This May Lose Me Some Friends

[poliphilo]

The music never dies. It goes on and on and on. Ad nauseum. Someone switch the bloody thing off.

Jackson's work is kitsch. Even the better stuff is slick and empty.

Fred Astaire said Jackson was the greatest dancer of the 20th century. I refuse to believe he meant it.

Bad? Not in the way he wanted us to think.

I find it shocking that people make excuses for Jackson that they wouldn't dream of making for other middle-aged men who like to share their beds with children.

By the time of his death he was a freeloading junkie who indulged himself in every little whim- but couldn't be bothered to pay his staff.

Celebrity turns men and women into monsters. The strong-minded get out before it destroys every last scrap of decency and truth.  Jackson wasn't strong-minded.

Comments

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

I think it might be hard for us, as white people, to realise what his superstellar success meant for black people as a role model. A black man who lightens his skin appears worrying and self-hating to me, but whenever I read black voices in the media talking about Jackson, they all emphasise not his odd colour change, but the pride and joy they felt in his success. That's an aspect of his fame that I don't have access to, but can only respect.

(P.S. I was in your part of the world yesterday! We got very, very lost en route to Skipton.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I believe the Nation of Islam has moved in on the home and family- and of course that professional friend of famous black people- the Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Yes, not being black bars me from understanding some aspects of the story- also, I rather think, not being American.

Aaaah, West Yorkshire !