnt a single piece of evidence presented at the 93 or 2005 trials that linked Michael to the crimes.
Several of the jurors later said that he was guilty.
Well again, thats fine. But I am one of those people, who before I say someone is a child molestor, I oddly enough need to see evidence of that.
The entire jury could "later" say he was guilty, that doesnt change anything. You dont think if the DA had a smoking gun, like pictures of michael and the boys engaged in illegal behavior that that would have been on the front page of every single news outlet in the entire world? The fact that no evidence was presented at all that incriminated MJ says all you need to know about the case
The king is dead and the eulogies we are being offered in the media are missing this stories' point. While I am grateful that the ongoing celebration of Michael Jackson's art and music is finally occurring... and has been long overdue, I do not believe enough emphasis is being placed on the person himself. We are finally once again appreciating his art, but we are still failing to understand Michael Jackson the person.
Michael Jackson's is a tragic story. He was a philanthropist who never found love for himself. He was the most admired man on earth, yet he still felt ugly. Michael was the superstar who had everything; but he never had what he wanted most: a childhood. Innocence. For every one of Michael Jackson's gifts and talents there was an underlying demon. By the end of his time on earth, Michael Jackson appeared to us alien; an uber-talent, a genius... A rejected gift from the heavens that the world could never wholly understand.
Here was a man, a troubled person, who never felt comfortable in his own skin. Michael seemingly never doubted his talents, but he was also never confident in his physical appearance. The most exposed, admired person in the world felt clumsy and ugly. Adding to his demise, the already self-conscious pop star fell victim to a disfiguring skin disease called vitiligo and was subject to a serious burn during a Pepsi commercial that various sources have said caused damage that would hinder his ability to grow hair on his head properly.
So before you criticize Michael for the personal war he waged against his own physical appearance; Ponder his situation... Imagine you are the most famous person in the world... You have your scalp burned and your hairline is forever disturbed... You contract a skin disease that if left unaddressed will cause you to look like a human Dalmatian... What would you do? Regardless, if you address your appearance through cosmetic surgery, or if you appear as you truly are, you will feel mercilessly scrutinized!
Yes, people have bad hair, and yes, people have bad skin - or even vitiligo. But not everyone is Michael Jackson! Can you really criticize him for his choices regarding his appearance without being in his shoes? To quote Tom Petty: "You don't know how it feels."
I do not believe that Michael Jackson ever desired the pity of others. Rather, I think he longed to be understood, to be appreciated, and perhaps even accepted for who he was. Despite his inherent eccentricities, for most of his career Michael Jackson was celebrated for his artistic achievements. However, after the initial child molestation accusations of the 1990's, Michael's eccentricities ceased to be considered the cost of genius and were instead deemed to be the source of a felonious freakishness. What was once tolerated in exchange for brilliant art, was now evidence of unspeakable acts.
The Boy with the Golden voice had become the Freak with the Kiddie Touch...
From then on, Michael became exponentially isolated, disfigured, and damaged. His corporal body became a visage of undeniable human wreckage. His psyche was never to recover.
I will not pretend or presume to know what did or did not happen in Michael's bedroom. Some will argue he was a clear danger to kids; others will say that Michael wanted to be a child rather than be with children - that his desire was for innocence, not instead to corrupt or defile.
But as an observer all I can say is that I feel disturbed that the same masses who maligned him his eccentricity and questionable judgment have in his death come to overlook these things in favor of his art. The portrait of Michael Jackson as a whole has yet to be acknowledged... instead we continue to bounce from detail to detail without acknowledging the greater whole of his being... and I find that unnerving.
Regardless, this much is clear to me now. Once Michael Jackson slipped from our "Freak-Hero" to our "Freak-Villain" it was over for him. Only in death could this star ever regain its luster... and that is a shame... because Michael Jackson was an undeniable gift to us all and perhaps both we, and he himself, tragically came to lose a proper perspective.
Why is it that he had to die in order for this outpouring of love and acceptance to come to the surface? Why did the price of his redemption have to be his life?
I think if he were alive to see the appreciation that is being hurled towards him in his death, he would smile and feel Thrilled.
Michael Jackson was a person who wanted things he could never have. Who can't relate to that?
To paraphrase Morrissey, another of my favorite "Freak-Geniuses" Michael was a man "With loves, and hates, and passions just like mine; He was born and then he lived and then he died..."
He was human, a person just like everyone else. That is a fact that has and continues to be denied in our public consciousness. STOP! and celebrate the differences, similarities and contradictions that were Michael Jackson.
The thing that hits me is him admitting to certain things (such as the kids sleeping in his room/bed at 'sleepovers'), now I could be wrong as I haven't had much to do with psychology for years, but that doesn't sound like the admition of a paedophile - rather a pretty screwed up person who hasn't really learnt the 'appropriate' behaviour norms society expects from a grown man.
Have you seen Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford?
The President in the film is worried about his association with some bad person being brought to light. The President wants to deny everything. Harrison Ford steps in and says to handle it the other way:
"If the press asks if you knew him, tell them that you two were friends. If the they ask if you were friends, say you were life-long friends. It gives the press nowhere to go."
If MJ were doing bad things to kids, he was taking good advice from Harrison Ford. Don't deny you "slept in bed" with the kids. Proclaim you did as frequently as you can.
I think there was a lot of innocence in MJ. I also think he liked to touch kids too.
...and, really, 15 million to shut shut one person up?
If someone is accusing you of something , and you don't think you'll win in court, and if you're filthy rich, you should start off offering $50,000. Then $100,000. Then $500,000. Then 1 million. Then 1.5 million. Then 2 million. (and so on).
ciao, i'm not a mj's fan, i don't like his songs particularly, i know who he was, have seen some videos on tv, heard about the process and that's it. now that he's dead a lot of journalist have written on his life, on his miserable childhood. the other day i read he wasn't able to have children because his father beated him so hard when he was a child, then i read his brothers were heartless with him and tried to exploit his creativity and genius only to their own purposes...poor boy his life must have been a hell. that can explain why he was so unhappy with his body, why he was so childish (according to those who knew him closer)...
well i just wanted to say i feel sorry for all these things.
stefania
If someone is accusing you of something , and you don't think you'll win in court, and if you're filthy rich, you should start off offering $50,000. Then $100,000. Then $500,000. Then 1 million. Then 1.5 million. Then 2 million. (and so on).
I read recently that his insurance company at the time forced him to make a settlement as a means of damage control, apparently there are documents out there to prove it.
I think the problem is that people's judgement comes solely through the information they are fed by the media. Is it difficult to believe Jackson was a paedophile? No! The guy lived a very strange life and admitted to sleeping in beds with kids - but that alone does not prove that he physically abused them. Given the fantasy world he created around himself, I think there is plenty of evidence to suggest that his maturity level was very stunted. From the outlandish home, to the frivolous spending, the pet chimp etc, all indicative of a man stuck at a young mental age. So you have a guy who missed out on a real childhood, had a lot of money from an early age, and ended up surrounded by 'yes men' who wouldn't tell him that despite the fact he enjoyed the company of children, sleep overs were not appropriate for a man of his age.
I'm not saying I know either way, I'm just saying that none of us can know for sure, and that given the bizarre life he led, I don't think it's inconceivable that he was indeed a 'man child' who quite innocently enjoyed spending time with children - however wrong that might be.
yep precisely. What never makes it to press is the full story. It was never revealed that MJ's defense team suggested he settle and pay out the accuser. They felt Michael would never get a fair trial, that race would play a huge role as the first accuser came forward in 1993 and it was still in the wake of the LA Riots, and a person no less prominant than Jonnie Cocharon, told MJ to settle.
That said, I think it was the biggest mistake of his life.
Comments
Icon this icon that, I just feel pity for the guy. And hope his kids are alright, and not scarred with a warp sense of reality as he seemed to be.
I think that was appropriately put as can be.
It's all about his children now whether they were his biologically or not. I hope they can live in some peace and not have their so call mother of 2 of them drag them through more dirt in the courts.
Peace
*MUSIC IS the expression of EMOTION.....and that POLITICS IS merely the DECOY of PERCEPTION*
.....song_Music & Politics....Michael Franti
*The scientists of today think deeply instead of clearly. One must be sane to think clearly, but one can think deeply and be quite INSANE*....Nikola Tesla(a man who shaped our world of electricity with his futuristic inventions)
I could see them turn out much like Cobain's daughter (minus the crazy mom). She hasn't really done anything to stoke the flames of the media. Hopefully these kids won't either. Sadly I think yesterday was their intro to the world.
Somehow I doubt that will happen, as the autopsy results are still awaited. And of course you have the allegations of malpractice against MJ's doctors. And then the paternity of the kids is in question.
"The media coverage of Michael Jackson's death illustrates just how crazy the USA is becoming. A cowardly media will exploit any event for ratings. Remember, the same people extolling Jackson today were the ones giving his child molestation trial gavel-to-gavel attention. And after Michael Jackson was found not guilty, the American media did not exactly elevate him to hero status, did it? But now that he's dead, most likely from an accidental drug overdose, he is a hero. How does that work? How does that happen? It's another day in media world."
"The family of Michael Jackson honored his memory Tuesday in Los Angeles, and I do not wish to intrude on that. But Jackson's place in America is a legitimate topic of discussion and Talking Points is just about fed up with all the adulation. Yes, the man was an all-star entertainer, but that's it, so enough with the phony platitudes. The truth is that Jackson's interactions with children were unacceptable for any adult. His incredible selfishness - spending hundreds of millions of dollars on himself - should make any clear-thinking American nauseous. And why are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton making this a racial deal? To hear Sharpton speak, you'd think Jackson was Martin Luther King Jr. And if you disagree with honoring Jackson the man, watch out! Congressman Peter King called Jackson a 'pedophile' and was immediately branded a racist. The message is very clear: If you criticize Michael Jackson, you hate black people. Nonsense! The service itself was very well done, but the media coverage was a bit bizarre. The whole deal illustrates just how crazy the USA is becoming - a cowardly media will exploit any event for ratings. Remember, the same people extolling Jackson today were the ones giving his child molestation trial gavel-to-gavel attention. Now that he's dead, most likely from an accidental drug overdose, he is treated like a hero. Just another day in the media world."
The Factor welcomed professor Marc Lamont Hill, who took issue with the Talking Points Memo. "You can't say this isn't a racial issue," Hill declared. "This man's entire career has been marked by race, and the black community has embraced him because the media has assaulted him in ways they don't do to white people of that stature. In addition to being perhaps the greatest child prodigy since Mozart, Michael Jackson opened doors and was the Jackie Robinson of entertainment. You become an African American icon by being the greatest entertainer ever and by being an extraordinary humanitarian." The Factor vehemently disputed Hill's racial calculus: "The Jackson 5 was a crossover band, there was no racial component, and when he grew up every white person danced their buns off to Thriller. He was only criticized when he got into the bizarre realm of bleaching his skin, doing plastic surgery, and sleeping with children. If he were a white guy people would also say that is not acceptable."
Continuing with the story, Fox News media analyst Bernie Goldberg dissected the coverage of the Jackson memorial. "What makes this so sad to me," Goldberg lamented, "is that it is not enough for the elites to honor him as a great American entertainer, they have to make him a black hero. A black hero who paid white people to produce his children? A black hero who bleached his skin so he was as white as you and me? To honor him as a civil rights hero strikes me as ridiculous." Goldberg added this brutally candid hypothesis: "Not one of the people who paid tribute to him today and not one of the anchors who traveled across the country to anchor the coverage today would have let their kids stay overnight with Michael Jackson. If I am right, that tells you something about their coverage. But everything is about ratings and money."
Bill O'Reilly on the July 7 edition of The O'Reilly Factor http://www.billoreilly.com/
thanks for posting that
http://seanbriceart.com/
The fact that MTV when it first started refused to play music videos by Black performers, and the fact that MJ broke that barrier is reason enough to recognize his music in terms of race.
MJ always identified himself as an African American.
as far as the music video... MJ did what MJ wanted to do as an entertainer (regardless of race) and his fans bought and supported that music (regardless of race) for what it was... the fact that billy jean was the first video by a black artist speaks more to MJ's advancement of the art of the music video (in other words, WHAT HE ACTUALLY INTENDED TO DO AS AN ENTERTAINER) than it does about race... MTV saw the record sales, saw where the money was, MJ gave them a great music video by oldschool standards, and thats that.
he was a first class humanitarian and entertainer... why ask for more?
http://seanbriceart.com/
"Michael Jackson was diagnosed in 1986 with vitiligo and lupus; the latter was potentially lethal but was in remission in Jackson's case. In a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, Jackson dismissed suggestions that he bleached his skin, admitting for the first time that he had the illness. The admission went on to promote awareness of vitiligo, a relatively unknown condition before then."
I've had the opportunity to see dermatology patients in my medical career. Sadly, none of them looked as good as Michael Jackson. I have a feeling that MJ bleached his skin - it's too perfect for classic vitiligo.
I'm with you on this.
Its not odd though, the world is full of scum, jealous people, biggoted people, who love nothing more than to see someone fail, they love a circus news story, they love to ruin lives......and then there are the section of society that are truely dumb, little sheeps, ignorant to a tee, and believe every thing written down because thats the easiest way....usually becuase they dont have a brain to work things out themselves...Hell the latest celeb gossip mag is the bible you know.
I'm with you on this.
Its not odd though, the world is full of scum, jealous people, biggoted people, who love nothing more than to see someone fail, they love a circus news story, they love to ruin lives......and then there are the section of society that are truely dumb, little sheeps, ignorant to a tee, and believe every thing written down because thats the easiest way....usually becuase they dont have a brain to work things out themselves...Hell the latest celeb gossip mag is the bible you know.
Several of the jurors later said that he was guilty.
I thought the world...Turns out the world thought me
Well again, thats fine. But I am one of those people, who before I say someone is a child molestor, I oddly enough need to see evidence of that.
The entire jury could "later" say he was guilty, that doesnt change anything. You dont think if the DA had a smoking gun, like pictures of michael and the boys engaged in illegal behavior that that would have been on the front page of every single news outlet in the entire world? The fact that no evidence was presented at all that incriminated MJ says all you need to know about the case
The king is dead and the eulogies we are being offered in the media are missing this stories' point. While I am grateful that the ongoing celebration of Michael Jackson's art and music is finally occurring... and has been long overdue, I do not believe enough emphasis is being placed on the person himself. We are finally once again appreciating his art, but we are still failing to understand Michael Jackson the person.
Michael Jackson's is a tragic story. He was a philanthropist who never found love for himself. He was the most admired man on earth, yet he still felt ugly. Michael was the superstar who had everything; but he never had what he wanted most: a childhood. Innocence. For every one of Michael Jackson's gifts and talents there was an underlying demon. By the end of his time on earth, Michael Jackson appeared to us alien; an uber-talent, a genius... A rejected gift from the heavens that the world could never wholly understand.
Here was a man, a troubled person, who never felt comfortable in his own skin. Michael seemingly never doubted his talents, but he was also never confident in his physical appearance. The most exposed, admired person in the world felt clumsy and ugly. Adding to his demise, the already self-conscious pop star fell victim to a disfiguring skin disease called vitiligo and was subject to a serious burn during a Pepsi commercial that various sources have said caused damage that would hinder his ability to grow hair on his head properly.
So before you criticize Michael for the personal war he waged against his own physical appearance; Ponder his situation... Imagine you are the most famous person in the world... You have your scalp burned and your hairline is forever disturbed... You contract a skin disease that if left unaddressed will cause you to look like a human Dalmatian... What would you do? Regardless, if you address your appearance through cosmetic surgery, or if you appear as you truly are, you will feel mercilessly scrutinized!
Yes, people have bad hair, and yes, people have bad skin - or even vitiligo. But not everyone is Michael Jackson! Can you really criticize him for his choices regarding his appearance without being in his shoes? To quote Tom Petty: "You don't know how it feels."
I do not believe that Michael Jackson ever desired the pity of others. Rather, I think he longed to be understood, to be appreciated, and perhaps even accepted for who he was. Despite his inherent eccentricities, for most of his career Michael Jackson was celebrated for his artistic achievements. However, after the initial child molestation accusations of the 1990's, Michael's eccentricities ceased to be considered the cost of genius and were instead deemed to be the source of a felonious freakishness. What was once tolerated in exchange for brilliant art, was now evidence of unspeakable acts.
The Boy with the Golden voice had become the Freak with the Kiddie Touch...
From then on, Michael became exponentially isolated, disfigured, and damaged. His corporal body became a visage of undeniable human wreckage. His psyche was never to recover.
I will not pretend or presume to know what did or did not happen in Michael's bedroom. Some will argue he was a clear danger to kids; others will say that Michael wanted to be a child rather than be with children - that his desire was for innocence, not instead to corrupt or defile.
But as an observer all I can say is that I feel disturbed that the same masses who maligned him his eccentricity and questionable judgment have in his death come to overlook these things in favor of his art. The portrait of Michael Jackson as a whole has yet to be acknowledged... instead we continue to bounce from detail to detail without acknowledging the greater whole of his being... and I find that unnerving.
Regardless, this much is clear to me now. Once Michael Jackson slipped from our "Freak-Hero" to our "Freak-Villain" it was over for him. Only in death could this star ever regain its luster... and that is a shame... because Michael Jackson was an undeniable gift to us all and perhaps both we, and he himself, tragically came to lose a proper perspective.
Why is it that he had to die in order for this outpouring of love and acceptance to come to the surface? Why did the price of his redemption have to be his life?
I think if he were alive to see the appreciation that is being hurled towards him in his death, he would smile and feel Thrilled.
Michael Jackson was a person who wanted things he could never have. Who can't relate to that?
To paraphrase Morrissey, another of my favorite "Freak-Geniuses" Michael was a man "With loves, and hates, and passions just like mine; He was born and then he lived and then he died..."
He was human, a person just like everyone else. That is a fact that has and continues to be denied in our public consciousness. STOP! and celebrate the differences, similarities and contradictions that were Michael Jackson.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_O'Donnell
on joe jackson......see.......i told you.......he still trying to milk his son and HE'S DEAD! did you hear? he's saying somebody murdered MJ.
he's a bad bad man.
Have you seen Clear and Present Danger with Harrison Ford?
The President in the film is worried about his association with some bad person being brought to light. The President wants to deny everything. Harrison Ford steps in and says to handle it the other way:
"If the press asks if you knew him, tell them that you two were friends. If the they ask if you were friends, say you were life-long friends. It gives the press nowhere to go."
If MJ were doing bad things to kids, he was taking good advice from Harrison Ford. Don't deny you "slept in bed" with the kids. Proclaim you did as frequently as you can.
I think there was a lot of innocence in MJ. I also think he liked to touch kids too.
...and, really, 15 million to shut shut one person up?
If someone is accusing you of something , and you don't think you'll win in court, and if you're filthy rich, you should start off offering $50,000. Then $100,000. Then $500,000. Then 1 million. Then 1.5 million. Then 2 million. (and so on).
For it to get to $15 million?!? Jackson was scared of this info coming to trial. That's what I believe it was.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0616041jacko1.html
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
http://www.usmagazine.com/news/video-mi ... nt-2009157
well i just wanted to say i feel sorry for all these things.
stefania
I read recently that his insurance company at the time forced him to make a settlement as a means of damage control, apparently there are documents out there to prove it.
I think the problem is that people's judgement comes solely through the information they are fed by the media. Is it difficult to believe Jackson was a paedophile? No! The guy lived a very strange life and admitted to sleeping in beds with kids - but that alone does not prove that he physically abused them. Given the fantasy world he created around himself, I think there is plenty of evidence to suggest that his maturity level was very stunted. From the outlandish home, to the frivolous spending, the pet chimp etc, all indicative of a man stuck at a young mental age. So you have a guy who missed out on a real childhood, had a lot of money from an early age, and ended up surrounded by 'yes men' who wouldn't tell him that despite the fact he enjoyed the company of children, sleep overs were not appropriate for a man of his age.
I'm not saying I know either way, I'm just saying that none of us can know for sure, and that given the bizarre life he led, I don't think it's inconceivable that he was indeed a 'man child' who quite innocently enjoyed spending time with children - however wrong that might be.
That said, I think it was the biggest mistake of his life.