| Author | Message | ||
     Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13832 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: |
I find it amazing that after all the years of seeing it in print, particularly over the past few days, and with how much time you have obviously devoted to your essay in order to be taken seriously, how the correct spelling of the late great "king of pop"'s name has not registered with you, Carey! His first name is spelled "MICHAEL", not "Micheal"! Good grief! | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13833 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: |
Well, if you'd be accurate in your comments about me, Carey, I would move on. However, I never claimed to not have a chum to laugh with. And this is not about cynicism. It's about constructive criticism. Anybody who aspires to be taken seriously as a writer, should be detail-oriented. Had you submitted your essay to a magazine for publication, I suspect it would've been rejected mostly on the lack of professionalism exhibited by your misspelling the name of the subject about whom you are writing. This is discourteous at the least, and inexcusable at the most. | ||
| Carey AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Carey Post Number: 1986 Registered: 05-2004 Rating: |
I Don't Look In Caskets. I've never been the one to look in the caskets of the dead. I've never found a real reason to view the body of a departed loved one. To many it's a form of paying respect. To others it's simply a tradition that forces them to follow the line of the other weeping and grief stricken individuals. I have not listened to any news accounts of Michael Jackson's passing - not one. I have not read any blogs that gave the indication that it was about Michael Jackson. I went to the barber shop yesterday and of course one of the many topics was about Michael Jackson. When Michael became the center of discussion I walked out. Before departing, one of the young bucks asked me, "What's wrong with you old school". The question was asked in a respectful way as noted by the words "old school", a word given to those that have paid their dues. I turned around and replied that I just wasn't feeling it today. They said, "right-right-coo" and I walked out. I don't like to peer into caskets because I want to remember the departed by the memories I have of them and the moments I shared with them and not the lasting impression of them laying in a casket, dry and cold. Two days ago I didn't want to read or hear someones opinion of Michael Jackson; I had my own. Two days ago I didn't want to share my opinion of Michael Jackson because as I said, I didn't want to hear yours. It was inevitable that I would hear the voices of others. While visiting the Internet I couldn't help but run into stories of him if only through the headlines or pictures attached to blogs. I didn't want to hear anything about debt or a doctor that wasn't around. I didn't desire to see praise of Michael Jackson only to be immediately followed by a "yeah but". I didn't care to hear that some liked his earlier music better than his latest offerings. I couldn't find a purpose in questioning any of his behavior. I know I've made terrible mistakes but I've often questioned why others would want to talk about it. There's a cliche' that says, "those that live in glass houses shouldn't throw stone". Although that is a generalization that many use to deflect attention away from them, it is nevertheless a valid statement. Another euphemism that champions that thought is "while you are pointing a finger at another, 3 are pointing back". Again, although some figures of speech are used to silence the voices of dissenting views, they can at times offer words of wisdom. I choose not to listen any negative mess about Michael. I refused to view any news outlets or blogs that may serve to spoil my memories of Michael Jackson. I know there were probably many wonderful blogs that did nothing but praise Michael Jackson but I feared that a comment by someone other than the blog's host would spoil those moments. I could have been wrong but I made a choice not to risk my moments with Michael Jackson. There are some that do not know when to "fold them or when to hold them" and will say the most inappropriate things at the wrong time. I have been guilty of such. On Friday nights there's a wonderful place that I visit in blog land. It's a place of comfort and wonderful memories. A group of people from around the country gather to share old school music. A theme is posted early in the week. Everyone dusts off their old school music and posts selections that takes them down memory lane. Last week the theme was "family". The music of Coltrane's family hit the air via one blogger (I didn't know that others in John Coltrane's family even played jazz). I don't remember if Sly And The Family Stone were there. This week Michael Jackson's name hit the board. As I've mentioned, I didn't want to hear anything "about" Michael, but a trip down his music lane was just what I needed. One of the bloggers apparently felt as I did and didn't reminisce about Michael (comments generally precede the blogger's choice of music), she chose instead to talk about her memories of Gary Indiana, Michael Jackson's old home. She went to Gary for various reasons. In her own words: ....."To learn cheers and jump rope rhymes and new dances from the cousins and the neighborhood kids. Gary was alive. Now to see Gary is to see a case study of a politician’s of academic’s lament about what happens when work and brain power and youth and stability leaves a community. It is hard to go back to Gary after long stretches away because of the image of the old Gary still in my mind. It is better to hold onto the fantasy than to get on with the work of grieving and moving forward" I wanted to share parts of her journey because I love her writing my story is similar. Indiana is a place were much of my life's story began. While reading and listening to the music of the aforementioned blog I went back in time. Several of Michael's songs threw me into deep thought but two songs in particular caught my eye and grabbed my heart. ...."It's Too Late To Change The Time" & "You Can't Win". As a child, Michael Jackson gave feeling to songs as if he were an adult and had actually gone through those feeling - he was ahead of his time. Michael took the long way home. The words of "You Can't Win" are so poignant ...."you can't win child, you can't get out of the game". Michael Jackson will never be able to get out of the game. He will forever live in the words and images that others have of him. I choose to remember him just the way he was - in my mind. I don't look in caskets. There's no crying in baseball and no police in blogland. I am not a writer, I just tell a few stories. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13834 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: |
There's something cowardly about a man who won't stand by his words, who takes pot shots at someone and then deletes these words because he apparently can't deal with the response they evoked. Whatever. Carey wants us to know that he doesn't look down in caskets but prefers to remember people the way they were in the prime of life as opposed to the inertia of death. Duh. That's the overwhelming sentiment among the multitudes mourning Michael, the forgiving fans eager to cherish the private memories his music stirs. IMO, Michael is not suspended in the limbo of "the game", at the mercy of other people's words and images. Michael Jackson is free! He got the last laugh. Death has vindicated him to the tune of his songs and the grace of his dancing. | ||
| Chrishayden "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Chrishayden Post Number: 8027 Registered: 03-2004 Rating: |
Michael Jackson is free! He got the last laugh. Death has vindicated him to the tune of his songs and the grace of his dancing. (He cheated the Family Services people, some enraged parents, his victims and the debt collectors, but he ain't free. We are, though--free of his inhuman caterwauling, his monstrous looks, his insane obsessions-- Everytime I hear those "love" songs, I realize he is singing them, not to women, but to little boys and I have to turn them off. If there is anything good to be said about him, and there is little, since if I had a son like that I would drown him in the toilet--it is that he didn't screw himself up like that. He got hold of a live wire and couldn't let go. And it killed him. I didn't know it would be possible for somebody to be a bigger freak than Elvis, but he sure did it. Him and Clarence Thomas make me rather ambivalent about the future of so called Black America.. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13843 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
You should've prefaced your tirade with an "IMO". But, then, I should realize that you labor under the impression that your opinions are fact, Chrishayden. IMO, Michael Jackson was flawed but his music was pure. He didn't reach the pinnacle of fame by being a freak, it was through his genuine talent and radiating charisma. Even his detractors concede this. His close friends say that he was not a monster but quite personable. Yes, he was a tortured soul but anybody with the voice of an angel could not be all bad. Like many flawed geniuses, Michael's body of work will be his legacy. The music of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker and even Ray Charles certainly transcended their eccentric excesses. In his final days, the garish appearance of James Brown, whose career and personal life had also degenerated into shambles, was also bizarre. Madonna is a caricature of herself. I could go on and on but suffice to say that fame takes its toll on those it smiles upon | ||
| Yvettep AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Yvettep Post Number: 3563 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: N/A |
fame takes its toll on those it smiles upon Well put, Cynique. Yet, I do not know if Michael has, indeed, "won." I guess that depends on your image/opinion of the afterworld (if you believe in such a thing at all). If MJ's image in death becomes more positive and iconic than in his fading years, is it still a victory for him personally if he cannot be aware of it?I don't know. It's a philosophical question with no clear answer. I also see from my own visits in blog-land that not everyone is choosing, like Carey, "not to look in open caskets" in the case f Michael Jackson. Some folks are focused on his physical changes, or his apparent ambivalence about his race, ot the molestation charges levied against him, or how he truly ranked among other musicans. Also, there have been posts I have read by (I am assuming) younger bloggers who just do not "get" what MJ means to many of us older Black folks. I can relate to that--as there have been other artists of generations not my own who I did not feel as strongly about when they died. There is a whole lot of opinion about MJ out there. The public reaction appears to be as chameleon-like as the man himself. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13850 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
Agreed, the picture is becoming more and more blurred and Michael Jackson's legacy is becoming more unpredictable. And, as usual, things seem to be shaping up along racial lines. White people want to expose MJ, warts and all. The every-forgiving black community wants to travel down memory lane and cherish the music and dancing that transcended his weaknesses. (except for chrishayden, who prefers to throw in with the white nay-sayers) Having been around when both Marilyn Monroe and Elvis died, likewise the much-publicized victims of presciption pills and wanton life styles, I will say that time was kind to them, and over the years, what was good about them, prevailed. And to a lesser degree, the great jazz saxophist Charlie Parker, whose life was ravaged by drugs and plagued with instability and who, when he died at age 35 was described as being in the physical condition of man twice his age, was not diminished by his shortcomings. To this day, he is revered, his image salvaged by the genius of his artistry. | ||
| Ferociouskitty Veteran Poster Username: Ferociouskitty Post Number: 766 Registered: 02-2008 Rating: N/A |
The every-forgiving black community wants to travel down memory lane and cherish the music and dancing that transcended his weaknesses. A big spat overnight on my Yale Black Alum e-list was about this precisely. One woman noted how forgiving "we" are, and cited this as the reason why she felt the "feet of clay" type discussion about MJ had no place on our list (i.e., a black folks list). Lots of talk of how we shouldn't speak ill of the dead, etc. Initially, there was one lone voice of dissent. Eventually, people stopped emailing him privately, and started commenting on-list, tepidly, I might add. But the conversation still degenerated with one MJ zealot, who clearly failed Irony and Metaphor 101, misreading a post as someone threatening to "Chris Brown" her. It was ugly. And stupid. I think that "we" (if we take the monolithic view), are too forgiving as a community. We settle for crumbs, especially when it comes to those who would ordain themselves as our leaders. As for MJ, I don't think black folks give him a pass just because he was acquitted of the molestation charges or even because of his uber-stardom. I think he gets a pass because the parents of the children he was alleged to have molested were so damn suspect. | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13854 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
The greater black community has never forgiven Clarence Thomas, and his death would hardly give rise to a ripple because, unlike Michael Jackson, Thomas has no redeeming qualities. | ||
| Ferociouskitty Veteran Poster Username: Ferociouskitty Post Number: 768 Registered: 02-2008 Rating: N/A |
Cynique, I'll never forget when economist Julianne Malveaux had this to say about Clarence Thomas: "I hope his wife feeds him lots of eggs and butter and he dies early, like many black men do, of heart disease." OUCH! | ||
| Cynique "Cyniquian" Level Poster Username: Cynique Post Number: 13864 Registered: 01-2004 Rating: N/A |
That really was cold. Poor ol Clarence. | ||
| Yvettep AALBC .com Platinum Poster Username: Yvettep Post Number: 3569 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: |
As for MJ, I don't think black folks give him a pass just because he was acquitted of the molestation charges or even because of his uber-stardom. I think he gets a pass because the parents of the children he was alleged to have molested were so damn suspect. I think this is part of it, FK. But I also think other things play a role as well. First of all is just the general attitude regarding child sexual abuse in many communities (not just Black). Second, there seems to be a lot of misconceptions about the range of activities that constitute molestation and sexual exploitation. |
