# You can go back in time and stop Michael Jackson from dying. Do you do it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 3, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924 "2010-10-03T16:28:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/41 "2010-10-03T22:01:43Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > What he said. I didn’t like Jackson, I wasn’t sad when he died, but saving him would be doing a mitzva. What he said. That being said, I voted for you boobytrapping the scooter. On the ‘would you kill Hitler’ side of things, it’s recent enough that I can’t think of any negative outcomes for altering space/time like that. ---
**Author:** ![Peeta\_Mellark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Peeta\_Mellark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peeta_Mellark)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/42 "2010-10-03T22:06:15Z")
I guess I would because no little kids deserve to lose their father and be pushed into the tender mercies Michael Jackson’s psychotic family. He loved his kids and largely had them taken care of by staff. Far, far better for them than being new tools for the older Jacksons. If I have the power to prevent a death, I’ll use it. But if the scooter was preprogrammed simply to go back in time and save Michael Jackson and wasn’t limited to _that_ date, I’d go back to save him from the pyrotechnics that caught his scalp on fire and are likely largely responsible for his painkiller addiction in the first place. Hell, maybe without the drug abuse he could have stayed moderately sane. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/43 "2010-10-03T22:07:36Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > > [@Alessan](#): > > > > What he said. I didn’t like Jackson, I wasn’t sad when he died, but saving him would be doing a mitzva. > > What he said. That being said, I voted for you boobytrapping the scooter. On the ‘would you kill Hitler’ side of things, it’s recent enough that I can’t think of any negative outcomes for altering space/time like that. Except for any children that were possibly saved from molestation. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/44 "2010-10-03T22:22:18Z")
You’re right - I forgot about that. It’s interesting how that… aspect of his legacy has been conveniently omitted from the public memory. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/45 "2010-10-03T22:26:51Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > You’re right - I forgot about that. It’s interesting how that… aspect of his legacy has been conveniently omitted from the public memory. I haven’t forgotten about it. A few months ago I learned that my young nephew (under twelve) is a huge MJ fan, which I found puzzling for about three reasons and distressing for the obvious one. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/46 "2010-10-03T22:30:56Z")
I’m not going to mess with the time-space continuum for Michael Jackson’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/47 "2010-10-03T23:11:29Z")
I wouldn’t lift a finger to save Michael Jackson… but if I could delay his death for a week or so, I’d do it just so he didn’t steal poor Farrah Fawcett’s thunder. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/48 "2010-10-03T23:14:19Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > > > I took an oath. I am forbidden to mess with causality. Or cut for stone. > > Isn’t that cutting for stone clause obsolete now? I was under the impression that y’all shattered stones with ultrasound or something, and then let the patient piss it out in tiny grains of sandlike particles. Just another reason to not cut for stone. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/49 "2010-10-03T23:16:46Z")
Would you go back and make Melkor stick to the theme? Lots of pain and sorrow would have been prevented, and Eru’s plan would have been achieved from the very start! But there would never have been any Children of Iluvatar. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/50 "2010-10-03T23:17:47Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > I wouldn’t lift a finger to save Michael Jackson… but if I could delay his death for a week or so, I’d do it just so he didn’t steal poor Farrah Fawcett’s thunder. While I’m sure Ms. Fawcett’s family would love fo rher tohave had any extra time possible, I also suspect it was a relief for the media’s attention to be directed elsewhere. I wouldn’t want my mourning to be public. > [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Would you go back and make Melkor stick to the theme? Lots of pain and sorrow would have been prevented, and Eru’s plan would have been achieved from the very start! But there would never have been any Children of Iluvatar. Melkor is just Eru’s dark side, and you know it. The whole Song was just Eru’s way of expunging the evil from Himself so that the only that part of him that is Manwë remains. The sad part is that, in the End, after the Last Battle, when Morgoth is finally and entirely destroyed, Eru will be so horrified by what he has done that he will transform himself in to a Lion and allow himself to be slain on a Stone Table in penance. That is the dark secret of Narnia. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/51 "2010-10-03T23:19:31Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@Cazzle](#): > > > > I wouldn’t lift a finger to save Michael Jackson… but if I could delay his death for a week or so, I’d do it just so he didn’t steal poor Farrah Fawcett’s thunder. > > While I’m sure Ms. Fawcett’s family would love fo rher tohave had any extra time possible, I also suspect it was a relief for the media’s attention to be directed elsewhere. I wouldn’t want my mourning to be public. Are you kidding? They were building up to their big moment for weeks beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/52 "2010-10-03T23:20:24Z")
I spend enough time stopping stupid people from killing Hitler. Please don’t make me add this pathetic Human to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/53 "2010-10-03T23:26:24Z")
Yeah, of course I’d try to save him. At the end of the day he’s still a person, and I wouldn’t mind playing the “ghost of Christmas future” for him. Surprised how many people wouldn’t. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/54 "2010-10-03T23:39:25Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > > [@silenus](#): > > > > Where is the “Who cares?” option? > > It’s at the upper right hand corner of your screen; it looks like a little red x. Not “Who cares about the question?” More of a “Who cares about Michael Jackson?” I consider him to be one of the biggest wastes of resources the West knew during the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/55 "2010-10-03T23:45:57Z")
> [@](#): > > Melkor is just Eru’s dark side, and you know it. The whole Song was just Eru’s way of expunging the evil from Himself so that the only that part of him that is Manwë remains. You know better than this, **Skald**. Eru is greater by far than all of the Ainur combined. Or is this just one of those things that you only believe on the first and third Sunday of each month? ---
**Author:** ![statsman1982](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e79b87/32.png) [@statsman1982](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/statsman1982)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/56 "2010-10-04T01:54:54Z")
Of course I would. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/57 "2010-10-04T02:16:57Z")
I suppose I would feel ethically obligated to try to save him, but I seriously doubt if I would succeed. Go back to the late 1970s or early 1980s, you might have a chance. But in 2009, his bad habits were much too deeply entrenched. You might buy him a few weeks or months, but he would still end up dead. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/58 "2010-10-04T03:18:23Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > > [@DrFidelius](#): > > > > I just know this will work out like that time they prevented the pyramids from being built, and for three whole iterations people were writing to newpaper columnists asking “What is that thing on the back of the dollar bill?” > > > > Almost as bad a propagation as removing the third common “-gry” word from the English Language. > > “Hengry” is the word you seek; it refers to the condition of a person starving for lack of the flesh of fowls. Check the OED if you don’t believe me. I have a OED on my computer and looked it up, as this didn’t appear to be a joke. Hengry is not in the OED. Neither is gullible. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/59 "2010-10-04T04:05:05Z")
Eh, I figure, if I could save Michael’s life, I might be able to bitchslap him back to sense, too. Or at least some approximation of it. “Michael… it’s time to grow up.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2010, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924/60 "2010-10-04T04:09:27Z")
Can I save him, but take him away, and leave some fake remains so it looks like he did die? And then drop him off at some future psychiatric ward that would cure his problems? Because I might do that. I’d also love to go back further if I can and warn him of the evils of benzodiazepines, and get him something else, and, yes, maybe prevent him from the fire. Otherwise, I’m not keen to mess around with fate. But I might be interested enough to find out if it was suicide, murder, accidental overdose, or whatever. Stopping OD would probably be pointless. Suicide would only work with my first option, and I’d be too scared to muck about with a murderer. But it would be interesting information, nonetheless. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-can-go-back-in-time-and-stop-michael-jackson-from-dying-do-you-do-it/555924.md?page=4)