Ok, I know the guy is a major wacko freak eccentric to the point being redundant, but what about the music, videos and dancing? Since he’s trying to make a comeback of sorts, let’s talk about him.
Last night I caught the “Michael Jackson’s Halloween Special” on MTV, and while it was really odd and didn’t make alot of sense, the dancing was amazing. It was directed by Stan Winston, so there were all kinds of cool monsters and excellent makeup and effects. I’m not sure when this was made, I have never seen it before. Mike looked a little younger–or at least a little more healthy and resembling a human, so it must have been done 4-5 years ago.
Right now he is being dogged for taking advantage of the 9-11 tragedy to launch his comeback, but I think he is getting a bad wrap on that. The week before the tragedy, he did appear on the MTV awards with IN*Sync, and had just started the comeback concerts. It’s not like he masterminded the attack for his own interests…right??
He’s made alot of bad choices–too many surgeries, criminal accusations, the strange dance sequence in Black and White, the giant statue he commissioned of himself. But so many GREAT performances…the Jackson 5, Thriller, Motown performance Scream video with Janet…so many more. Plus, I think a couple of his albums were very underrated: Dangerous and HIStory Vol 1 and 2 both had some excellent music.
Has his success made him eccentric, or would he have been this way without the mega-blockbusters?
Exactly, what about the music, videos and dancing?
The music… he can’t read or write music, nor can he play any instrument (maybe a few simple guitar chords and one-finger keyboard work). So the ‘admirable’ music is put together by an army of session musicians, very skilled producers, and some very cool technology. What’s his contribution? He hums a bit of how he thinks the tune might go, and then leaves them to it? It must be something like that. Sometimes it all comes together well and it works, sometimes not. Give me 20 million dollars to spend on an album, and I reckon I could produce something more interesting than ‘You rock my world’.
The videos. MJ doesn’t produce or direct them, so credit where credit is due. The ‘Thriller’ video was good because John Landis is a good director and the choreographer, whoever he or she was, did a great job. So did all the ‘backing’ dancers, many of whom I’d much rather look at than MJ.
The dancing. Yeah, right. Are you kidding? Mj only looks like a competent dancer if you edit together lots of short, self-contained shots. He has about 5 moves, all done to death and not original with him. If you want to see dancing, go and see trained professionals who have the physique (MJ is a wimp’s wimp) and the training to do it properly (e.g. any production of Cats or A Chorus Lines). Better still, watch the kind of stuff Fred Astaire was doing in a single, continuous take over 50 years ago.
But even if he were some sort of musical genius, you’d have to look at that face, and that nose, and think… frankly, if that’s wealth and fame for you, I’ll take obscurity.
I saw his new video-the name of the song escapes me at the moment-and he is scary looking! They showed Thriller and then this new one and he hardly looks like the same man.
I swear he looks like he’s being slowly mummified.
“appreciation” and “freakish, homosexual pedophile” should not appear in the same sentance.
nuff said by me!
(and i truly apologize to any homosexuals for lumping this “thing” in a group with you, i was merely using the word to discribe his actions, not his affiliation)
I haven’t seen him produce anything worthwhile since Thriller. Singing? How is a few high-pitched squeals singing? Videos? The Black & White video was neat, but there was much more interesting stuff out at that time. Dancing? What ianzin said.
Not sure what we’re supposed to “appreciate” about him.
IANAMadonna fan, but I don’t think that it’s fair to compare him to Madonna. She’s way more talented.
I think it is possible to admire an entertainer’s talent without admiring the entertainer. I always thought Axl Rose came across like a real asswipe, but I loved GNR. At some point, though, it is hard for me to separate the artist from the art, and Michael crossed that point a long time ago. Go back to his Jackson 5 material, or the “Off the Wall” album, and there is no denying his talents as an entertainer. The videos from Thriller were huge, and although **ianzin ** is correct that the directors and choreographers deserve a lot of the credit, I don’t think you can ignore MJ’s contribution. But there’s just been too much odd behavior after the success of Thriller. The constant facial surgeries, the self-promotion coupled with complaints about media harrasment, the bizarre marriages, and especially the child-molestation charges. I realize he was never indicted, let alone convicted, and he should be thought of as innocent, but there just seems to be too much of a history of inappropriate contact with children for me not to be suspicious of his motives.
I think the OP question of whether he would have turned out so wacko without the success is impossible to answer. If the stories of his early childhood are true, his father brought an awful lot of pressure on him at an early age to make him succesful, and that experience might have warped him a bit, but on the other hand the rest of the kids seem to have turned out more or less normal. There’s certainly no doubt that his money has enabled him to endulge himself in odd behaviors, and perhaps even to get himself out of some serious trouble.
I heard he wrote some of his own music. Is he completely muically illiterate, as ianzin says?
As for the Scream video with Janet Jackson… I think that is the sexiest Janet has ever looked. That’s probably why it only served to freak me out when he appeared, looking almost identical. Ick.