Michael Jackson Tribute - Huh???
Glitzy sendoff leaves a bad taste in Danny Eccleston's mouth.
While this is still the official period of mourning in which it is not permissible to say bad things about Michael Jackson, can we be the first to ask of yesterday's tribute gig: What in the world was that all about?
If the vision of his not-always-supportive family dressed up in the shades 'n' glove uniform and faking the solidarity they could never manage during his lifetime was not weird enough, what will be the lasting (further?) damage to his poor kids--Prince Michael, Prince Michael II, and Princess Michael Of Kent (or whatever she's called)--of this garish and hypocritical wake-cum-PR-circus, this tribute to their father and (frankly) all the money he made for lots of people once upon a time?
While you'd need a heart of stone not to have appreciated Stevie Wonder's intense performance--at least he knew MJ, if anyone did--and, bless her, Jennifer Hudson did well, the rest of it was mind-boggling, a buildup of encomia to Jackson's character and generosity that at no point felt convincing or heartfelt.
The worst was Al Sharpton, talking Jackson up as if he were Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King combined, and not the merely supremely talented musician and singer he undoubtedly was.
The purple-prosin' pastor highlighted Jackson's role in the creation of 1985's famine charity single "'We Are The World' long before Live Aid," creating the erroneous impression that Jackson was way ahead of Bob Geldof and company, who'd released "Do They Know It's Christmas?" months previously. It was typical of the day's hyperbole, which had the general effect of burying Jackson's actual achievements under a shower of specious garbage.
The irony is that what Jackson really lacked in his lifetime--some basic respect and sympathy as an actual human being--was denied even in death. Instead, the crowd were worshipping--yes, worshipping!--a glove and a golden casket. It was the kind of sendoff you'd expect of a mad dictator (except mad dictators usually end up gibbeted in public, like Mussolini, or shot in a car park, like Ceausescu). Perhaps Kim Jong-il was taking notes.
Meanwhile, there were no recollections that suggested that any of the speakers had really communed with the much-vaunted "love" that Jackson had for the world in general and his black brothers and sisters in particular. L.A. Lakers legend Magic Johnson's keynote speech revolved around the heady revelation that Jackson was fond of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Far more instructive was Johnson's obvious amazement that MJ would have indulged in anything so normal.
In the end, you have to ask, who was this spectacle for? For Jackson, looking down from above (everyone present seemed pretty sure he was "above")? For AEG, whose TV income will presumably defray some of the lost profits from the now-moribund O2 Arena shows? For the Jackson kids, just in case they might for a second have wondered if their father's death was the start of something resembling a healthy ordinary childhood? Or for father Joe Jackson, whose controversial governance of the Jackson brood was praised by all and questioned by none?
In death as in life, Jackson was the canvas on which the circling carrion-birds projected their desires: for love, fame, money, and copy.
Next up: the "revelations", fact and fiction, with no way of telling one from the other. After all, you can praise the dead, or bury them--or both--but one thing you can't do is libel them.
Meanwhile, our favorite Michael Jackson tribute was by the inmates of this Philippine prison...
How dare you say such disrespectful things about such a stellar humanitarian and gifted human being who we have just lost!! The people around the world who have a heart and warm-blood are all mourning his loss!!!! what has thos blogger done lately??? GET RESPECT-if you don't know the definition of the word--I suggest you look it up!!!!!
to ruin michel emage.
How dare you say such disrespectful things about such a stellar humanitarian and gifted human being who we have just lost!! The people around the world who have a heart and warm-blood are all mourning his loss!!!! What has this blogger done for the world lately??? "GET RESPECT"-if you don't know the definition of the word--I suggest you look it up!!!!!
- One of the most important things a person should ascertain, before engaging in an exchange via missive's, is if the individual on the recieving end is interested in an exhcange of opinions, or if the person is merely using an opportune moment to inflame an emotional situation with rhetorical nefarious entendres. After googling your name and finding nothing, except this list of movies where it appears, if this is you, you carried a gaff, I have decided that my initial response to your blog was not necessary. Your inability to make the decision to use this space to write about something you enjoyed today, instead of to use it to regurgitate opposition to an individual who is deceased, speaks volumes about your ability or inability to find something else to write about. You typify the internet. -
But I greatly agree with your comments. Every one os trying to get their 15 minutes of Fame and Danny Eccleston is just another in a long line of parasites and vultures dancing on a dead man's tomb.
Celebrate the entertainer, father & friend but don't exploit the kids and turn it into a circus or use it for personal gain like some of them did. But I agree enough is enough. There is other things going on in this world a little more important...G8!
You might like or dislike Mr. Jackson, but dispite that, Mr "MOJO", please try to be a bit more careful with the way your address kids who are suffering so much. The way you call little Paris ("Princess Michael Of Kent (or whatever she's called)") is not only insulting... it's horrible. No matter what we might think of MJ... she is his daughter. He was the only father she knew. If you want to say something against MJ, do it. He is gone and he is no longer affected by that. But Paris is quite alive and the way you address this little girl in pain is horrible and makes me understand your opinon on this memorial is not only vain, but full with envy and arrogance.
I mean to call this memorial "Glitzy"? Are you insane?! Obviously this is not the traditional type funeral but this is something his fans wanted, this is something his family, friends and fans felt he deserved. Sorry you and the other idiots that aren't MJ fans had a problem with that…maybe that's why you don't get it!
MJ's memorial is what it is, A MEMORIAL, A TRIBUTE! I mean he is the King of Pop, anything less would be uncivilized!
Lastly, you (we) don't know MJ's family! You don't know his friends! So how dare you speak on what type of relationships he had with them! Bottom-line, at the end of the day they cared and loved one another...through thick and thin. And it was SO obvious during the memorial. It was heart felt, genuine and done in good taste so I don't know what the hell you're talking about?!
GET A CLUE DANNY BOY!
First and foremost he was a human being, good or bad, but he is now laid to rest. The very least anyone can do is leave it alone and let him rest in peace.
The only thing that leaves people scratching their heads is the choice to do it so publicly...but then this was a "tribute" not a funeral, right?
Whatever their reasons, innocent or otherwise...does it really matter in the grand scheme of things? It is what it is and now life must move on. Let him rest.