Tuesday, June 30, 2009

...more on MJ


I didn't expect to be thinking so much about MJ's passing but I have.

I was speaking with my friend this morning and we tried to remember the last time a universally known celebrity died. When was the last time the world mourned for someone?

When Diana died there was huge response. If you think about the last big musical celebrity that died I'd have to go back to John Lennon and then Elvis. Sure there was Kurt Cobain but his life ended way too soon. He wasn't known all over the world like MJ was. My friend said "Its' like our generations' Elvis".

I mentioned in my previous post the obvious music and video explosion that MJ had influenced but what about his dance moves and fashion?

There's the moonwalk and the pelvis gyrations. ( I could have done without those personally) MJ was influenced by Elvis and James Brown for sure, but he also had his own moves.

Then theres the one sparkly glove and mirrored sunglasses that turned to just dark sunglasses. The red leather jacket with studs on it. Even his hairstyle was copied.

MJ had so much influence, more than I imagined.

I'm finding myself listening to his songs. I downloaded 6 songs that I like. One of my favorite is "Dirty Diana". Sure the Jackson Five was amazing and talented and had some great hits, but they weren't from my generation. I don't relate to those songs. I can listen to the Thriller album or the Bad album and remember the 80's. The videos and styles.

I wonder about his kids. What are they like? Will they reveal years from now who MJ really was? What was he like as a father? Curious.

I also wonder if Michael Jackson is looking at all the outpouring of love and smiling his child like grin.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Reflection


So, another huge music celebrity has passed. Michael Jackson was quite the interesting person from what I've seen and heard of him. I loved his Thriller album when it first came out. I really really loved the videos. I was of the age to appreciate the new t.v. show called MTV and with MJ's videos it made it that much cooler. I think my favorite is "BAD" when they are dancing in the subway station. I couldn't help but be hypnotized by him. My eyes wouldn't move off of him at all. There was something about him that you just couldn't ignore, no matter how hard you tried.

As a person, well....I'm sure there are so many judgments about him. We as outsiders really didn't know much. We only got what the media told us. I wanted to assume that he had molested those boys and was mistreating his kids but do I really know that? No. He had some very strange behavior, but what if he was just a big kid in an adults body? If a child did the things he did, people may have forgiven him easier. What if the alleged abuse from his father really distorted him and he was just doing the best he could? We'll probably never know what was really going on in his mind.

So, what I wanted to do was to appreciate Michael Jackson for his music and the major contributions he gave to the music industry and video industry.

There is also the passing of Farrah Fawcett. She was a fellow cancer survivor and what the survivor she was! From what I've heard about her video documentation of her journey, she didn't give up for anything.

There are many people dying every day. When someone famous dies it causes people to stop and reflect.

RIP MJ and FF!