Here is a new portion of the blog. If you see this title you will know I am going to say something I wouldn't normally say. I might think it but I would not normally voice it. Here goes!
Last night I popped into a Fred Meyer grocery store to buy some oil for my car and to grab a few snacks for the apartment. As I was walking along, I heard Michael Jackson being played on the store's radio. This was the first time I had ever heard Michael Jackson being pumped throught the speakers of a grocery store. This was new.
That was when I thought, "The best thing that could have happened for Michael Jackson's music was his death."
I am just as tired of hearing about his funeral and death as all of you are. This is not about that. This is about all the "fans" that came out of the woodwork to celebrate his "legacy". He is the top selling artist on iTunes since his death; according to a podcast I listened to called 'Stuff from the B Side'. Some of his albums have sold more copies posthumously then they did when they were new. Did death change how people saw him? Did his death absolve him of the "crimes" that kept these new "fans" from buying his albums while he was alive? Do you become more socially acceptable after your death?
Let's face it... the dude was weird. Now that we have faced it, is his music accetable? I found peace with his weirdness right before I bought his Invincible album. I don't know or care how many surgeries he had. I could care less that he used to hang out with a chimp. I am not even curious who the biological father of his children are. The fact of the matter was and is that I liked his music. I don't have it loaded on my iPod. It is not in regular rotation but when I am reminiscing I like to hear it. I enjoy being surprised by hearing it while I am out. It is not an everyday kind of music for me but it is in my collection.
The reason I found peace and bought a few albums was a chance encounter with some of his songs. I liked them as a child and they make me nostalgic and happy when I hear them now. The thing I had to get over was his molestation cases. What I realised is that I don't know what happened behind closed doors. I will never know. I have made my peace with that... as uneasy as that peace is at times.
I can not wait to see what happens after the backlash, because you know it's coming. The media will take the gloves off eventually. Will all these new Jackson "fans" deny that they ever bought the album?
1 comment:
sup,
just checking your blog out again. i have a slightly different take, but the same idea. i have been so nausiated lately at all the books and magazines dedicated to him. its like people are still trying to get a piece, and seriously, if they liked him so much before, why didnt they write those books last year? its opportunistic for the authors, and just gawking at a car accident for those who would buy them.
as far as the child molestation cases were concerned, i never fully bought into it. he was weird, we got that. i wouldnt have sent my kids there, fair enough. but weird isnt criminal, and i think i can take him on face value, simply because he genuinly seemed not to be the sexed up star type. he could have had any woman he wanted for decades, why would he have gone that way? he could have had a home in a country that wouldnt have stopped that behaviour. he was incredibly rich for a long time. there are ways of people with that kind of scratch to do what they want and keep it quiet. he was aquitted, thats when i made peace with it.
and i dont think there will be a backlash. people will simply stop talking about him. as long as no new news comes out there wont be much else to say. he cant make news anymore himself...
talk to you later buddy.
kevin
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