So, what was your reaction?

[Iced Coffee Man]

Shrugged and ate some breakfast.

[Evil Queen]

I cartwheeled. I rather dislike Michael Jackson though Triller dancers dressed as zombies is kick ass.

[Damien]

My response was a 'whatever' - as mentioned in this thread before - he was not a friend, nor family member.

[Rine]

I was a little bummed, yeah. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I'm ready for the news to move on, though.

He meant a lot to some people, and that's okay to me.

[Peppergirl]

I found myself wondering about the threes. Then I came up with Carradine, MJ and Farrah.

Then I had forgotten about Ed McMahon, so where are we now, I wonder. Starting it over?

I sure hope not.

Tragic, tragic person. God rest his soul...he needs it.

[Jester]

I was working at The Bar, and we had just noticed a headline on ESPN (of all things) that said Farrah had died. That was the first we had heard about it. Shortly after that, two of my guests got a text saying that Jackson had died. Thinking it another celebrity death rumor, such as the one I heard about John Madden dying from choking on a chicken bone (and that one I heard about 15 years ago!), I switched one of the bar tv's to CNN....and at that time, they had the headline that the LA Times was reporting that MJ was dead, but that that was not yet confirmed. But as we watched it, it was, indeed, confirmed.

My reaction? Fans of MJ may want to stop here. Don't say I didn't warn you. And because my reaction is, shall we say, rather strong, I have put it in white so only those who want to will see it.



Personally, my reaction (and that of several patrons at The Bar) was "Thank goodness! The world is a better place." Not, mind you, because I didn't care for his music. While it was not my personal preference, I do recognize the musical and creative genius that Jackson possessed. No, I believe the world's parents should now breathe a sigh of relief that this sick fuck is no longer among us. Sure, he wasn't the only pedophile. But he was a pedophile with money, fame, and power, all in great proportions, such that people would trust him with their kids. After all, he was--ooooooohhh!!--Michael Jackson.

But think about it. This highly androgynous man reveled in childish things, went out of his way to change his appearance and deny his own race, acted like a complete freakazoid in ways that if done by anyone who wasn't Michael Jackson would have had him committed or such a long time ago and, most importantly, slept in the same bed with and did, at best highly questionable and at worst dangerously criminal things with young children. If he weren't Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, etc., etc., do you really think that people would let their precious children sleep over at his house? Really? Really?

No. They would either ignore him out of complete fear of this nutcase or, if he broached the idea of hosting their children at one of his slumber parties, would call the cops or beat the crap out of him. And appropriately so. The man was, as one of his albums was titled, Dangerous. All pedophiles are dangerous, of course. They are predators of the innocent. But how many other pedophiles have the notoriety, celebrity, and resources that Wacko Jacko had? Answer: none.

So I say good riddance! And may the world never see another sick fuck beloved the world over like him ever, ever again. I hope he burns, rots, and is brutally tortured in the deepest darkest depths of Hell. Fuck Michael Jackson. Fuck him with a splintered baseball bat wrapped in rusty barbed wire. Sideways.

And for goodness sake, I know it's a big story, but THREE DAYS of nothing but this bullshit? Can we please get back to some actual news? I mean, a historic revolution may be imminent in Iran, a major bill just passed the House, the premiere sex symbol of the Seventies who championed the cause of battered women with an important movie just died (at least give her SOME mention!), North Korea is thumbing its nuclear nose at the world, and I'm pretty sure that other important stuff is going on. I say "pretty sure" because, just as when Anna Nicole Smith died, it's hard to tell what else IS going on in the world, because all the alleged "news" networks are devoting 98.9% of their programming to this pukefest.

Enough already!

[Broomjockey]

For those who are interested, there's a thread over at Fratching discussing MJ's death, how it relates to the media, and the general dearth of feelings some have towards the situation. If you feel you're the only one feeling such, you probably aren't.

[Damien]

well said, Jester, well said!

[Racket_Man]

Frankly my main thought about it is "I'm supposed to care why?" I never met him. He's not a friend. He's just some guy who made music, some of which I like. His music isn't going to poof and vanish just because he's dead, so I'm not missing out on anything. Maybe that's cold of me, but people die every day, and I care more about deaths in the protests in Iran than about some musician having a heart attack, however famous he might have been. But now all anybody can talk about anywhere I go is how MJ is dead now. I was sick of hearing about it within hours of the annoucement. I wish the news media would quit gossiping about him and go back to covering real news already.

and not to sound even colder I thought "The King is Dead. long live the Freak"

yes I know his childhood (what little he did have) was all work and abuse, but seriously he should have gotten THERAPY SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE after he "grew" up.

I liked his late 70's early 80's albums (a couple of years ago bought the high end remaster of Thriller on CD) but eveything after that just was not that good.

all of the wierd stuff he did (alledged or not) life and physical adjustments just made him look like a sideshow freak.

[Jpurple]

My first reaction was 'Well, that explains why they were playing Thriller in Tower Records...' I was a little baffled as to why Tower Records in Shibuya was playing Michael Jackson when they normally torture my ears with J-pop as I go by.

[The Gatekeeper]

My first reaction was "oh wow, really huh?"

Then when it set in that he and Farrah died on the same day, I think I kind of heard my childhood disappear to a certain extent. I was not a fan of either but they were most certainly part of the zeitgeist of that era.

I worked in music retail for many many years and understood the impact MJ had. Personally I despise most of his music, and the music it eventually influenced. However I cannot deny his impact.

With regards to the allegations made against him...really the man was pathetic. Which, considering what he had accomplished is really unfortunate. Drug addict? Pedophile? Legitimate physical and psychological ailments? Who knows. There is so much misinformation out there. It's not for me to judge. The people involved know the truth, and it's theirs to live with. None of my business really.

As far as his children are concerned, hopefully they can be helped and won't turn out to be as fucked up as their dad. But since the 2 oldest are 11 & 12, I am not very optimistic.

Then I realize...you know what, I don't really care. It is really irrelevant in the big scheme of things. And I give myself a shake and go back to my life.

[Eireann]

I guess I'd always thought that he would grow more and more reclusive, hiding away in some multimillion-dollar mansion, so that when he did die, decades from now, the reaction would be, "Michael Jackson's dead? I thought he died years ago!"

It's in keeping with his life that his death would be just as high-profile as just about everything else he ever did. I think of what he could have become, had he not been pushed into show business as a child, and that is truly sad.

[SengaKitty]

Sir and I were in the grocery store, waiting in line to check out, when a woman looked up from her phone and yelled "Michael Jackson's DEAD?! That's FUCKED UP!" quickly covered her mouth, and said "I'm sorry... But that is messed up"

I was like "Huh? No.... He's not dead... It's some stupid joke." I came home and there it was. He's dead on the same day as Farrah.... Strange how it happens huh?

[XCashier]

I was out all day at a one-day class. When I came home, my husband said, "You know who died today?"

I said, "Yeah, Farrah Fawcett" at the same time he said, "Michael Jackson."

That surprised me. I thought it was suicide at first, too.

Later, I spent the evening watching his videos on YouTube. I'd forgotten just how good "Thriller" was.