Skip to main content

i’m sure i will offend all sorts people with this…

… but i just don’t get why the entire world is so torn up about the death of michael jackson.

yes, he had an insanely successful career as a singer/entertainer/pop star. yes, he took a lot of that to a whole new level. yes, i remember thriller and doing the moonwalk. yes, i remember wanting one of those red leather jackets, and one of those sparkly white gloves.

however… i’m also wondering why everyone else is seeming to forget how he bleached his skin (and then had a big hit stating that it doesn’t matter if you’re black or white… always wondered about that one), underwent so much plastic surgery that he barely looked human anymore, made crotch-grabbing an acceptable dance move, hung his kid over a balcony, showed up for court in his pajamas, and, oh yeah, was accused of child molestation HOW MANY TIMES??? this was a VERY disturbed man.

i have never understood why being a celebrity excuses people from upholding the same morals and standards that we expect of normal people.

i will never understand the position we allow these people to have in our lives. he was not God. he may have been the king of pop… but really, that’s not a kingdom i’m much interested in if that’s the sort of king we appoint to rule.

Comments

  1. Esther LeeJune 26, 2009 at 11:55 AM

    "he may have been the king of pop… but really, that’s not a kingdom i’m much interested in if that’s the sort of king we appoint to rule."

    Well said Rachel. Even though I do like his music occasionally you called it like it is. Death seems to bring tragedy no matter the life but I appreciate what you said.

    ReplyDelete
  2. LindseyJune 26, 2009 at 2:06 PM

    OMG I was logging on to post the EXACT same thing...wow, we think alike! ;) Not that I can say it as well...but I'm still posting mine ;). THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  3. LizJune 26, 2009 at 2:44 PM

    I would agree, what you write is accurate, but I think it's important, too, to remember people for when good they bring to the table. MJ's contribution to the greater good includes all the fighting he did for the rights to own his own music, and made the fight a little less frusterating for smaller starting musicians. Also, I know we all do some fairly f-ed up things throughout our lives and I sure hope people don't remember me years later as the messed up liz colver.... I don't think MJ's death is something to greive over like, say, JFK or Grandpa, and many people who were affected negetively by him will be 'safer' now, but he was one of a kind in what he shared with the world - and in my opinion, he enhanced my life positively with his music :)

    My 2 cents!

    ReplyDelete
  4. BrendaJune 27, 2009 at 7:24 AM

    Something to remember is that "we" did not appoint him the king of pop. He and his spin doctors gave him that title, "we" just accepted it. But for the most part I agree with you. The media loved to slam him over his lifestyle and choices, but now that he's dead he's a saint. I realize that propriety says we shouldn't knock on the dead, but lets not make them more than they were.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Laurie DapeloJune 27, 2009 at 7:41 AM

    First of all, we have been saying the same thing - this was not someone to turn into some kind of god - fallen idol is more like it. Ok, I see Hazel's mommies point in that he did do some good things and I remember him when he was a little kid like me and we were all crazy about the Jackson 5. But the media is treating this like they would the president of the U.S. or the Pope! And I always wonder about people who set up shrines and weep and wail about losing someone they never actually knew - that is truly idol worship at it's worst (or best, I guess, depending on your viewpoint.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Catherine WittJune 29, 2009 at 6:17 AM

    I'm sure that all the normal people in this world would agree with you, but unfortunately it's not the normal people who control the media, more then people who want to normalize spending money on all manner of things from pop music to plastic surgery, so they throw up Michael Jackson and see how many people will follow that example and waste all their money and time on that. He's not a hero by any stretch of the imagination in my mind. He's always been absolutely nobody except when he apparently invited some little boys to sleep with him. That concerned me if it was true? I don't recall how that trial turned out. Anyway, I'm glad to be in France where I'm sure I'm hearing less of all this mess than in the U.S.

    ReplyDelete
  7. LisaJuly 1, 2009 at 8:31 PM

    I agree, Rachel! It was great seeing you today. I found your blog off Angie's. Is it okay if I make a link from my blog to yours?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

all comments are moderated. unkind comments will be deleted.

you may like...

boxed in.

so i’m feeling a little bit stifled right now. when i took over responsibility for shane’s education, i knew i was making a big time/lifestyle commitment. i also figured that layla and eventually, micah would be involved in this endeavor. i knew that i was stepping out into a great unknown, having never completely done this sort of thing before. it was an experiment. in general, this experiment has gone well. not entirely as planned, but well, nonetheless. i mean really, when you’re dealing with kids (or other human beings, for that matter) what does go as planned. but at this point, i have to say that homeschooling is NOT my favorite thing. it’s not that i can’t do it. it’s not that shane isn’t learning. it’s not that i’m excessively overwhelmed or that i feel like i’m failing. it’s not any of that. the best thing i can figure out is that i feel ‘boxed in’. i feel like my time and opportunities are so limited for all of us. it’s not just about shane, and with layla and micah so mu...
6 comments
read more »

meal plan monday… and idiot-proof shopping.

so last week was horrible in the ways of all things homemaking.  i think i made more mess and distress than home.  but i’m back on the wagon this week so here we go. monday: ham, baked potatoes, green beans tuesday: beef stew, sourdough wednesday: soy chicken, rice, salad thursday: meatloaf, fries, peas & carrots friday: pizza & beans saturday: navy bean & ham soup, sourdough sunday: waffles, sausage now here’s my gripe of the day:  how big of idiots do people think we are?  a couple of weeks ago, i went to buy a pack of tortillas. i generally buy the soft taco size, since that’s usually what i’m using them for.  i was dismayed to see that they now sell them in 3 sizes; small, medium and large.  WHAT?  no burrito size?  makes them sound really authentic, huh? today, i was at fred meyer and i needed a package of navy beans.  so i go to the bean aisle.  there were no navy beans.  ...
2 comments
read more »

how to clean your room

i was discussing this sort of thing w/ my MIL recently and she said there were some books she had when the boys were young that explained things to kids that adults often tell them to do w/out giving them explicit instructions. so i thought about it and decided to write my own.  i mean, really, if i expect shane to clean his room, i ought to tell him HOW i want him to clean it, so he knows what i expect.  so i wrote them out.  keep in mind, these are 9 year old instructions. they would have to be adjusted accordingly.  i actually don’t expect him to do much less than i would expect of myself.  (bummer for him!) How to clean your room: strip your bed. put all dirty clothes in the laundry basket put all clean clothes in the closet or dresser put all shoes in the rack on the door. pick up everything off the floor and put it on your bed to sort. start by throwing away anything that’s trash. return anything that doesn’t belong in your r...
4 comments
read more »

displeased, at odds, feeling kinda… itchy.

not like in a ‘get some calamine lotion’ way… I’m just kind of in a funk. I seem to do this periodically, when there’s not a lot going on. maybe I just finally have time to sit back and reflect at what is/has been going on in my life because I’m not running here and there LIVING it for a change. we’ve been SUPER busy the last several months… with the house buying and the packing and the moving and the unpacking and the end of school thing and the moms club thing and the pasadena wedding thing and the birthday thing and the stp thing… and all that time it was this mantra… if I can just get through may! which turned into “if I can just get through june!” well, here we are nearing the end of july, and minus a few outstanding commitments and other such stuff I need to get done, I’m sitting here in the middle of summertime ‘life as usual’. late nights, late mornings, little plan of what we need to do or where we need to go… it’s SO nice! unfortunately (or probably the opposite), it gives me...
1 comment
read more »

fillet of sole

so i sat micah at the table today to eat his lunch.  he had a plate of food, a fork to eat it with, he was buckled into his seat, and had shoes on his feet.  i left the room and came back to find him out of his chair, done with his food, and this scene:    want a closer look?  i know you do…     yes, that’s a fork IN the shoe.           have i mentioned he’s a total houdini?  the straps are still buckled and it’s impossible to get them tight enough to keep him in.  but i’m loving that he left a shoe behind.  it’s so cinderella. i’m kind of thinking at this point that i should maybe look inside the shoe, just to be sure he didn’t stash any of his lunch in there. i’ve said it before, i never claimed to have normal kids. at least he ate…
4 comments
read more »