# Michael Jackson Dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 25, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988 "2009-06-25T21:15:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/301 "2009-06-26T17:23:55Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > [Haley Joel Osment](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005286/). Looks like he’s been doing lots of voiceover work. I saw him in a David Mamet play on Broadway last fall. He was pretty good. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/302 "2009-06-26T17:24:41Z")
Haley Joel Osment. He seems to still be working, although not in any movie I’ve heard of. Anna Paquin won an Oscar at age 11, and seems to have made it to a mature film career without any serious problems. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/303 "2009-06-26T17:53:02Z")
Well there are plenty of child stars who ended up as trainwrecks, quite a few did just fine. Mayim Bialik, the kid from _Beaches_ who played “Blossom” went and got a doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA. Fred Savage certainly never turned into a screw up. Most of the kids from “Little House on the Prairie” grew up just fine. Sean Astin and Ricky Schroeder are both devoted family men. The kids from the Brady Bunch all came out pretty normal (or at leas they are about as average as any other similar collection of adults that age). Fame does not automatically lead to “fucked up”. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/304 "2009-06-26T18:03:24Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Well there are plenty of child stars who ended up as trainwrecks, quite a few did just fine. Mayim Bialik, the kid from _Beaches_ who played “Blossom” went and got a doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA. Fred Savage certainly never turned into a screw up. Most of the kids from “Little House on the Prairie” grew up just fine. Sean Astin and Ricky Schroeder are both devoted family men. The kids from the Brady Bunch all came out pretty normal (or at leas they are about as average as any other similar collection of adults that age). Fame does not automatically lead to “fucked up”. All good points, although I would argue that musical fame is a different beast from acting fame. I could certainly be wrong, not having had personal experience with either. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/305 "2009-06-26T18:13:25Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > All good points, although I would argue that musical fame is a different beast from acting fame. I could certainly be wrong, not having had personal experience with either. True, although the Brady kids spent awhile doing the whole musical tour thing Jackson 5 style too. Billy Gillman seems to be doing just fine after being the youngest person to ever hit the top 40 in country music and LeAnn Rimes also became huge at 13 in th world of country. However I agree that the music world can be brutal on _anyone_ adults included. The music industry is a pretty ruthless machine. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/306 "2009-06-26T18:18:10Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > All good points, although I would argue that musical fame is a different beast from acting fame. I could certainly be wrong, not having had personal experience with either. That’s true, and an important distinction. The music scene still has this sort of hard-bitten carny side to it, relating mostly to the touring side of things. The movie scene is more outwardly glamorous, as that’s what they’re selling. ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/307 "2009-06-26T18:33:18Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > I get this. I really do. I also understand innocent until proven guilty. > > But I used to work with developmentally disabled adults, many of whom have the same lack of understanding about what is appropriate. That doesn’t mean they should not be educated about it, be corrected when they do things that are not appropriate, suffer consequences when they break the law, etc. I knew clients who were on sex offender registries, even though they had a similar lack of understanding about why what they did was wrong. > > I’m not happy that he’s dead, make no mistake about that. And I don’t profess to have any inside track on his innocence or guilt. But someone, somewhere should have intervened more if he was unable to make that judgment call himself. I can’t help but to want to apply that same admonishment to the parents who were under such a spell by the enormity of his celebrity as to let their kids do overnights and spend inordinate amounts of time with him, just because of who he was. To me that seems similarly inappropriate. I’m sure they’d be super creeped out if their kids wanted to spend the same kind of time with the no-name nice guy down the street. But they were so willing to allow it with MJ. Fame can create such delusions, for everyone involved. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/308 "2009-06-26T18:37:55Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I saw him in a David Mamet play on Broadway last fall. He was pretty good. I have a hard fuckin’ time imagining HJ-fuckin’-O doin’ Mamet fuckin’ dialogue. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/309 "2009-06-26T18:54:03Z")
The guy who played Doogie Howser seems to have turned into a nice,well rounded fella. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/310 "2009-06-26T18:56:47Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > [Haley Joel Osment](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005286/). Looks like he’s been doing lots of voiceover work. Poor kid. He’s going to get carded until he’s 60. ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/311 "2009-06-26T19:05:20Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > I have a hard fuckin’ time imagining HJ-fuckin’-O doin’ Mamet fuckin’ dialogue. “I see dead fuckers!” ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/312 "2009-06-26T19:09:59Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > “I see dead fuckers!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/313 "2009-06-26T21:22:47Z")
> [@Hippy\_Hollow](#): > > I think we are going to see a media firestorm beyond what we’ve ever seen before. Madonna’s impact was at best a decade and a half, and her core fan base would be folks around my age (late 30s, 40s). MJ has been a global superstar from 1969 to 2000 or so - almost three decades. He of course was a celebrity all his life.. Agree about the media firestorm part, but I’d draw a fine distinction on the arc of his fame. He was a child pop star for 10 years (in the 70s); then a global superstar, icon, paradigm shattering megastar for 5 years. He’s been merely tabloid fodder for 20 years now. In a way, his death is a lot like Elvis’ – too early, but about 20 years after they’d ceased to make any impact (and at least Elvis was still performing). The weirdest thing about the media firestorm is seeing the TMZ stalker-azzi being treated like real journalists. (I saw one on local news this morning, going public with the “demerol overdose” allegation, which at this point has to be nothing more than wildly unsubstantiated speculation.) ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/314 "2009-06-26T22:42:36Z")
coroner is holding findings until further testing is done; tox, neuro, and pulm. no surprize there, just tons of speculation until 4-6 weeks. on cnn they stated that the kids are with katherine jackson. personally i wouldn’t have my child stay with someone who knew there was abuse and did nothing about it. in work discussions this am speculation is that the children may go with no 1 sibling and daughter, the jackson hardly anyone knows about, and apparently the most normal of them. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/315 "2009-06-26T22:44:25Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > That was 42 posts ago. Use the “quote” button next time please. Ooo, touchy! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/316 "2009-06-26T23:30:55Z")
Created in 2006: [If this is what’s happening outside, what’s going on inside?](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDW1TVH78BU) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2009, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/317 "2009-06-26T23:50:20Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Well there are plenty of child stars who ended up as trainwrecks, quite a few did just fine. Mayim Bialik, the kid from _Beaches_ who played “Blossom” went and got a doctorate in neuroscience from UCLA. Fred Savage certainly never turned into a screw up. Most of the kids from “Little House on the Prairie” grew up just fine. Sean Astin and Ricky Schroeder are both devoted family men. The kids from the Brady Bunch all came out pretty normal (or at leas they are about as average as any other similar collection of adults that age). Fame does not automatically lead to “fucked up”. Most of the “Stars” on your list were never all that huge. The biggest one is probably Marsha Brady and you apparently are unaware of how royally fucked up her life has been. Multiple serious drug addictions, bulimia, depression, obesity, prostitution, etc. She did not come out “pretty normal”. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/318 "2009-06-27T03:38:41Z")
I’m presuming this is genuine. [Lisa Marie Presley’s MySpace Blog](http://blogs.myspace.com/lisamariepresley). ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/319 "2009-06-27T03:49:17Z")
I wasn’t a \*huge \* fan of his, but I did (do) appreciate his talent very much. I keep thing, “What, Michael Jackson died?!” and it just seems so… weird. He was such an icon, for my whole life (I’m 40) and it just seems crazy that he’s dead. When I get to the bargaining stage of my grief, I’m going to ask for a pony. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988/320 "2009-06-27T04:06:48Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I wasn’t a \*huge \* fan of his, but I did (do) appreciate his talent very much. I keep thing, “What, Michael Jackson died?!” and it just seems so… weird. He was such an icon, for my whole life (I’m 40) and it just seems crazy that he’s dead. > > When I get to the bargaining stage of my grief, I’m going to ask for a pony. I think this is how I feel, except for being a huge fan. I listened to my Jacksons (Michael and the brothers) mix on my iPhone all day today. I noticed how many songs that Michael wrote have the word _cry_ in them. And even though we haven’t seen him on a stage in years, I kept thinking to myself, _We’re never going to hear him sing these songs again._ I can’t believe he’s gone. It doesn’t seem real. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/michael-jackson-dead/500988.md?page=17)