Top Ten Questions Everyone SHOULD Be Asking About Michael Jackson
Published on July 30th, 2009 in: Issues, Listicles, Music, Top Ten Lists |By Brenna Chase
Rather than keep your eyes glued to your favorite news channel for the latest intrusive development or read another biased career retrospective on the recently deceased King of Pop, ponder these conundrums, posed by a true (frustrated) fan who pays attention to what’s really important.
10. How is it that Michael Jackson is sexy?*
Photo from Steady-Laughing.com
Admit it, he is. His appearance(s) may be odd, but with all the different faces/styles/versions of Michael Jackson, there has got to be something there for everyone—just pick whichever one suits your particular fancy. He’s got the whole masculine/feminine, black/white, borders-all blurred-and-undefined thing going on, and he pulls it off, turning it into something ethereal that just draws you to him. He may have been a shy, seemingly asexual recluse in real life, but on stage, he will always be pure sex. The supernatural flow of his form is so completely attractive and captivating. He possesses magnetism that can’t be explained, because it can’t be compared to anything else. It’s like his public persona and bizarre behavior are the challenges, and he overcomes them when he performs by forcing you to forget about everything else.
Perhaps a better question would be: if you had never seen or been told anything about Michael Jackson before, and just heard his music, what would your first thought be upon hearing his voice? How about, “Michael, will you marry me?” He has recorded some of the sexiest songs ever made in the history of popular music. Close your eyes and listen again to “Liberian Girl,” “In the Closet,” “Human Nature,” “Heaven Can Wait,” and “Butterflies.” Pay careful attention to the words and how he phrases them. Michael Jackson is a perfect vocalist. Just as he’s playfully floating above the harmonies on his dance songs and spitting with anger in the intense ones, he is oh-so-convincingly romantic on every ballad. His last album, Invincible, is more R&B-tinged and, though often overlooked, is actually sexier than all his earlier works put together. On the smooth track “Break of Dawn,” Michael Jackson, the same guy who’s had more than his fair share of nose jobs and believes he is the modern day Peter Pan, is telling you that he wants to make love to you all night until the sun comes up, and you are more than okay with that.
Forget Justin Timberlake, forget Prince, because the King of Pop can lure you like no other. Why is everyone freaking out about if he is actually the biological father of his children, or what drugs were in his system when he died? “Michael Jackson is sexy—how and why?” should be the headline frozen at the bottom of the CNN screen which only the most qualified professionals will discuss until they’ve got some substantial answers.
9. Why does Bono get all the credit for saving the world?
Michael Jackson’s the one who implored us to heal the world and showed us how. Universal love, giving, and making positive changes are recurring themes in his songs: “Man In The Mirror,” “Heal The World,” “We Are The World,” and “The Lost Children,” just to name a few. He began contributing to charity in 1979 when he provided
Photo from Steady-Laughing.com
Public Library’s Young Adult Section with new books to encourage reading. For the next three decades, his generosity grew to incredible proportions as Michael donated to hospitals, orphanages, educational, and employment institutions in countries all over the world. He contributed to large scale causes—AIDS research, Nelson Mandela’s Children’s Fund, The International Federation of Red Cross, and UNESCO—as well as smaller: his MJJ Productions office once provided 200 turkey dinners to needy families in Los Angeles at Christmas.
Michael donated the profits from several of his hit singles and tours to charity, including his entire share of profits from the Jacksons’ Victory Tour to the T.J. Martell Foundation for Cancer Research, The United Negro College Fund, and the Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times and $100 million from the “Heal the World” single and tour to USA for Africa. He set up the Heal The World Foundation in 1992, which brought underprivileged kids to the theme park at Neverland and also raised millions of dollars for children threatened by war and disease all over the world. In 2001, he founded Heal the Kids, an international program that helps parents rededicate their lives to raising their children with love and attention.
Perhaps most importantly, Michael Jackson visited victims of famine, illness, war, and natural disasters throughout his lifetime, traveling as far as South America, Africa, and India to personally connect with the suffering and bring them happiness and hope. He would often coordinate these trips with his tours in foreign countries so he could meet with people in hospitals and impoverished villages anonymously in between show dates.
He holds the world record for the “Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star” in the 2000 Guinness Book Of World Records. Charity isn’t a competition, so I won’t list how much money Bono has raised compared to MJ, but feel free to look into it. The U2 front man has somehow become the high profile archetype of humanity while Michael has been the living definition of good will for decades. He just does it without needing credit or praise. In your FACE, egotistical Irish guy! Michael Jackson raised hundreds of millions of dollars and donated $50 million of his own personal fortune to try to make the world a better place… why didn’t more people take notice? (For a more thorough examination of MJ’s charity work—it couldn’t really fit in one paragraph—go to the “charity” section of the JacksonAction website.)
The Lion King
Image © 1994 Walt Disney Pictures
8. What’s so bad about dangling a baby over a balcony?
Clips of Michael Jackson holding up baby Prince Michael II (Blanket) from a Berlin hotel terrace in 2002 for a crowd to see are still being replayed on countless television shows. Let’s watch it one more time and examine just what a terrible, crazy father this man must have been to commit such an act. What about the famous scene in The Lion King where Rafiki holds Simba up over Pride Rock to proudly show the king’s newborn son to his kingdom… now was that so wrong? A bizarre act of questionable parenting, or one of the most genuine, emotional expressions of love ever executed? Watch the Disney movie again and reevaluate your answer.
7. Why is everyone so shocked by the possibility that Michael Jackson had health problems?
All typical celebrity addiction clichés aside, it’s been pretty clear that Michael Jackson was dealing with serious ailments for years. For those of you shocked by the disclosure of his dependence on painkillers, listen to “Morphine” from his album Blood On The Dance Floor. It’s clearly about the sinister addictiveness of Morphine and Demerol. Yes, he wrote the song and put it on an album for all to hear in 1997, and yes, it’s a fucking good song. Why weren’t more people listening then?
Photo from MJJ Pictures.com
Remember when the media—and anyone who believed the reports—was convinced that Michael’s claim of having a skin condition was a fabrication to cover up the fact that he was obsessed with bleaching his skin? He wrote “Black or White” and promoted the universal love of all races; he disclosed to the prying world his personal health condition of vitiligo, a disease involving the loss of skin pigmentation; and made multiple public statements declaring his pride of being African American. Still he was assailed as a liar. And to this day people still doubt the validity of him really having the disease.
Michael Jackson’s personal doctors, including longtime friend and well-respected physician Deepak Chopra, have now come forward to report on the singer’s struggle with vitiligo. Yes, he really had the disease. He was always incredibly self-conscious about his appearance, so he wore pounds of makeup to cover up the uncontrollable splotches on his skin. The condition made him literally allergic to sunlight, which would explain him always carrying around an umbrella. What a crazy person, right?! Dr. Chopra has also revealed that Michael suffered from lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease that caused the vitiligo, and that it is believed to have developed from the trauma of severe emotional abuse and stress he endured as a child. MJ never publicly spoke of the lupus, probably because he never owed anyone more of an explanation for his skin abnormalities than he had already given.
Despite the “evidence,” there will always be some who remain convinced that Michael Jackson bleached his skin for the hell of it. These skeptics are like Thomas the Apostle. You know, the guy that missed out on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and told the other disciples, “Unless I put my finger into the nail marks of his hands and my hand in his side, I will not believe.” Yes, I just quoted The Bible in reference to Michael Jackson. For all the Thomases out there who doubt him, read this article or search for invasive pictures like this… fuck you.)
Photo from Zimbio Interactive Magazine
6. Why is the media not making a bigger deal over the evilness that is Joseph Jackson?
His first on-camera interview since Michael’s death, filmed on the red carpet at the BET awards ceremony-turned-MJ-tribute-show, reveals Joe plugging his new record company mere seconds after he is questioned about his son, deceased as of three days at that time. CNN anchorman Don Lemon totally lets him off easy, not questioning his stoicism or shamelessness under the somber circumstances. The news frenzy covered this shady interview for a short time, mentioning it as a sort of afterward to the BET Awards before moving on to the next story. A week later, good Grandpa Joe told Good Morning America that two of Michael’s children, 11-year-old daughter Paris and 7-year-old son Prince II, are showing potential for future stardom. Still, no one screamed in his face. Isn’t it the media’s job to probe further into interesting and suspicious subject matter? They spend a hell of a lot of time speculating over who could be the biological father of Michael’s children and tracking down Bubbles the Chimp. (Bonus question: what’s weirder, Michael Jackson having a pet chimpanzee or news stations obsessing over his existence 25 years after they first created headlines about it?)
Joe Jackson can pretty much be blamed for all the negativity and downfalls his superstar son faced throughout the years. The intense emotional stress attributable to his father’s abuse when Michael was a child manifested itself in physical ailments (you know, the ones people thought he made up). He also developed Body Dysmorphic Disorder, obsessively altering his appearance to avoid any outward resemblance to the man who raised him, mistreated him, and told him he was ugly. The singer’s traumatic youth generated his obsession with childhood and innocence, eventually leading to molestation charges that drove him physically ill with stress and despair and dependent on anti-anxiety and sleeping pills.
No matter what directly caused Michael Jackson’s death, it is clear that the origins of all his life problems can be traced back to the scars left by his father’s emotional abuse. I’d think the media would jump all over this source of evil, with paparazzi hounding Joe far worse than they ever bothered his son for the past 30 years. “Joe! Joe! Tell us, do you feel bad that you indirectly caused the death of the most talented and compassionate individual in your family? Say something for the camera!” Why don’t the police raid Joseph Jackson’s home like they did Neverland, for evidence that he’s a permanent ASSHOLE?
Photo from Faded Youth Blog
5. Was it that absurd for his children to wear the masks?
Now everyone in the world knows exactly what Prince, Paris, and Prince II look like, so they can be followed everywhere and photographed in every different outfit and environment imaginable, all the time. Move over Lindsay Lohan, TMZ’s got some new favorites! Paparazzi have hounded Michael Jackson his entire life, snapping photos of him at every opportunity since he was ten years old; it’s not like that turned out badly. I’m just confused as to why he wouldn’t allow us to get a really good, long look at his kids before. He should have sold the infancy pictures to Us Weekly when he had the chance. We could have started this whole crazed speculation over their true biological parents waaaay earlier instead of in the wake of them losing the only parent they’ve ever had. That way they could have started doubting where they came from at much earlier ages while the man who worked so hard to raise them in a normal, loving environment was still alive. The media was right all along in its depiction of Michael Jackson as a frightening eccentric; he attached way too much importance to the concept of privacy—and costume accessories.
4. Who the hell is buying Thriller in 2009?
Right now, Michael Jackson albums are selling like, well, Michael Jackson albums in the ’80s. At the time of writing this article, over two million people bought his albums in the first three weeks following his death. The third week alone accounts for 1.1 million of these sales, which literally tripled compared to the first week. This staggering number also includes 349,000 copies of Number Ones and 264,000 copies of Thriller sold in the third week. The top 12 positions on Billboard‘s top pop catalog albums chart are currently held by MJ-related albums, both solo and with the Jackson 5.
Photo from MJJ Pictures.com
Physical albums make up 90 percent of his sales in the third week, with 966,000 people buying the physical CD versus 110,000 downloading albums. Physical purchases are increasing significantly each week as more physical product becomes available in stores. Before now, no single artist had ever sold even one million digital tracks in a single week, but in the first few days following his death people downloaded nearly 2.5 million digital Michael Jackson songs. In total, 6.1 million digital MJ tracks have been bought in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand in the past three weeks. As time progresses (and media coverage fails to subside), sales continue to escalate.
Don’t worry about all these impressive figures, though. The fact is that Michael Jackson album sales are not only breaking all kinds of records, but he has posthumously breathed life into the long-time suffering music industry. Interestingly enough, when Thriller was first released in 1982, it single-handedly resurrected Epic Records, and the music industry as a whole, as they had been in a major slump for the past three years. History is repeating itself, and Thriller continues to maintain its title as the Best Selling Album of All Time in the Guinness Book of World Records as people are once again going out in droves (to real, physical stores, too!) to buy Michael Jackson albums.
I’m just a little confused. Who just realized that Michael Jackson is amazing but didn’t have any of his albums? Who doesn’t already own Thriller? Surely, anyone who was alive bought their first copy when it came out in 1982. It remained in the American Top Ten for 80 consecutive weeks, spending 37 of those at Number One. That means everyone in America who ever bought music had to own Thriller. Then they all gradually bought it on CD as the new format became prevalent; a new generation discovered the album, and it was just like discovering it all over again for those whose records and tapes had worn out.
Photo from BBC News
By the time the 25th anniversary edition came out last year, I sure as hell hope that anyone who had lost their copy, or was too young to buy it the first time around, came to their senses and realized that any MJ album, but especially Thriller, is a life necessity. Surely anyone with a TV has seen Michael’s famous moonwalking performance of “Billie Jean;” surely we’ve all danced to “PYT” at weddings; and involuntarily bopped along to “Beat It” or “Wanna Be Startin’ Something” whenever they’ve been played occasionally on the radio?
Thriller set a precedent for blockbuster albums when seven of its nine original tracks became Top Ten singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and its individual singles reached Number One chart positions in the US, the UK, France, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, Ireland, New Zealand, and Canada. Everybody’s got to know the songs, and if you know them, you can’t deny that they are the definition of good music.
Yet, the staggering numbers of CD sales in the past two weeks reveals that there are a lot of people who’ve heard Michael Jackson songs in their lifetime but somehow never felt the need to actively own and listen to them. I’m surprised to find that there are actually human beings out there who’ve caught “Thriller” on the radio during Halloween season and thought, “Man, what a great song; guess I’ll wait ’til next fall to hear it again.” I’m just curious as to how these men and women who suddenly feel the need to listen to Michael Jackson’s music ever lived without it as a constant in their lives. Oh, and if it’s going to take 30 more years until people realize that later Jackson albums like Blood On The Dance Floor and Invincible are just as amazing in their own ways, I’m going to be very upset.
Photo from Steady-Laughing.com
3. Why hasn’t the world always celebrated Michael Jackson’s life and music?
Aside from the ridiculous media madhouse surrounding anything and everything related to Michael Jackson, and the regrettable fact that he is no longer living, this whole resurgence of interest in and love for his life and music is pretty fucking amazing. It’s strange to think that he has made such a permanent stamp on international pop culture, yet has been kind of forgotten about in the past decade… at least in America. Up until recently, it had become a semi-rare treat to hear his songs played on the radio or catch one of his performances replayed on TV. But now, since June 25, 2009, cars have been blasting Michael Jackson tunes at full volume as they drive down the street, and it’s no surprise to step into a store and hear the familiar, catchy strains of one of his songs. You can bet clubs around the world are now spinning Off The Wall multiple times a night, and its beats are guaranteeing full dance floors. Amidst all the negative reports, the media has started to bring to light Michael Jackson’s achievements and charitable contributions that they neglected to focus on for so long. We’ve gotten a refresher course on how he broke the color barrier on MTV, not to mention Grammy award and album sales records left and right.
So, to a true MJ fan like myself, the present environment is a bit confusing. His music should be playing everywhere, all the time, at any given opportunity. His impact on pop culture as we know it and his countless good endeavors to bring good to the world should be appreciated and revered every day, always, not just now because he is gone.
Michael Jackson’s memorial service was a tribute long overdue. It would have been especially valuable for him to have known just how many people still admire and support him in 2009. Now, people all over the planet are aware of his greatness as an artist and a person. The world should have established an international holiday celebrating this guy decades ago. (Who do I speak to about this? The UN?) Fuck the Elvis Presley comparison; Michael Jackson is more like the modern day Schubert or Mahler, known as a musician in life but truly acknowledged and revered as genius only after his death. Good job everyone; western culture has come a long way since the 1800s.
Photo from Steady-Laughing.com
2. Has he ever made a mistake?*
Despite all the courtroom allegations, financial woes, and social gaffes, I have never witnessed one instance of Michael Jackson actually messing up during a performance. Once he’s on stage, he is flawless. He committed his entire life to creating and practicing, practicing, practicing so he could give his fans nothing less than the greatest show possible. Always the perfectionist, he cried backstage after his legendary Motown 25 premiere of the moonwalk, because he felt he had not done his best. Only after a young boy stopped him in the parking lot as he was leaving and told Michael it was amazing, did he feel proud of the performance at all. The ridiculously high standards he set for himself mean that his audience will never see anything less than precision and magic.
If you’ve found some shoddy footage on YouTube of Michael Jackson falling flat on his face in the middle of a dance or something, don’t show it to me… I’d rather keep on believing. To me, he always seemed inhuman: full of humanity, yes, but when it came to how he spoke, thought, created, and shared, he appeared to be not of this world. He was—and still is—magic.
1. The ultimate question surrounding his life is not how strangely he lived, or how he died, but how did Michael Jackson exist in this material world to begin with?
We were lucky to have experienced him at all.
*Author’s note: Some statements have been kept in the present tense though Michael Jackson is no longer living. While this may be grammatically and conceptually incorrect, it’s impossible to talk about this person and his art as if it is all a finite part of history that already happened and is no more. Hopefully no one is too confused by the inconsistency in tense, because to me Michael Jackson is timeless.
83 Responses to “Top Ten Questions Everyone SHOULD Be Asking About Michael Jackson”
July 31st, 2009 at 4:48 pm
Brenna—
you are amazing my cuz!!! you continue to amaze each and every time i talk with you. good work actually excellent work!!
July 31st, 2009 at 10:00 pm
This is, by far, the best article written about this man that I have ever read. Pure beyond purity. Legit beyond legitimacy.
Thanks for cutting through the junk and giving real fans something to ponder, besides how many assholes will suddenly try to put on a panama hat or a glittery glove or glittery socks or tape on their fingers or a piano-keys t-shirt this Halloween 2009 and suddenly care about pretending being the man that they otherwise should ALWAYS try to emanate.
July 31st, 2009 at 10:12 pm
I can only think of one more question to add to this list, which would be something along the lines of: “Can you imagine any joy greater than suddenly finding yourself holding hands with Michael?” My guess is that you’d either be talking about saving the whales, ending poverty, or discussing dance moves, and of course he’d be really shy and looking at the ground and smiling. And maybe an additional question could be added which would really be more like a fact, which would be, “God he had great hair.” I understand why you had to limit it to 10 questions though. I’ll leave the writing to you.
August 2nd, 2009 at 9:47 pm
This article broke my heart a little. We all could have benefited from hearing this emphatic and well-reasoned take on MJ, his life, and his legacy weeks or months or years ago.
August 3rd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
You’re amazing. This is amazing. Hats off to you.
And of course, Michael is, and always will be amazing. Thank you for this. 🙂
August 4th, 2009 at 12:02 pm
I’m so glad that I was in this life time where Michael gave us magic unconditionally. I Thank God for giving 50 years of him to us.
~RIP My Angel~I Love You Most~
August 4th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
Fantastic article! I thoroughly enjoyed reading that. I’d love to read more from you… where can I find it?
August 4th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
Well written article 🙂 RIP Michael x
August 4th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
This is a beautiful article, and I completely agree with everything you said.
I’d love to read more from you. Good job, hope many many peopole will read this!
Thank you!
August 4th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
This was amazing! I’m sure he is smiling down on you because I’m sure this is exactly how he’d like to be remembered =)
August 4th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Ma, I finally had enough time to give this article the thorough read it required/deserved, and it turned out, of course, to be perfect. I couldnt say it surpassed my expectations because I would never expect anything less from such a brilliant satchel. You said the things about Michael I would never be able to articulate (at least not in any other way than thrusting motions or inappropriate language), and more that I didn’t even know! You are always my source of the purest musical knowledge and I’m so happy you took the time to share such important gems about the purest body on this earth. We have and always will praise Michael- maybe now some other assholes will recognize his purity like we do. Great job, I LOVE YOU!
-Lee Harvey Oswald
August 4th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
this made me cry. thank you
August 4th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I love you! Your article is freaking amazing and I enjoyed reading every single word. I want you to send your article to all the magazines, entertainment shows, even CNN because you are the voice of reason in all the mess the media is trying to shove at us! Thank you so much for writing such a passionate commentary!
August 5th, 2009 at 3:19 am
This is by far the best article I’ve ever read about M.J (or Applehead as us fans would like to call him.) Thank God someone out there hasn’t completely lost their minds and jumped on the media bandwagon. I felt as a fan like I was losing my mind, as most of the other “fans” seemed to have run off to TMZ. Once again, I thank you for this article, and for returning my sanity and trust in good, pure, and true fans.
August 5th, 2009 at 6:45 am
[…] Top Ten Questions Everyone SHOULD Be Asking About Michael Jackson […]
August 5th, 2009 at 7:47 am
An amazing article. It’s one of the most genuine written pieces by obviously a true fan that I’ve read so far.
Great work , great points. I can’t wait to link people to it.
August 5th, 2009 at 7:52 am
WOW! I am speechless. This is from far the best thing I have EVER read about Michael Jackson! About writting in the present tense, I think you are right. To me, Michael will always be alive! Unfortunatly in the world we live in people care more about the dead than the alive ones. He isn’t the only artist who sold more after his death. I must addmit I got more interested in him as a person after his dead, that is true, but as a musician I always had a high interest for what he did. It is important to say that he was not only a musician, he was an entertainer, which to me involves a whole lot more of love, dedication, passion and soul. Talent isn’t everything! The soul you put in your talent is what counts, and he sure had both! People got so interested over the “scandals” in his life because that is what sells magazines. People always need to know there is someone else out there that is in a worse situation than themselves to feel good in their own skin. Sad, but true. The questions you raised here really make one think. Media focus on the littlest things possible and make them big issues. Michael was a performer, was famous, etc but above all this he was a PERSON! A person with feelings, hopes and even dreams. For those who think Michael had it all I guess you are wrong! He was a dreamer! He dreamt of a better world for starters and he also dreamt when he watched the Disney movies. Everyone dreams right? So why do media had to attack him so much when he said “I am Peter Pan. I am Peter Pan in my heart!” He was! He was the eternal children. He did show us something important with this. We should never let the little kid inside us die, EVER! About the diseases…I had 2 cases in my family, one with lupus and other one with vitiligo and those are both hard diseases. People who haven’t gone through it have no idea of the suffering it causes, so they should just keep their mouths shut about this! To me Michael was a wonderful father, a wonderful person, a wonderful performer and a human being with me biggest heart I have ever heard of. People should discuss the good things he did, how sexy he was in “Bad”, “Dirty Diana”, “Give in to me” and so many other videos and occasions! Believe me, I would have married that man if I could! To me no one is or will ever be as sexy as Michael. Now after this long comment which must be almost as big as the article itself I only want to say, Rest in Peace, “King of Pop, Rock and Soul.”
August 5th, 2009 at 8:22 am
That was great, thank you so much for writing this. I’ve been planning to write an article for a long time but I don’t know where to post it since I don’t have my own website.
I completely agree with you on almost everything in this. The media and all those people STILL trying to make money off Michael need a big scolding, and should listen to all those songs dedicated to them.. ‘Leave Me Alone’, ‘Privacy’, ‘They Don’t Care About Us’, ‘Scream’.. You get my drift.
I’m afraid that I don’t own Thriller, but I do have every song off that album on my iPod, and am 16 so wasn’t around to buy it originally. I plan to buy it within the next month. I do own 2 Michael Jackson albums though, don’t you dare say I’m not a fan!
BTW for your part on his vitiligo, it actually ran on his father’s side of the family, so on top of the emotional stress it was also caused by genetics.
I love Michael so much and I love articles that stick up for the truth; I’m reposting this article on my Twitter. Thanks again! 🙂
August 5th, 2009 at 8:24 am
A beautiful story to read just before i go to bed…No matter what people may think of MJ.he was a human who gave his heart & life to every one else…He had a heart of gold…I really wished that he was given the same in return….Forever MJ special place in my Heart…
August 5th, 2009 at 8:35 am
Thank you very much for the article.
This is a very bright tribute to Michael, I am sure he would have appreciated it.
August 5th, 2009 at 8:45 am
WOW now thats sexyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
August 5th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Beautiful. Well-written. Poignant. Long overdue.
August 5th, 2009 at 10:27 am
I have teared up all over again reading this. Thank you so much!
August 5th, 2009 at 11:32 am
10-1 amen! I agree 100%
and on the Invincible and Blood on The Dance Floor Note — yep, Mike just keep topping every album.
August 5th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
LOVE it! More articles like this one should exist :]
August 5th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
[…] Thank you to all the Michael Jackson fans around the world who are linking to, reposting, retweeting, and leaving complimentary comments on the “Top Ten Questions Everyone SHOULD Be Asking About Michael Jackson” article. […]
August 5th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
This was one of the most profoundly accurate descriptions/article on one of the world’s most prized human beings. Michael was truly a gift to this often cynical and hurtful world and to be completely honest, we didn’t deserve him. We never appreciated him while he was alive and WE as a people are basically deplorable because we hurt him beyond comprehension while he was alive. I use the term “we” because we chose to follow the utterly despicable media portrayal of this incredibly gifted man. May he now have an idea of how much he was truly loved by a billion people around the world. R.I.P Michael. You will be forever missed but never forgotten.
August 5th, 2009 at 3:45 pm
Thank-you for a truly good article,more people hopefully will become more aware of the gift we have in Michael,he had a true and loving heart,a man who gave of himself so much,he bled,he was so misunderstood,even to the point of his own fans labelling him as an addict,who of us could bear his pain,and not try to remedy it,I for one.God Bless you Michael,I never judged you and never will,You had much to bear,from mankind,Sleep Well,my Friend.
August 5th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
MAGIC is such a perfect word to describe him!
Great article, well done!
August 5th, 2009 at 5:00 pm
Thank you so much too. I am a huge Michael Jackson fan and it shocked me beyond belief that the entire world had to wait until his untimely death to appreciate him. He is a genius when it comes to music, he is unhumanly kind and I’ve never seen anyone do as much for this world as him. I’m sharing this with my other fellow MJ fans, the ones who loved him before. And I believe that question 10 should be debated on CNN. We need the answer!! How was that man so sexy?! 🙂
God bless you Michael Jackson and God bless you too for writing this amazing article.
August 5th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I need to say nothing, but applause, applause……
August 5th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Oh GOD, thank you so much for this. Fabulous beyond words. You are my hero. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
August 6th, 2009 at 2:07 am
I love you, Michael…
August 6th, 2009 at 7:11 am
Dear Brenna, thank you so much for your words! So great how you point out Michael’s wonderful work just from his MUSIC. Congrats!
E from Hungary
Ps: I’ve got here from an MJ fan site.
August 6th, 2009 at 7:35 am
I’ve just realized that there are more pages here. I’m Speechless. Thank you for that!
E from Hungary
August 10th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
this is the best article I’ve ever read on MJ… best ever, RIP Michael 🙁
August 12th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Thank you! Thank you for this affectionate article!
Well, I’m none of the “typical” MJ-Fans because at a time when teenies pinned the photo of 21 year old Michael to the wall I was 21 as well and my friend wouldn’t have accepted pictures of another man on my wall… But we watched his videos, watched his astonishing moves smitten with amazement, we danced to his songs and knew all the texts. When MJ grew older, he hit my soul with his ballads. Every time I looked at his pictures in magazines I felt that there was something special around him, he seemed to be unreachable, untouchable, vulnerable and unsheltered despite his bodyguards. He was always a good-looking person, perfectly styled, with eyes that looked into your heart and a smile which was a bit too warm-hearted to be true. His posture spoke another language, he always seemed to be on the alert except when surrounded by masses of children, something that seemed to be strange and extremely suspicious in many adult’s eyes.
Now that he has left us he seems to have more fans than ever before. But I think they are no fans in the proper meaning of the word (fanatics) – I think many of them are people like me who simply try to understand why his death makes us so sad. People only mourn when they have lost something precious – he was! Why didn’t the world recognize that before? Because he was too perfect and too defensive at the same time? Being drilled as a child (Joe, the “soul-molester”) he remained his father’s puppet on a string who had learned that perfectionism and pain are inseparably connected to success, recognition and love. He was so successful! And we recognized him as the King of Pop. Remains the question: what about love? I believe it is this what his eyes and his smile wanted to put in our mind “love me, don’t hurt me”. But – did we understand? And this may be his last precious gift to us: even if many people still don’t understand why they can’t leave him alone, they feel the need to give him something back. Something, that means the positive and loving attention that he had been longing for as long as he lived. He revived feelings such as sense of justice, scruples, compassion, feelings, that help to make the world a better place. He did it his way.
I like the thought that there are many things between heaven and earth, that souls find their freedom and that they stay with us for a while before leaving to eternity (Dr Kübler-Ross).
Thank you, Michael, and rest in peace.
August 13th, 2009 at 10:52 am
great article. Just bought 3 CDs and one tribute magazine from amazon today. He was such an amazing artist. Heavenly voice, great dancing, amazing song writer/composer, genius MV producer. He was the whole package.
August 13th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Fantastic…you should be proud of yourself. Oh and that little shiver you sometimes feel out of nowhere?? That’s Michael saying “Thank You.”
August 13th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
This was a great article! I’ve used similar arguements when defending Michael to others. The media always emphasizes the negative because it sells. Also, regarding the child mollestation charges: nothing was ever proven, and one of those kids admitted to lying afterwards. Kids always have sleepovers, and Mike was trying to be a kid again.
All I know is that he was an incredible talent as well as a very sensitive, caring person that will be missed. I feel fortunate to have seen him perform live in ’84….I will never forget that magical night!
RIP, Michael
August 13th, 2009 at 9:41 pm
LOVE this article. This should have been published in every newspaper around the world. Have to agree that Invincible is an amazing record. Not feeling BOTDF so much but Invincible was most surely “slept” on by the music industry and the public.
RIP Mike – Your TRUE fans have always known how great you were. You didn’t have to die for any of US to realize it.
August 17th, 2009 at 1:18 am
Brenna: Your article provides a uniquely astute perspective regarding Michael Jackson – – In such sharp contrast to the extraneous, uninsightful REDUNDANCY out there that saturates the media! (What! You think the current whereabouts of Bubbles the chimp is inconsequential at this time?”) Joni Mitchell said “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone?” This is inarguably the case with MJ. It doesn’t have to be that way if you have an awareness (which you obviously possess) beyond that of the masses, who’s proclivity it is to automatically go with the flow of the general consensus as generated by the media/majority. People can be so intolerant and judgemental about those who are “different”, they can’t get past it to see anything else. “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer . Let him keep step to the music he hears, however measured or far away.” H.D Thoreau. Your incisive article brings all this to mind. So, in addition to the obviously ethereal, not of ths world, (MJ himself defers to a Higher Power being a part of his phenominal virtuosity) & beyond amazing performances we are so fortunate to have experienced and been blown away by- Awareness, wonder and appreciation, tolerance,benevolence and compassion are concepts that can be raised to consciousness . . . Hopefully along with the realization that “Wow – Thriller WAS a great album”. There’s so many lessons in adversity & this is no acception . . . More thought-provoking articles like yours have the potential to help bring them to light and heal the world. Michael I am so grateful to have grown up with you and your music as it was all happening!
August 21st, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Thank you for this article. It sums up a lot of what I feel about the whole Michael Jackson phenomenon.
He was such an enigma and that is what makes him so very intriguing. I have always found his sex appeal to be one of the most intriguing things about him. I always think how do so many woman miss out on it. I have recently read a transcript of the interview that Dianne Sawyer had with Lisa Marie (after their divorce-not the one with MJ) where Diane is in total disbelief that Lisa Marie ever saw anything appealing about him at all. It was as though Dianne was ready to retch at the thought of being close to this guy. Dianne wake up!!! This guy absolutely oozed sex appeal–especially at the time that Lisa Marie married him!
It’s also interesting to note that unfortunately Michael could not be as charitable in his later years because he was trying to pick up the pieces of his shattered life and took his children away and went into seclusion and because his music was not being promoted anymore he probably was not selling as much as he used to coupled with the fact that he was no longer performing and he had legal bills to pay etc. Think about how much more he could have contributed if the concert engagements were successful and he came out of debt. I would think he would have continued to be as charitable as he had earlier on if he was able.
So as everyone else has said–R.I.P. Michael, you will always be a legend in my heart and soul.
Thanks again for the article!
August 27th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
This brings tears to my eyes both out of laughter and sadness. You’ve summed it up perfectly. I still can’t believe he’s gone, two months later. RIP, Michael.
August 28th, 2009 at 2:15 am
Thank you from the bottom top and all around of my heart body mind and soul for this fabulous essay. I will pass it on, link it, etc. If you are lacking in grief support, you might find it among the MJ fans on YT, I know I’d be lost without them. MJ opened up the world to me with his music from age of 9. I never stopped listening or loving him and never listened to the tabloid media bs or attacks. He was an abused child who made music and art out of his experience and his sense of purpose and compassion inspired the world as it continues to today, and I know his legacy and influence have only begun. The truth will set us free and you ain’t seen nothing yet. His music will live forever and it’s up to us to make the changes in the world he spoke of and gave his heart to. Thank you again, you’ve got another fan for life. RIP MJ forever xoxoox
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:05 pm
GREAT 10 questions, well done! I need to defend myself tho and I’m sure Michael would understand this… I would hope…
I was a Queen and Michael fan when I was little (i was 4 years old when Bad came out), their music was like bread and butter in our house. Then, when I was 11, I found the Beatles. And I learnt about “that” business deal.
Instead of researching the deal properly, I took Paul McArtney’s side in the whole ordeal. I never stopped being a Michael Jackson fan, far from it, I just didnt buy his albums as I felt that I was giving MJ my hard earned cash through paying for all the Beatles albums. And I desperatly wanted him to give them back! So I took my mums MJ albums and put that on my iTunes instead.
The thing is, when MJ died and I heard Paul’s reaction to his death, I took it upon myself to do what I should have done a long time ago and researched it properly and learnt about the WHOLE story, not just Paul’s version.
And that’s why I bought Thriller after Michael died. That’s why I’ve been feeling guilty for two months and crying like a baby. I’m telling myself he knows I’m sorry. There are a lot of us Beatle fans out there who feel the same way. Perhaps its us that have been buying the albums and helping them to break records again?
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:47 pm
Wow, Brenda this is amazing:) So postive. You showed the postiveness of MJ not the contast negative stuff you hear pretty much everywhere. Thank u so much.
Two questions for you, could you continue this arctile please?
And where is the two pictures from?
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:21 pm
Sorry, where’s all the pictures from I mean? 🙂
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:46 pm
Brenna, congrats! Excellent article! People need to think and read more of these articles, instead of reading/watching satanizing TV shows, magazines, videos, etc. Michael was a great spirit and, I agree, how could he live in this world? We were not prepared for him.
September 5th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Thanks for this amaizing article. He was good human with big heart. He want give joy and smile to the world. I never stop miss for him. R.I.P Michael.
September 5th, 2009 at 6:36 am
This was the shit!
September 5th, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Brenna, wonderful article about Michael. One little correction: It’s MJ’s dermatologist Dr. Klein (hope I spelled right) who told the press about the disease, etc. Chopra is just a friend.
September 8th, 2009 at 3:21 am
Thanks for this wonderful article.I just love it and i agree 100% about the content.he’s truly sexy and he’s the one who makes me to love others who are less fortunate than i am.He’s the one who made me love and care the world we’re living,he’s the greatest forever and ever.i wish i had a time with him.i agree with that MJ never do all those charity and donations for credit it’s just his concern about others.I JUST LOVE HIM AND I MISS HIM VERY MUCH.FANTASTIC JOB MY FRIEND. KEEP IT UP AND ALSO THANKS FOR ALL THE GOOD COMMENT YOU SENT GUYS.
September 8th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
i can’t express how much i appreciate each and every one of your comments! thank you so much for spreading this article as far and wide as you have! i never doubt that michael jackson has the best fans in the world.
to Alison: i got Dr. Deepak Chopra’s comments on MJ’s skin condition from here: http://spotlight.vitals.com/2009/07/dr-deepak-chopra-michael-jackson-suffered-from-lupus-and-vitiligo/
September 8th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
In my opinion this is the best article that I have found on MJ. You just summed up everything i have been feeling. I give you major props. I think I say on behalf of MJ fans everywhere we thank you. His music will live forever!! I love you Michael!!
god bless.
September 21st, 2009 at 5:05 pm
What a terrific article! I’m glad I found it… so well done!
September 21st, 2009 at 8:16 pm
brenna,
GREAT JOB! you put into words so many of the things i have been thinking. i admire your steadfastness thru the years. you have obviously been on this train nonstop since it started 45 years ago! i was born in 1986 and started dancing to mj in ’88! i have to admit i didnt own thriller until now tho! although i bought the bad album a couple times and bought dangerous and invincible the day they came out 🙂 i’m ashamed to admit that my kids had never heard or saw mj’s magic until he died. i’m proud to say now that i am raising part of a new generation who adore michael. i especially loved that you are outraged about these people acting like joe jackson is a normal father… WHAT THE HELL?! are they scared of him too? cuz i’d give him a peice of my mind if given the chance. youre amazing! thank you for sharing!
September 21st, 2009 at 8:55 pm
LOVE YOU!
September 22nd, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Through my tears, I thank you. Michael was not of this world. He was misunderstood and persecuted beyond endurance. He was beyond magical; he was mystical.
September 23rd, 2009 at 5:18 pm
An excellent job, Brenna. GREAT MASTERS MAKE GREAT FANS…
I do hope you’ll go on with it. Could you also look into the questions those beasts asked of Michael in their interrogations of him – sorry, interviews? “Are you a virgin?” “Are you homosexual?” “Do you have sex with you wife and so on?
I can’t wait to hear your opinion on that…
September 25th, 2009 at 6:35 am
One thing you brought to mind. I never had a problem or 2nd thought to Michael dangling Blanket. But what I want to say is, how is it that a new youtube video of a man swinging his child around is looked at as ‘funny’, but Michael lovingly & generously shares his child & is ridiculed for it. I hate the world for putting Michael under a microscope his whole life. It’s so wrong 🙁
September 28th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Thank you for this article, the BEST I’ve read so far! If you are still grieving for Michael, I found the place for you. A fantastic new forum on all things Michael at
http://mjsarmy.proboards.com/index.cgi
Please join us in sharing Michael’s message of love!
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Great article just the right amount of indignation and snark.
November 14th, 2009 at 1:10 am
OMG in the first pic he looks really attractive even though he is wayy wayy older then me in that pic (his like 20 something im 11) LUV U MJ XoXoXOX
MAY WE REMEBER THE WORLDS BEST MAN , THE KING OF POP , MICHAEL JOSHPE JACKSON 1958-2009!!! XOX. MISS YOU MICHAEL LUVVVVV UUU HEAPPPPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!OXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
November 14th, 2009 at 9:52 am
I have no words to say how much i loved this article.I am so glad i found it. MICHAEL deserves our eternal love.
MJ I LOVE YOU FOR EVER
AMELIA-PORTUGAL
November 24th, 2009 at 8:10 am
L.O.V.E it. Thanks . MJ R.I.P
November 24th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Thank you for this lovingly detailed tribute!
When a man puts so much honest to god goodness of LOVE into the world, it’s no surprised he’s loved BACK – that’s the nature of LOVE, simple as that!
November 24th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
I believe Michael put masks on his children so they could not be identifed for would-be kidnappers. God knows the man endured some of the most outrageous people laying claim to his money for various reasons. Who knows what kind of ransom they would have been held for had they ever been kidnapped? I remember an interview where he said he did it for the children’s safety, and I believe him. If you are a kidnapper and don’t know what the kids look like, then you wouldn’t know they were MJ’s kids, and therefore could not extort money from him . . . and on, and on, etc. Why aren’t they wearing masks anymore? Simple. Because he’s not around anymore. Holding the kids for ransom today wouldn’t hold the same impact now, because along with Michael came a lot of envy about who he was. “How dare he be good looking, sexy, rich AND uber talented, making the whole world (men and women alike) lose their minds?” I don’t think kidnapping ‘Katherine Jackson’s grandkids’ says as much as kidnapping “Michael Jackson’s Kids”. Maybe it wouldn’t hold up in court, but that’s my two cents . . . I’m just sayin . . . everything else he did that appeared strange always had a logical explanation.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Okay, here I go again, this time, responding to my recent “Thriller” purchase. My family had all the Jackson 5 abums when I was a kid. As I got older and MJ Mania became a way of life, everyone I knew loved him as much as me, had his music, from my dad, to my friends to my boyfriends. MJ’s music was forever playing wherever I went, so . . . no need to purchase my own copy. I did have “Thriller” on cassette and played it so much it broke eventually. I now have no idea where all those childhood albums are, my mother and father are both deceased, my childhood home is in foreclosure and I also have no idea where those friends or boyfriends are now, so I decided to purchase MJ’s (and the Jackson 5’s) entire discography after his death so I would forever have them for my own.
One explanation down. Millions to go . . .
Oh, and at least I’ve seen him in concert 3 times. Many fans can’t say that, to my amazement.
November 24th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I love the fact that you wrote the article in present tense. He is still alive and well in my heart, though I cry still. One of the big reasons I wept so bitterly after his death is because I felt I too had betrayed him in some way. I was one of those who wouldn’t talk about MJ in public after all the allegations, because it would always start a verbal war between those that believed he was guilty, and those like me who believed in his innocence. In other words, it wasn’t ‘cool’ to be an outspoken MJ fan during all of his turmoil, and I feel like I turned my back on him. Not that I was so concerned about being cool; I was afraid. And in a way, it didn’t make me any different from Mr. Bashir, or Mr. Chandler. That was a hard pill for me to swallow– still is. I kept quiet as I’m sure did many others for the same reasons. After he died, I felt more sad at first for my inability to stand up to the liars and those that didn’t know him, never met him, never were a fly on the wall of his bedroom, but knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was a pedophile. My heart still bleeds for my behavior, because I feel my silence was partially responsible for his fall from grace. As Madonna made reference to during the VMAs, we were all responsible. Part of me didn’t couldn’t bear to watch him be tortured in that way, and so I turned away from the televisions broadcasting all the ugliness, hoping it would just go away. Who knows what may have happened if all those like me had not suffered silently? He might still be on this earth. Thanks for the great article.
November 30th, 2009 at 3:30 am
Best article I have read concerning Michael Jackson, this should be put on television for the world to see. Great work…
A true fan of Michael Jackson
December 8th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
I’ve always felt like I grew up with Michael. I listened to his music, I danced to it, he was really “an unstoppable force of nature”. When I heard of his death, I was so shocked, I wondered immediately what horrible stories would be shed by the media. True to form, the media has been cruel, just like always. Immediate specultation about his drug use and the paternity of his children. I wasn’t present for any of the conceptions, but Michael loved those kids and took care of them. He was their Dad pure and simple, and any speculation to the contrary is the worst kind of ignorance. Is it just me or is the media never happy unless they are reporting some salacious piece of information that they alone are privy to?Always trying to stir the pot and downplay someone’s good works. I’ve yet to see a headline that reads Michael Jackson has given $ 3000 million to charity, but he did quietly. I was glad that Lisa finally owned up to how she really felt about him. I always thought that they were a great couple, and that she was lucky to have been a part of his life. I think they loved each other very much. Obviously, Michael had trust issues, and was inexperienced when it came to women, and Lisa gave up on him too fast. I could forgive that because people make mistakes. However, I think that it’s really sad that she felt the need to say bad things about him publically. It was almost like she was ashamed to have fallen in love with him and been intimate with him. Regardless of the things she said after the divorce, she told friends that he was a great lover! I think it is interesting to note that he was the only man whose last name she took when they married. She’s been really unhappy; I doubt that she would be so upset over a man she divorced 13 years ago if there wasn’t unfinished business there. I can speak for anyone else, but I would have done just about anything for a genuine Michael hug!! I was fortunate to see him in concert. It was the best show I’ve seem, it was so quiet in Cleveland Municiple stadium that you could literally have heard a pin drop when he sang :She’s Out of My Life”. Since his death I’ve really been amazed at the depth of my grief. I’m not usually one for being a groupie, butI’ve vried a lot since he died, I can’t imagine the depth of the grief his children and family are experiencing. I’ve seen the movie, I have read everything I can get my hands on and have all his music on my I Pod. He was the greatest entertainer ever, and he did it all for his fans. I love you more Michael! RIP!!!
December 14th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
What a beautiful, emotionally compelling article, every word of it true. Thank you for saying so well what so many of us are asking in our hearts.
March 6th, 2010 at 1:10 am
Thanks for this wonderful touching article. Michael was truly an amazing human being. Your article shows why he was loved and respected by millions of people around the world.
March 9th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Beautiful just beautiful MJ lives on forever! My five year old son loves his music too!
July 12th, 2010 at 7:27 pm
I love this article but i just want to say that u can not change the minds of people who are too lazy/stupid to search for the truth about mj themselves but instead relies on tabloids/medialoid for accurate news about mj and pls remember this quote people hates other people for what they hates in themselves.
October 25th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
[…] * Thomas Mesereau, https://popshifter.com/2009-07-30/top-ten-questions-everyone-should-be-asking-about-michael-jackson/ […]
November 8th, 2010 at 3:20 am
Hi Brenna ,
I’ve read all the comments here, and all your answers to the questions we should be asking about Michael. I find it informative and an interesting narration. I sense that there was a lot of love put into your blogging and research, to come to such great final story form for Michael. It also feels like a very positive and uplifting site referencing our icon.
I would like to leave a few lines as to why I think MJ is sexy below if I may.
I mean like….how much of a kissable set of lips do one really need anyway??? Whew!! I love when he pouts in his videos. THOSE LIPS ARE DEFINITELY ONE HOT SET. SERIOUSLY SENSUAL, LICKABLE AND KISSABLE. There I went and said it. Thank you for a great site! I will difinately check out more of it some time soon. Keep up the good work!!
It’s all for LOVE!!!
Alya
July 26th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
[…] * Thomas Mesereau, https://popshifter.com/2009-07-30/top-ten-questions-everyone-should-be-asking-about-michael-jackson/ […]
February 4th, 2013 at 7:24 am
[…] * Thomas Mesereau, https://popshifter.com/2009-07-30/top-ten-questions-everyone-should-be-asking-about-michael-jackson/ […]
June 12th, 2014 at 10:59 am
i loove u<3
June 12th, 2014 at 11:05 am
michael jackson u are a angel in disguise i miss u sooo much rest in peace u deserve it what u did for this world is amazing i love u soooo much u won over 700 awards and i see why i will always remember u my angel i am your 1#fan when i heard u died i cried foreveru are my inspiration and my love and my husband stay SWEET,HANDSOME,AND AMAZING MISS U FOREVR I WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER U AND NEVER FORGET U I CROSS MY HEART LOVE U WITH MY WHOLE HEART , GOD IS VERY PROUD OF U AND SO ARE YOUR FANS R.I.P KING OF POP YOUR 1#FAN
KELLIE EVELYN HARMON R.I.P KING OF POP<3<3 <3<3<3<3<3 OXOXOXOXOXOXOOOXOXOXOXOXOXO
OXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
March 5th, 2017 at 11:47 pm
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