My friend John has written a fantastic piece about Michael Jackson’s death and it’s relation to art here.
I urge you to read it.
And here are my thoughts on the whole thing.
When was the last time you listened to a Michael Jackson record? When was the last time you put his songs on your iPod and gave it a spin? Besides evoking memories of “the gloved one” dancing, just what does Jackson’s music evoke? Memories of Michael Jackson. That’s it. That’s the point. His music served as a soundtrack to his show. When he tried for poignancy he either came up shallow and pathetic (Leave me Alone, man in the Mirror) or cloying (We Are the World, a vastly inferior entry designed to usurp the power of Do They Know It’s Christmas).
Jackson’s biggest success existed in a time of callous branding: Jordache Jeans, E.T., Star Wars. After Bad was released to less than stellar sales (ridiculous expections, by the by) the gleam was off the rose. The buckle-bedecked Jackson, the video by Scorcese, all of this was designed to sell sell sell!
Jackson WAS the King of Pop. Because he labeled himself that. His people declared him the King of Pop. It stuck. Because in an era filled with noise how do you cut through?
Look at who talks of being inspired by MJ? Britney Spears. NSync. Justin Timberlake. A world of glitzy, showbiz, lip-synced dancerinas who see music as product to be pushed.
Hard to blame Michael. After all, his people put a single on a box of Alpha-Bits cereal back in ’71. He was a cartoon shortly thereafter. Life, to him, was about how to sell the brand.
But no one really gives a crap about the music.
And they give Jackson all this credit which I have trouble understanding.
SOMEONE choreographed his movements.
SOMEONE produced his songs.
SOMEONE wrote them (his skills were largely suspect).
He was a product of talent surrounding talent.
This is not someone to be deified.
Especially weird, to me, is the african american community. They hold him up as savior, when he did everything he could to strip himself of identifying with them.
Vitiligo? Sure. I don’t buy it, but okay. But, why not use dark makeup to cover it? Why bleach your skin?
Why go out of your way to alter your looks to remove all semblance of African heritage?
His “children”, which are not biologically his and the details of which are also suspect, are white. The women he married are white.
Where, besides making black music, is his relationship to black culture?
He is being heralded as the first black artists on MTV. Yes. Because Walter Yetnikoff of CBS forced MTV into that position. Michael had nothing to do with it.
Want more proof of his callous, callow, branding? Read Howard Stern’s Miss America book. Wherein he talks about being asked by Jackson’s people to interview Jackson in a predetermined, pre-choreographed set piece that would have Stern complicit in staging a “We Love Michael” love fest. Howard refused but the interview with Jackson is described as hideously monstrous.
I think we should all be sad that such a tormented soul existed in the world that he did. We should be glad that his soul is finally at rest.
But, more than raising him up in adulation, we should look on his life as a cautionary tale. A warning to abusive parents. A warning to Stage Parents. A warning to slaves of Plastic Surgery.
Learn something from Michael Jackson. This way his death won’t be in vain.
But, as far as an “artist” who contributed to the tapestry of art? 
He’s almost useless.
Man did you ever nail this one. I haven't weighed in on this whole matter yet because of all the overkill but you have said it all better than I could have. I'll just point people over here when I decide to do my say.
"Especially weird, to me, is the african american community"
LMAO. I can see this is the only point you wrote the whole sh!t. But sorry B!tch (or son of b!tch), it is just the staaart of your nightmare.
"He's almost useless."
Yeah useless…he only revolutionized the music video, made famous his own original dance style that forever became a staple of our culture, had a 4 octave vocal range and the best falsetto in the business, DID write almost all his own songs, inspired almost every major artist of the modern era, and is held as the greatest entertainer of all time.
White America can't stand to see a black man succeed to his level, so you gotta bring him down, which is what this blog entry is. Nothing but a crass and puerile attempt at a great man.
I'm half black/half white and I never gave a crap what colour he was. No black person did. MJ's own make up artist said she tried to darken down instead of lighten up, but in the end it became easier and moe convincing looking to lighten him up. You notice how you only pick on the scandals, you like most other media, make no mention of his charity work, how he visited and donated to children's hospitals and the fact that Neverland Ranch. You talk as if the man was in the wrong for trying to protect his image after so much shit was said about him. And Liz Taylor invented the King of Pop title out of admiration for her friend. This caught on with the crowds who kept chanting it and it stuck.
This blog post is exactly the kind of tabloid nonsense MJ hated. Yes, let him rest in peace. Practice what you preach, and stop belittling MJ's legacy to increase traffic to your meaningless blog.