Saturday, June 27, 2009

For Whom the Bell Tolls

















I already did the Michael Jackson R.I.P. post, but it doesn't seem to be enough at the moment. MJ is all over the internet, television, and radio right now, due to his recent, sudden, and most certainly unexpected passing, but not everything we hear or see is positive. I'm not shining a light on the turmoils of Michael's life, and I really would never want to. There are those more qualified to do so, and at some point they probably will. However, while the general populace celebrates and mourns simultaneously the life and career of the greatest entertainer that ever lived (in my personal opinion), some want to talk about the entire story right now.

Look, I'm not saying that we should turn a blind eye to the things Michael Jackson has done/allegedly done over the years, but being that he left us so abruptly, right now is the time to honor the man, not tear him down. The sad thing is, some can't wait to bring his demons to the forefront. But hey, that's just the way it works, right?

With this, I'm reminded that yes, this is the way it works. When you're famous and you pass, people want to put the full story on the front page. Let's not depict a fairytale world where this being has done no wrong, but instead, let's show them all the full Monty, so there's nothing to hide and no guessing work to be done later.

What really pushed me to do this was a visit to Jon Jon's blog, Sound Verité, in which Jon Jon posted his own tribute to the late MJ. One of the pieces on there was a video of a James Brown concert from 1983, in which James pulls MJ out of the audience to perform on stage, then MJ pulls Prince up to do the same. Epic? You betcha! Immediately after watching that clip, I watched a clip from a BET awards show where Brown was performing, and Jackson surprised him on stage. Once again, Michael did a little impromptu hustle.

Why the mention of these events? It's quite simple really. When James Brown passed, there were those who mourned the loss of the Godfather of Soul, and there were those who felt the only thing worthy of discussing as far as James Brown was concerned, were his problems over the years. Now they're doing the same thing to Michael Jackson. Will it happen to Prince? It's quite possible.

I just hope things don't get too out of hand.



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