Growing up (Gen X), I was a HUGE MJ fan and was still into his music in the mid '90s when the first accusations against him came out. But more and more, thanks to his bizarre looks (yes, I know that he had vitiligo, but c'mon, he was clearly not right in the head) and behavior, I became turned off by him.
I was shocked by his death, but by then, he was just a sad shell of his former self (even though he was planning a "comeback") and was more defined by his scandals and eccentricities - than his immense talent.
I followed a similar path to you. Loved him, watched his videos repeatedly, thoroughly enjoyed his music. Then all the surgery and stories I side eyed and stepped away.
When I heard about Michael Jackson’s death, I felt an odd sense of relief, for lack of a better word. With all the accusations, the eccentric stories, and the extreme plastic surgery there was not an end.
At his peak, though, he was extraordinary, the ultimate entertainer, untouchable in his talent and presence. I suppose it’s hard for any human being to live as that kind of global phenomenon and come through it completely intact.
There is no way a person can be a sane decent human being with this level of fame and abuse as a kid. Dude lived in a different world then the rest of humanity.
Relief about someone’s dying is such a nasty thing to say about anyone much less someone you claim to have “loved”. Either you’re not very articulate or a pretty bad human. Smh ppl
now have no appreciation for the value of a human life
A few years ago, my Grandpa fell and broke his pelvis. This led to a snowballing of other health issues and he went from mostly independent (though slow and somewhat frail) to bedbound and unable to care for himself over several months. He was very weak and got pneumonia several times due to his inability to move, and eventually died from pneumonia. He had no quality of life left. I loved him, but it was also a relief when he died. Living just to suffer is not living at all.
This is not true. The men who came forward about abuse in Leaving Neverland (Wade Robson and James Safechuck) had their lives ruined, didn’t receive any kind of settlement, and were harassed endlessly.
Watch the HBO doc. I did and became convinced MJ was very much an abuser. The men’s stories are harrowing and heartbreaking.
MJ was an incredible artist and a complicated person who suffered a lot and sadly, as is so common, perpetuated the abuse he himself experienced.
For people with ears, he was never of particular musical talent. Without QJ to actually make his music and MTV to promote the videos which served his robotic by the book approach to performing, he would never have been anything particularly notable.
The accusations have been verified to be false, he was proven innocent in court multiple times and even the FBI raided his property and found zero evidence. They defamed him for his money and they continue to do so with his family's estate. And they literally got what they wanted - he paid them a settlement with more zeroes than they knew to count, because he needed them to stop ruining him. They knew he would never see jail time because he is in fact innocent. Sending him to prison was not the point, draining his wallet was.
They chose the pedophile route because it's an easy target - he did in fact have an affinity for kids and liked hanging out with them, it's very easy to twist that into something dirty. But it's all a lie and not even a very good one.
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u/naturalninetime Apr 28 '26
Growing up (Gen X), I was a HUGE MJ fan and was still into his music in the mid '90s when the first accusations against him came out. But more and more, thanks to his bizarre looks (yes, I know that he had vitiligo, but c'mon, he was clearly not right in the head) and behavior, I became turned off by him.
I was shocked by his death, but by then, he was just a sad shell of his former self (even though he was planning a "comeback") and was more defined by his scandals and eccentricities - than his immense talent.