RockmanPM Forums

Akamaru · **Reply #50 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:01:16 AM

Ahh... [tornado fang]. There goes one of my childhood singers.

*Goes away*

Quickman · **Reply #51 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:09:21 AM

When I heard of his death, I did a moonwalk and crotch grab in his honour. Now to listen to some songs.

Here's to you, Jacko. You were always a smooth criminal.

Night · **Reply #52 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:10:16 AM

Wait....really? A heart attack?!

But....but....Death Note threads don't really work....right?

Helada Quemadura · **Reply #53 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:29:12 AM

H: A dark day in musi indeed. I'm currently listening to his song Off the Wall which coincidently is the name of this part of the forum.

Protoman Blues · **Reply #54 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:32:13 AM

Quote from: Helada Quemadura on June 26, 2009, 04:29:12 AM

H: A dark day in musi indeed. I'm currently listening to his song Off the Wall which coincidently is the name of this part of the forum.

As am I, dear Heleda

Sky Child · **Reply #55 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:38:26 AM

he was never a healthy man, his time was soon to come. hopefully he's at peace now.

Protoman Blues · **Reply #56 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:45:19 AM

Ben showed me this.

Quote

by Roger Ebert

Michael Jackson was so gifted, so lonely, so confused, so sad. He lost happiness somewhere in his childhood, and spent his life trying to go back there and find it. When he played the Scarecrow in "The Wiz" (1978), I think that is how he felt, and Oz was where he wanted to live. It was his most truly autobiographical role. He could understand a character who felt stuffed with straw, but could wonderfully sing and dance, and could cheer up the little girl Dorothy.

We have all spent years in the morbid psychoanalysis of this strange man-child. Now that he has died we will hear it all repeated again: The great fame from an early age, the gold records, the world tours, the needy friendships, the painful childhood, Neverland, the eccentric behavior, plastic surgery, charges of child molestation, the fortunes won and lost, the generosity, the secrecy, the inexplicable marriage to Elvis's daughter, the disguises, the puzzling sexuality, the jokes, and on and on.

I never met him. My wife Chaz did, a long time ago when she was part of a dance troupe that opened some shows for the Jackson Five. What she remembers is that he was -- a kid. Talented, hard-working, but not like other kids. That's what he was, and that's what he remained. His father Joseph was known even then as a hard-driving taskmaster, and was later described by family members as physically and mentally abusive, beating the child, once holding him by a leg and banging his head on the floor. Michael confided to Oprah that sometimes he would vomit at the sight of the man.

Families are important to everyone, and to African-Americans they are the center of the universe. A census is maintained that radiates out to great-nieces and nephews, distant cousins, former spouses, honorary relatives, all the generations. Communication is maintained, birthdays remembered, occasions celebrated. Important above all are parents and grandparents. Family was a support system from a time when slave-owning America refused to recognize black families. Family was the rock.

No home to phone home to.

(Enlarge Image (it is of Michael sitting with ET's hand over his shoulder)
Michael Jackson doesn't seem to have had that rock. His father seems to have driven him to create an alternate universe for himself, in which somewhere, over the rainbow, he could have another childhood. He named his ranch Neverland, after the magical land where Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up, enacted his fantasies with the Lost Boys. I wonder if we ever really understood how central that vision was to Jackson, or how literally he tried to create it.

I have no idea whether Michael abused the children he "adopted." It is possible those relationships were without sex; he seemed frozen at a time before puberty. Whether he touched them criminally or not, it is easy to see what he sought: To create, with and for these Lost Boys, a Neverland where they could imagine together the childhood he never had.

Mixed with that was perhaps a lifelong feeling of inadequacy, burned in by the cruelty of his father. That might help explain the compulsive plastic surgery, the relentless rehearsal, the exhausting tours, the purchase of expensive toys, the giving of gifts.

The scene everyone remembers from "The Wiz" is Dorothy and the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion dancing and singing down the Yellow Brick Road. They were off to see the Wizard, and a wonderful Wizard he was, because of the wonderful things he does.

In the story, the Wizard is a lonely little man hiding behind a curtain, using his power to create a wonderland. Now Michael Jackson will never be able to tell us what he was hiding behind his curtain. But because of his music, we danced and sang.

Lunar Knight Zeke · **Reply #57 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:54:20 AM

That is some deep, thought-evoking, [parasitic bomb] right there.

Jericho · **Reply #58 on:** June 26, 2009, 04:57:14 AM

*Sigh*

What a read. Makes you really think about what could have happened on both sides of things. I won't play apologist for his actions, but at the same time, I will never condemn him since I don't have enough evidence personally to draw that conclusion.

What I will do is remember the guy for the awesome era setting music he was the figurehead for. RIP MJ.

Quickman · **Reply #59 on:** June 26, 2009, 05:01:51 AM

Indeed. He was truly an awesome man, troubles aside. Definetly one of my favourite artists growing up. Thriller has a permanent place on my music player and I dance to it when no one's watching. Seriously though, when my local news cut in to report on his death, I wanted to cry. Michael Jackson was the last person I would've expected to die this year.

Setsuna F. Seiei · **Reply #60 on:** June 26, 2009, 05:55:28 AM

Sad Sad day. In reality, I don't think anyone with an actual life cared much of a rats ass about the allegations about him.

All that comes to mind...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gma7j8JuEEs

Dr. Wily II · **Reply #61 on:** June 26, 2009, 07:56:54 AM

Man... This is a true shocker to me.
I've always been a fan of his music, Thriller, Black and White, Smooth Criminal and many others.
Even after the recent years of allergations and trials, I always believed in him and the music he made.

It is indeed a sad day...
May you rest in peace, oh great King of Pop.

Emiri Landeel · **Reply #62 on:** June 26, 2009, 01:02:28 PM

Hero will be remembered, but the legend lives on.
Rest in peace, the King of Pop.

Luke · **Reply #63 on:** June 26, 2009, 01:30:27 PM

Rest in Peace Michael...

There goes another Legend...

Blackhook · **Reply #64 on:** June 26, 2009, 01:46:37 PM

I still can´t believe he´s gone....I thought that he will be able to return to the music scene....R.I.P. Michael

Night · **Reply #65 on:** June 26, 2009, 02:53:47 PM

They're playing all his songs on the radio.... ;_;

Pringer X · **Reply #66 on:** June 26, 2009, 03:00:56 PM

A legend of music, gone and taken. It's up to each individual to believe if he was burning brightest before this or not, but one thing is for certain, a page in history hath been inked with his name.

Align · **Reply #67 on:** June 26, 2009, 06:12:17 PM

I heard there was a worldwide tour planned before this? Would've been a fitting end, I mean.. go out with a bang and all.

Flame · **Reply #68 on:** June 26, 2009, 06:41:43 PM

I hope this isn't gonna by a singer year...
last year was all entertainers...

Lunar Knight Zeke · **Reply #69 on:** June 26, 2009, 08:09:47 PM

With recent events, I've been doing a bit of thinking, and I have come to a rather depressing thought: could all those nuts screaming about how the world is going to end by 2012 been right in a sense? By that I mean an end to the world in a cultural-spiritual sense.

Quote from: Alucard von Mosquiton on June 26, 2009, 06:41:43 PM

I hope this isn't gonna by a singer year...
last year was all entertainers...

This has me worried, people who have had a major influence on culture are dying in such a short time span, and it is having a great effect on us.

I'm also worried about how we're bringing up the next generation. Some of the crap that's being shoved onto them is not going to do them any good. It really does make wonder what will become of them and future generations that we won't be around to see.

Afro-Shroom · **Reply #70 on:** June 26, 2009, 08:22:43 PM

Quote from: Lunar Knight Zeke on June 26, 2009, 08:09:47 PM

With recent events, I've been doing a bit of thinking, and I have come to a rather depressing thought: could all those nuts screaming about how the world is going to end by 2012 been right in a sense? By that I mean an end to the world in a cultural-spiritual sense.

It's the End of the (cultural and spiritual) world as we know it!

Girla PurpleHeart · **Reply #71 on:** June 27, 2009, 12:09:37 AM

Speaking of MJ, my mother told me that her cousins meet him in school, even though she never meet him, but her cousins did. Kinda awkward though... :/

Setsuna F. Seiei · **Reply #72 on:** June 27, 2009, 03:33:49 AM

Someone needs to start a MJ music thread.

Strider Xhaiden · **Reply #73 on:** June 27, 2009, 09:29:55 AM

At the risk of sounding like a complete [sonic slicer], he's no great loss.

Align · **Reply #74 on:** June 27, 2009, 04:23:05 PM

In a way, he died long ago, just stopped breathing now.

News

Michael Jackson: Moonwalking in Heaven R.I.P.

Helada Quemadura