Bad day for celebrities

[andtckrtoo]

There are so many reasons I appreciate this forum, and one of them is the way you ladies are actual adult humans, and not cats. I belong to several forums, and most of them are ripping him apart.

In the later years, Michael did make me uncomfortable, but he did have an incredible talent from a very young age - if you listen to the Jackson 5 songs, he was incredible at EIGHT! I plan to remember the talent - the sheer musical genius that was Michael Jackson.

[jobob]

Driving home yesterday KFOG was playing lots of old MJ, esp from the Jackson 5 days and from Off The Wall and Thriller. I cranked up the radio and boogied in my seat - I imagine I wasn't the only one. It was fun yet bittersweet.

[roadie gal]

It's so sad, in so many ways.

Michael Jackson was so talented, but he never had a childhood and he failed trying to create a childhood as an adult. I loved his music but after a while his strangeness made it difficult for me to listen to him. I just kept picturing his scary face...

I have Thriller on vinyl. I still have it. I think I wore holes in it, playing it so much. I do believe that it's still the best selling pop album of all time.

Poor Farrah, upstaged in her sad death by Michael. She should be getting much more air time than she is. Her death is almost a footnote to Michael's, and that's very sad, too.

[Tri Girl]

I know- what a sad day. I didn't know Jerri Fitzgerald died until later in the day (she was an incredible "normal" person like most of us).

I loved both Farrah and MJ. I wanted that feathered hairdo like she had so bad when I was younger. Charlies Angels was THE show when I was a kid (I think it was re-runs when I saw it- but I didn't care). If only I could have been like those butt kickin' women...

MJ was incredibly talented and a real musical genius (I liken him to Mozart and Beethoven in modern times). He totally changed music and seemed to unite people with his music. He also let Weird Al have a good career parodying him (who I love, too). He put MTV on the map and was the real creator of music videos as entertainment. Remember that moon walk for the first time. Woot! Remember "We are the World?"
He had a rough life and hopefully is at peace now- something I don't think he had here on Earth.

I've been watching videos on MTV today. They rarely play them anymore. It brings back such fun memories as a young person. I could never afford the red jacket and glove, but I had posters galore of him in my room.

[alpinerabbit]

a few days ago something about him was on TV and I thought along the lines... when will he crack and he'll never find the peace he is looking for.

poor guy. maybe he's found it now.
his soul was gone a long time ago. the machinery around him had been killing it since he was 6 - his genius endured longer. it's surprising his body held out this long.

[crazycanuck]

Am I the only person on the planet that is tired of the news of both deaths overtaking more important issues facing the world today?

[Tri Girl]

Am I the only person on the planet that is tired of the news of both deaths overtaking more important issues facing the world today?

Not the only one... I'm just glad for a break from all the economy talk.
But yes, there ARE more pressing issues to talk about...

[alpinerabbit]

yeah like people like Madonna "can't stop crying": She's just shopped herself a child from Malawi. Can she stop crying about the other children who die? Obviously with ease.

It's like swine flu. It turns the attention away from the real issues.

[Cataboo]

I think MJ & FF can have a day or two to be remembered. The economy'll still be there & still screwed up whether or not we pay attention to it, and paying attention to it has yet to result in it actually being fixed.

[Tuckervill]

Am I the only person on the planet that is tired of the news of both deaths overtaking more important issues facing the world today?

+1. Let it go.

But I remember it was like this when Elvis died, too.

Karen

[Crankin]

I was a little annoyed that the Today show has let the topic monopolize the air this morning. But, it will pass. I still liked his music, despite the weirdness.
There were a few stories about the Antarctica doctor on our local news Wed. night. Apparently she lived here in MA. She had a very interesting life.
Yea, I don't get people "grieving" over celebrities. Things like going and standing outside the deceased's home, lighting candles, bringing flowers for someone you never knew. Of course, a lot of people think I have an unsympathetic attitude toward these things, but I'd say it's more pragmatic. I mean, there's a lot of people I admire, but that's as far as it gets.

[Cataboo]

I can't claim to not have found Michael bizarre & to not have mocked him in the last however many years - but I couldn't listen to Jackson 5 songs (abc 123, whatever), without reflecting on what a pure sweet innocent voice he had (or looks in the pics) and what 40 some years in the public eye corrupted him into.

I was reading the New York times yesterday - and one of the articles on Farrah Fawcett's death really irked me. Well, maybe it was 2 of them... one was about how she'd been very public with her anal cancer and how NBC or CBS (whoever did the tv show on it) had been glad to exploit it... but they'd both missed the real public safety message, which was to get the HPV vaccine because anal cancer is usually sexually transmitted. The second was...."Let's remember Farrah as someone who TRIED" ... she tried to be something other than a sex pot, and she tried very hard. Then it summarized her career & her various efforts at trying to be taken seriously.

[uforgot]

That Thriller Video is my all time favorite! I've done that dance with my students many times, and it's still the one that is their favorite. I just flat out copied the steps. (And so did the Philippine prisoners!) Don't tell. But the choreography could not have been better. And oh my, was he a dancer! Something about his music just makes everyone want to dance!

I've heard that there is a fine line between genius and insanity. Michael was so gifted, and we enjoy his genius, but too bad he had to go through so much personal torment.