Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Michael Jackson is dead

I don't believe taking a moment to express sympathy and grief over Michael Jackson's passing has any effect on one's feelings about other events. I do believe Michael was an extremely gifted man-child who unfortunately became addicted to plastic surgery.

The court said he was innocent of child molestation; a person being accused of something doesn't make it so.

Ethnica - my thought, and my guess it's Pam's too, is that sure, a moment of silence, a thought expressed here, etc. is one thing but to dominate the news channels etc to the point that it has when there is much more important things going on the world - like Iran - it seems a bit off kilter. I wasn't a Michael Jackson fan. I was raised in a house where he was pretty well a messenger of the devil and listening to that kind of music would send you straight to hell [I've loosened up considerably for myself from when I was young and my dad has too though not as much]. I do feel sorry for his family, but when 45 minutes or more of every news hour is devoted to how many fans are at the different locations, it's more than a bit over the top IMO. My guess is that's what Pam was referring to, not fans expressing their condolences in a forum like this [or facebook or whatever]. Farrah Fawcett, also a pop cultural icon, has been almost completely ignored [though her death was, sadly, expected]. Billy Mays, the OxyClean guy [and many other products], died today. I don't remember a *celebrity* getting this much press attention... ever? Ronald Reagan was former Pres, Diana was... Diana. The Pope was... the Pope. Mother Teresa only got the press coverage she did because Diana had just died and the news channels etc felt guilted into covering her almost as much as Diana. Otherwise, you wouldn't have seen the 'name' anchors on the other side of the world - you would have seen correspondents and less coverage - at least that's the way I remember it. Personally, I'd prefer they move on a bit and maybe spend only half of each hour on MJ :p . Or something.

Carol [who is sure Pam will correct her if that's not what she meant and is not trying to put words in Pam's mouth]

Carol's pretty much right. It's entirely appropriate for people to express sadness and discuss the circumstances/career of a deceased celebrity, or of anyone. But when it dominates the news channels to the exclusion of 'real' news happenings, then it starts being inappropriate. IMO.

It's a matter of priorities. Michael Jackson (and the others) are dead, and nothing can bring them back. Meanwhile, protestors in Iran are being killed, and it's possible (not guaranteed, alas) that more world attention would stop or slow the brutality going on. Lives are at stake, and when major news-gathering organizations are ignoring that in favor of obituaries, well, it looks wrong to me.

Again, threads like this one are perfectly appropriate, and I didn't mean to sound like I was snapping at anyone on here.

PJ
who is having a really really really bad weekend... <sigh>

This is very true. However, equally, sadly, the vagaries of the US jury system means that being found not guilty by one doesn't mean you aren't, either. Especially not when the jury members admit in public after the trial that they based their verdict not on any of the evidence presented but on their prejudices against and instant dislike of the alleged victim's mother.

One juror even stated afterwards that he believed MJ was guilty but had given an innocent verdict anyway because said mother ticked him off when giving evidence. Which kind of seems to have missed the entire point of a jury trial. :rolleyes:

Add in the well-known reluctance of US juries to find celebs guilty and the added bias against finding African American celebs even less guilty and I think, sadly, the truth of the matter will probably never be known either way.

In such circumstances and with such defendants, the truth either way doesn't really seem to figure much.

Ann - Heather O'Rourke? As far as I'm aware, she died during surgery for a blocked bowel. A tragedy to be sure, at such a young age, but one that could happen to anyone. I'm not sure why she's on your list as I don't think her choice of movie career or movie childhood had any bearing on it.


LabRat

Or the energy bill in the House, Pam. I saw Glenn Beck covering it and that was it [though I was news channel flipping so it's possible I missed it], at least anything more than a passing mention at the top/bottom of the hour.

Drew Barrymore is a good example of a child star who had problems but has pulled her life back together.

OJ is another example of what Labby was talking about. He was held civilly liable for those deaths but not criminally. I am glad his book 'How I would Have Done It, If I'd Done It' or whatever it was called was shamed back into the warehouse before it was ever officially released.

My heart hurts for Michael's family, especially his son who was reportedly there and thought Dad was joking, but I am glad that the news has moved on a bit.

Carol

Pam, I am so sorry for your loss.

My two cents in this...

yes, everyone thought he was a cute kid, but race had nothing to do with it. Like Steph said, MJ suffered from Vitiligo, which destroys skin pigmentation in blotches over the body. He used pancake makeup to even it out (which is part of why he looked so freaky sometimes). It wasn't because he was trying to be white. He even said on numerous occasions that he was very proud of his African-American heritage, and "proud to be a Black American."

His plethora of plastic surgeries were a result of his lack of self-confidence in his appearance, due to the abuse from his father. It's really sad to think about.

It's also sad that because of all his legal scandals, very few people remember how much of a humanitarian he was, and all the things he did for charity and to help those in need before he lost everything.

In any case, his music was hugely influential, and the world will certainly miss his musical brilliance.

Wow!

That reminds me of the person, who, hearing that President Johnson had appointed Shirley Temple as US ambassador to the United Nations, said it was "Because he wanted the world to have a happy ending."

Originally posted by LabRat:
Labby, you are right of course. Heather O'Rourke died of natural causes. It's just that I was shaken when I learned about her horribly early death soon after I had seen the first Poltergeist movie. And I thought to myself that if I had been Heather O'Rourke's parent or guardian, I would have asked myself if Heather's career, whose hardships I would have been ultimately responsible for, had anything at all to do with her death. More than that, however, I wondered what Heather herself was thinking when she felt her system failing. How had she been affected, deep down, by starring at such a very young age in such truly creepy movies? Did she ever think, as she was getting sicker, that the demons she had cheated in those movies had come for her now in real life?

Ann