Michael Jackson just died!

[mstang67chic]

You really do have to wonder....if he had been allowed to have some normalcy in his childhood....would he have turned out as.....um....odd as he did? I feel bad for the child MJ...the kid was performing since the age of what....5 or 6? His father mapped out his entire life for him, monitored everything he did, everyone he met. Poor kid didn't stand a chance. Someone on CNN said that as a child, MJ was more like an adult. When he reached adult hood, he reverted back to an odd sort of childhood. I don't, at all, condone some of the things he's done but at the same time, I kind of feel for him. Yes, as an adult, he knew right from wrong and should never have been with boys like he was. I guess I feel bad for the Michael he USED to be before he started changing colors, acting bizarre and turned into such a strange person.

 

[DammitJanet]

You know...just thinking outloud. Doesnt it figure that the King of Pop would go out and overshadow a week that had all this news stuff going on. We had two other famous people die, a governor get caught in a major news scandal and then Micheal takes all the attention on him! One last parting hoorha!

 

[totoro]

How sad
I absolutely loved Ben. It would set off the water works just hearing the song...

It will be interesting, I am heading to NW Indiana early next week. husband's work is in Gary, Indiana. Michael's hometown... I remember when he came to visit when we were there. It was complete insanity.
I bet it will be a trip to be there... it usually is any way.

It is a sad time for entertainment.

 

[klmno]

msstang, you bring up a good point. From I understand (who knows how much is true about this), his family was pretty dysfunctional. Throw in your whole childhood and identity revolving around being a star, and how could you understand "normalcy". (Not that it would justify molestation.) They said on the news though that he settled with that boy's family for $20 million.

I thought he had the condition that made him lose his pigmant- that the lightening of his skin had nothing to do with a choice??

They are having a tv special on tonight about him at 9:00 and Farah at 10:00.

 

[DammitJanet]

I have been watching HLN all night. They are talking about nothing but him.

 

[witzend]

K, he did have vitiligo, which gives the skin a sort of "pinto pony" appearance. Many people do nothing about it. Some people put on make-up to match skin tone. Most black people tend to match the lightly pigmented skin to the darkly pigmented skin. MJ chose to match the dark to the light. I guess I might understand that more if he were of mixed race, or if his siblings were lighter skinned than he and he wanted to feel more like his family. But none of that is true.

I have some of his older CDs. He was a good looking young man, I don't know why he felt he had to disfigure himself so badly. I can't judge him for it, but I won't ever understand it.

I loved "Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough" when I was young and used to go dancing. L was just born when Billy Jean came out. I remember scheduling time to sit in front of MTV for the premier of "Thriller".

 

[klmno]

Yeah, Witz- it's the older days that I like about him, too. I didn't know he was trying to match the lighter portions of his skin and I don't know about the surgeries. I feel sorry for him about those really- it was an obvious sign that something serious was amiis in his way of thinking. They had a show about that years ago and a couple a well-known plastic surgeons were saying it was incompetent for any surgeon to do those last surgeries on MJ. I agree with that- no matter how mush he paid them. And if it was because one of them botched a surgery, starting a need to have more, I really think that would have been all over the news. I wonder now though if he had some serious health problems that were not known, either contributing to or resulting from some of these other things.

 

[mstang67chic]

I thought he had the condition that made him lose his pigmant- that the lightening of his skin had nothing to do with a choice??

husband actually has that condition although it isn't as severe as MJ's. My comment about changing colors and acting odd was more a reference to the time table of things. It just seemed like the lighter his skin got, the wierder he acted as if that was some sort of turning point for him.

 

[klmno]

Any chance he was (and has been) anorexic and damage was caused to his organs?

 

[mrscatinthehat]

Actually there were rumors of that years ago. He used to say that Elizabeth Taylor used to spoon feed him or some quote like that. So maybe he was.

 

[SRL]

What an incredibly gifted individual.

What a weird, warped life he lived.

When celebrities die young like this, abuse of prescription drugs or alcohol is often involved.

 

[klmno]

Or suicide? I'm glad his brother announced that they are going to do an autopsy.

 

[tiredmommy]

What a sad life. I hope he's finally at peace.

 

[tiredmommy]

Here's a video of him performing Ben:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwAmpn8ISV0"]YouTube - Michael Jackson - BEN[/ame]

 

[DammitJanet]

I think he has been anorexic for years and it is said that he has been addicted to pain killers for at least the last ten years. His lawyer said that tonight on HLN.

It is thought that he started changing is facial features about the time he left and went out on his own because he started seeing his fathers face "in the mirror". If anyone knows anything about his feeling about his father...well you know that would drive him crazy. He wouldnt want to look like his father so he would go to any lengths to change that image. His first nose job was legitimate. He fell off a stage and broke his nose but the rest were purely cosmetic.

I will be very interested to hear the autopsy report. I dont foresee anything of a whodunit variety but I think we will be shocked at tox reports and physical condition of his body.

 

[flutterby]

Anorexia was suspected for many years. He apparently had drug dependency issues that he overcame. He was also reported to have been diagnosis'd with lupus about the same time as the vitiligo diagnosis.

Lupus is bad on the heart.

 

[klmno]

I just saw a few mins about this on cnn. They had his attny from the molestation case on there- not talking about the case. He said MJ had broken down and cried and hugged him at one point and he said he feared for MJ"s life because he was so frail- he could feel bones in his back. By all acctounts, he was a 12yo in a man's body. Also, the attny said that MJ had to have been the lonliest person he'd ever met. It is very sad.

I do wonder what that boy/man will say about the molestation now- how much did happen. Yeah- the autopsy report will be iinteresting.

As far as the nose jobs, I can understand having a couple, but somebody was a quack to keep whittling away at it once half had already been removed. He was beautiful at one point- what fool would keep whacking on this guy?

 

[Nomad]

Several thoughts struck me about this death...and I think I'm still thinking about it all. One is that both my son and I were fans of Michael Jackson's music and felt horrible when we heard that he had died. However, my son and I are 25 years apart in age! In my book, that's amazing! Usually my son is barely aware of entertainers I like, and I am not overly fond of the ones he likes. Also, although he was a brilliant entertainer, his social capacity was deeply diminished. One can't help but wonder if it played at least some role in his early death. How many people just "used" him? How many people loved him unconditionally? Who could he really trust?
I have my suspcisions that not only did he suffer from deep psychological problems, but also several medical ones. (by the way, Anorexia is basically a sign of self hatred). And certainly, there is a possibility of drug abuse/overdose. He was such a brilliant entertainer, yet so troubled personally and in such great need of good care medically and psychologically. One wonders if those close to him were not doing their best to help him or if he just wasn't willing to take the time to explore a better/healthier way of living. It is all very tragic.

 

[Marguerite]

A couple of points raised - someone said something about the parentage of the kids. According to media reports, Debbie Rowe was the mother of the older two, but the younger has a different mother (not named). Debbie allegedly signed away her parental rights. They've been talking about that a lot here today because Debie Rowe & MJ were married while in Sydney.

As for his health - anorexia wouldn't surprise me at all. Given his stated feelings about his father, his feelnig that he was still a child (and his affinity for being around children - I'm putting an innocent construction on it here) then anorexia is often a way of 'not growing up' in some cases. Especiallywith girls, but I wouldn't mind betting, with boys too.

Something said on Aussie TV today - we have reporters who claim to know MJ personally, they're media reporters who specialise in the rock music world and they do seem to have the cred to match. One of them said that MJ has apparently been rehearsing solidly, working his body really hard with danc practice all day but not traking in any nourishment. If he was also not drinking to replace lost fluids, it could so easily have put a major strain on his heart.

If that is the case, the autopsy will show it. Whether fans will accept it, I don't know. But with 3 weeks to go before the London concerts, I wouldn't be a bit surprised to hear that he was just working his body too hard, to make sure he looked youthful, slim and was able to move like a teenager.

So sad.

Marg

 

[BusynMember]

At this sad time, no comment on his personal life and choices, however his impact on my generation and those afterward as a musical icon are indisputable. I wasn't that shocked because I think there are outside reasons he died, sort of like Elvis, but no doubt he was a musical genuis and his talent will be sadly miss. Prayers to his family.