Anyone have a new appreciation for Michael Jackson?
Posted by Slathering_ballsacks@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 60 comments
It’s a little bizarre but after seeing the movie I had this very late epiphany that Michael Jackson really was monumentally talented. Because watching him perform Billie Jean and moonwalk for the first time in ‘83 had almost no impact on me as a teen. Billie Jean and Beat it were played 24/7 on MTV. Billie Jean was ok. Beat It was childish and worthy of Al Yankovic’s parody. I never saw Thriller. It was too campy. I enjoyed hard rock and alternative. Then he declined and became very troubled, but I wasn’t a fan.
Now Im just floored by his talent. Im wondering what happened to change my views. Anyone else like this?
NecessaryMulberry846@reddit
No I turn off his music deliberately. Very talented and also very sick
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
Sick? In what way exactly or are you just blinded by the lies peddled in the tabloids?
Pip_Helix@reddit
Hey! We’ve got a real loony tune in here!
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
Seems like an awful lot of you in here I agree. I bet you all think no planes hit the twin towers too.
Pip_Helix@reddit
Nope, sorry, try again!
I was there when the towers were hit.
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
Of course you were 🙄. Were you there when MJ was allegedly with young boys too?
Pip_Helix@reddit
NYC born, raised, and lived here my whole life. I hope to die here too.
🫵🤡
Winstons33@reddit
Inclined to agree....
We dont KNOW anything about MJ when it comes to rhe children in his life...
To me, he's clearly different. Perhaps very innocent? Sure made himself an easy target for extortion if so. So how can we ever really know the truth?
NecessaryMulberry846@reddit
So all those people were lying? All those young boys were lying? Every single one of them? And how does that tie into the 20 million dollar settlement he paid in 1994. Well, money makes problems dissappear when you rich
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
Of course they are when he had millions of $$$. Get real!
threedogdad@reddit
that's putting it mildly.
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
Really.. because I’m not blinded by bullshit? And you all call yourself GEN X? How embarrassing to have your mentality.
DifferentManagement1@reddit
No. He abused children and he ripped off Bob Fosse from the 1974 movie The Little Prince. Watch a clip from it. He completely copied him
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
He abused children.. so was you were? No, you based your assumptions on all the BS the tabloids wanted you to think. If he was guilty then why was he never convicted like P Diddy or R Kelly?
threedogdad@reddit
I came here to mention Bob Fosse. I watched that clip a while back and it totally changed my opinion of Jackson's talent.
Old_Entrepreneur87@reddit
Don’t let that propaganda film fool you. The Jackson Estate (his family) made many changes to the edit, removing all the things that would remind us who MJ really was. Notice how Janet Jackson is never mentioned in the film at all? It’s because she wanted nothing to do with that piece of fiction and forced the filmmakers to remove any mention of her completely. It’s all a bullshit audience grab for millennials and Gen Alpha to fall in love with him. As Gen Xers, we have to be the keepers of truth on this one. He fucked up a lot of little kids in a very bad way. It’s unforgivable. And his legacy is unredeemable.
NecessaryMulberry846@reddit
Yes he is utterly unredeemable
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
In your opinion.. which is hugely biased and flawed
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
What utter BS. He was never ever convicted of anything and even those who accused him retracted their statements. It was all a money grab.
NecessaryMulberry846@reddit
LMAO
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
Is that the best you can come up with?
NecessaryMulberry846@reddit
I replied to you above 😇
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
Are you sure you’re GEN X trying with LMAO? Seems doubtful.
dbrmn73@reddit
People do tend to retract statements when given large amounts of money to shut up.
Proof_Duck9754@reddit
But… the parents sent those kids with him, without a chaperone, sometimes even after there were allegations. As a parent, I can’t imagine that decision and I’m a FAN of MJ.
PitoChueco@reddit
Seems biopics now are all propaganda, looking at you Netflix.
DifferentManagement1@reddit
Exactly
dbrmn73@reddit
No, never have liked him or any of his music. Have absolutely zero desire to see or hear anything about him.
small-gestures@reddit
My answer to you is -Because you were “too cool” for his music at the time. I had friends that were punks and bangers that wore biker jackets and aviators in 90 degree heat that rejected everything pop, (Madonna, MJ, Geo Michael…) and I’ll bet you did to.
Pitiful-Visual-4510@reddit
When I heard the story of how he gave Tupac a beatdown, I respected him more.
NeilLovesVeronica@reddit
If you want to see just how talented he was check out the film, This is It. Its the rehearsals from the 02 arena where he was supposed to play 50 shows in 2009-2010. You can see him changing music, choreography, how he wants the band to play, the backup singers. Its amazing to see him at work like that.
Oiggamed@reddit
You can also see how complicated it can be to work with him too.
Mediocre_mum26@reddit
Oh no, the man was a perfectionist. How very bad of him. It was HIS tour, not the band, dancers or anybody else.
doublebr13@reddit
The Daily podcast just did a piece on him mostly focusing on the movie, but also his life in general. It's a good reminder of how the events of his life played out... and not in a good way. There is no question he was deeply talented and deeply troubled. It's extremely difficult to look post the weight of the allegations.
Do unto others what has been done to me Do unto others what has been done to you
CodeNameFrumious@reddit
Same here. I was a teen in the late 80s and early 90s, and by then, it was "cool" to not like Michael Jackson among my peers.
Today, when I listen to his music, I am mature enough to appreciate the quality, and I've also learned a little bit about how he worked on his music behind the scenes.
Of course, my appreciation for his musical talent is somewhat balanced by the scandals that bedeviled him later in life.
MachiavellianSwiz@reddit
I was exactly the right age for Thriller to hit hard after Off the Wall got things started.
Moonwalker had some great moments but Bad was overall meh, Dangerous was creepy and HIStory was delusional following the 1993 incident. The 2005 raid makes for truly disturbing reading and Finding Neverland is pretty conclusive for anyone who understands trauma and isn't looking for a criminal conviction. The guy left a string of broken people in his wake and needed general anaesthetic just to sleep at night. He was talented and surrounded by even more talented musicians (e.g. Toto). "King of Pop" was something he kept calling himself as he floated a giant statute of himself down the Thames.
He was a hollow construction filling up the hole with the souls of children. No, I do not have a new appreciation.
dethb0y@reddit
I was never a fan of the music when it was new and time has not softened my views on the music. I think part of that is that it was inescapable for so many years that it was basically background noise and not something you would seek out to listen to (if that makes any sense).
wizoneaia@reddit
Have a glance at the two part hbo documentary on MJ Leaving Neverland.
tyomax@reddit
Came here to say this. Produce by HBO. Eye opening.
2oldemptynesters@reddit
Loved him as a kid, loved him as a teenager. Love him as an adult. Have a tattoo on my ankle of his iconic 'on the toes' pose. Got married to his music. Hated that everyone thought he had done such terrible things to kids and that he constantly thought he had to prove himself. I searched for any proof that he wasnt actually dead when the news broke and then I cried for days when it all started sinking in, like I had lost my father all over again. I had hoped to go to This Is It as my first ever concert but alas. I sobbed watching the movie last week. Such a beautiful soul, people like that are a once in a lifetime type. It hurts my heart to think that kids and teens wont have his influence by music like we did. We were blessed. Michael was wronged.
The first time I remember really paying attention to his music was while watching MTV, the first time they played Jam with Michael Jordan. At the very end there is a small snippet of the rehearsals and thats where I fell in love with his talent, his softly spoken voice, his melodic message.
VultureTheBird@reddit
Oh man, just go back and watch old videos of him with the Jackson 5. Already by 6 years old, he is carrying the group and he simply blows every other Jackson off the stage; it's so obvious.
oneknocka@reddit
Yeah
punkarama@reddit
No
HelpfulRN@reddit
I saw MJ, the musical in NYC and it was so good! I was a hard rock fan back when he was big and did not appreciate how talented he was. I am saddened about how he grew up with a horrible father :(
nixtarx@reddit
I think this entire post is almost certainly guerilla PR.
xtiaaneubaten@reddit
The president has mainstreamed pedophillia, so its ok to like MJ again...
blackcain@reddit
You didn't see Thriller? Did you even watch MTV? I mean how could you miss it? Thriller was pretty awesome to me.
As for campy, what the fuck do you think we watched late night? I mean the amount of late night content is why we had show hosts like Elivra! :D In fact, the fact that we don't have shitty B and C movies for entertainment kind of sucks now.
Slathering_ballsacks@reddit (OP)
I must have turned it off when it came on. The first time I saw Thriller was literally yesterday and I loved it.
blackcain@reddit
My post seemed to be a bit harsh. Sorry about that. I was kind of smiling when I wrote it
Available-Bison-9222@reddit
Was he talented? Absolutely.
Was he problematic? Absolutely
Historical_Project86@reddit
I think he had talent, but very little taste (for me). It's the same with Prince, although I like a lot more of Prince's songs.
WeirdcoolWilson@reddit
No
oldfogey12345@reddit
Lol. I was a dumb rural kid so the first time I saw the moonwalk, I was excited because I thought Q-Bert was going to make a huge comeback.
kendrajoi@reddit
I think he was one of the most talented, charismatic people ever. His lack of a childhood and abuse at the hands of his father Joe warped him for life.
I_am___The_Botman@reddit
This is why, you were a teenager, this was mainstream popular music, you had an angst about it. I'm guessing you viewed it as pop fluff compared to the deep moody music you where into at the time. I think that happens most teenagers, you were likely trying to find your identity, music can be an important part of that, and this most definitely wasn't it for you.
Something like that maybe, :-)
Slathering_ballsacks@reddit (OP)
That’s exactly it. It was pop fluff that didn’t match my teen angst.
blackcain@reddit
Damn that's some judgyness bro :D
I_am___The_Botman@reddit
It's not judgyness, OP asked why that happened and I just gave a likely scenario, which I have experienced myself over they years with different artist. Might not be it at all, but it's a reasonable guess I think.
Street_Wash1565@reddit
"became very troubled" is doing some heavy lifting there.
Without getting in to it - he made some great music (before it went rapidly downhill), but his legacy is tarnished. Something they're obviously choosing to leave out of the new biopic.
Veggyhed@reddit
the first time I ever saw the moonwalk when I was a little kid. I remember asking my parents, "If you could do that, why wouldn't you be walking everywhere like that"