Adamdebomb says

While Elvis also had a drug problem, he was a person with a good heart.

Well Elvis wasn’t a perfect person either. Have you watched the movies about his life?

Adamdebomb says By the time he was eleven he wasn’t even living at home, and Gordy claims that they provided Michael with as normal a childhood as they could,

Where did you hear that? I heard differently. That he lived at home until he was 30 years old. I think it was either an interview or made for TV movie.

Then people will be talking about Michael as the amazing entertainer that he was and stop associating him with things that he was found not guilty of.

There were a couple of lawsuits against Michael and he had a crack team of lawyers. I heard two jurors later come out that they didn’t want to deal with the issues but felt he was guilty, this is in light of the other mass media circus of OJ Simpson trial. They said they felt MJ was guilty though. Michael won the lawsuit but settled millions on the accusors. Why settle if you are found innocent? Isn’t that the point of a lawsuit–you don’t want to pay. The settlement was made with the stipulation that this would not go to civil court (just like OJ Simpson was was found guilty in civil court). Money talks, and a lot of money screams. There are few people who have enough money to take on Michael Jackson and persue it, might as well just take the damn money, because justice will never be served.

Giving kids “Jesus Juice,” taking showers with them, sleeping with them, is not normal. Okay, a father might take his young son into the shower can be innocent, but I can’t imagine a man taking another kid in there. Sure, sometimes kids are afraid and they crawl in your bed, but that’s your kid and most of the time after the kid is asleep you carry them back to their own bed. There is nothing worse than sleeping with a kid as they toss, turn, pivot & kick you everywhere. Staff were off limits when Michael was “entertaining” kids visiting his ranch. There is no doubt in my mind there was something going on at “Neverland.” It will be interesting so see if any of the staff will start talking now that the King of Pop is dead and can’t control them.

Michael was a liar, I believe he was a child molestor, and clearly a deeply disturbed person but heck it’s okay because he was the King of Pop so let’s all put him on a pedestal because he was so talented and contributed so much to the music world and that’s all that counts and we shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.

I agree that this isn’t in the realm of service men and women giving their lives, but as far as pop culture goes, it really doesn’t get any bigger than this and I don’t think it will again.

I finally watched the MJ rehearsal video. I felt like I was punched in the stomach at the end: Hold for applause, hold for applause ‘ ¦. dim the lights.

I felt like I’d been sucker punched too. How fitting that that’s the last image of him….and the grin at literally the very end like he was satisfied with it. It’s still so difficult to comprehend a week later.

Most historical figures, whether they were leaders or geniuses in one field or another were flawed, perhaps even more so than the average person. You live large you have larger personality flaws in many cases. Not all. And the negative tends to get whitewashed over time.

So interested Canadians put in your name, but man that is a short time span to arrange transport to LA…..I’m with Anderson Cooper, stay at home and CNN will have the best seat in the house……….

But tragedy to me is a 21 year old who has given his life for his country,

I certainly don’t disagree with this. I was just talking about MJ. We are all certainly entitled to our opinions on him. I’ll always respect our servicemen – present and past and the sacrifices they make.

Being found not guilty in a court of law doesn’t necessarily mean innocence. Michael had more than one such accusation made against him and he paid off more than one family.

A matter of opinion of course but the fact that the families were willing to be paid off makes me believe even more that he was not guilty. I can understand why he would try to settle because the longer it was talked about by the media, the more it was damaging his reputation. We’ll never know the truth but I believe that MJ was not guilty.

Then people will be talking about Michael as the amazing entertainer that he was and stop associating him with things that he was found not guilty of.

Alas, Michael’s “other associations” will always be a part of his legacy. He was an amazing performer and artist, but he also had a dark side that manifested in many ways, some of them made public. Being found not guilty in a court of law doesn’t necessarily mean innocence. Michael had more than one such accusation made against him and he paid off more than one family. A lot of people thought that OJ Simpson and Robert Blake were also guilty of their crimes, even though a jury didn’t convict them. Those kinds of shadows never leave a person, especially when many intelligent people studied the cases and the facts and believed that they were guilty of what they were accused of.

MJ was both a brilliant artist and a damaged soul. His legacy will always reflect those two realities.

I finally watched the MJ rehearsal video. I felt like I was punched in the stomach at the end: Hold for applause, hold for applause ‘ ¦. dim the lights.

I agree. When I was watching the video, I temporarily forgot he was dead… but that ending brought it all back.

As far as the whole memorial service thing goes, I understand having a public memorial service. I understand the ticket situation to try and get some kind of handle on crowd control. I had not thought about the whole scalper thing that Kirsten mentioned. The thought of someone scalping tickets to a memorial service makes me ill. Sadly, there will be some sick jerks out there who will do it and take advantage of some person who truly just wants to remember Michael. Unfortunately, since the world has sick, insensitive people in it, those kinds of things will happen.

This whole thing is just so sad to me. The one good thing to come out of it is MJ’s music is out there again. My wish is that the rehearsal footage is released and they offer it in the theatres. I think people pay to see it. I know I will! Then people will be talking about Michael as the amazing entertainer that he was and stop associating him with things that he was found not guilty of.

unique28v
Jul 3rd, 2009 at 5:27 pm

Oh yeah. The music news about MJ!! He was undoubted the best. There are no if, ands, or buts about it. It would have been interesting to see how his new music would have done in today’s market. Particularly since we aren’t used to original talent anymore. Could he have dominated this decade like he did the 70′s, 80′s, and 90′s? Unfortunately we will never know.

unique28V: I just came from iTunes and currently MJ still has 48 of the Top 100 videos. I didn’t check out the songs but sure he has lots in the top. I do realize that a lot of these sales are due to his death, but has anyone ever had 50% of the top anything on iTunes? This is unbelievable.

BTW: Adam’s Mad World is still holding onto #94, no other S8 peeps there. Hang in there, Adam. :wub_tb:

The Larry King interview with Jermaine was very moving.

It is nice to hear some appreciation for Larry King lately. Just because American Idol isn’t his forte doesn’t negate all the other great interviews he has done and continues to do.

I don’t have romantic ideas about Neverland anymore. Maybe once upon a time I did, decades ago, but the molestation investigations changed my feelings about it. When seen as the kind of playground a pedophile might create, a place to entertain and lure children, it took on a different cast. A lot of strange things went on at Neverland. Giving alcohol to children? Showering with them? Sleeping with them? I can’t romanticize the place now. A lot of pedophiles think that they “love” children and see nothing wrong with their special brand of love. Sorry but to me, Michael was a sick individual despite all his great talent, and Neverland was not all lightness but had a lot of darkness too.

The City coffers do have a special fund to help cover special event needs for Police presence for traffic and crowd control. I’ve taken advantage of it for some local events I’ve helped organize through the LAPD for the public benefit.

With that said, the magnitude needed for this really begs that the ‘Producers’ of the event and those attending should pony up for police, trash, portapotties, etc. that will be needed.

I doubt that the City will make any money from this and businesses will actually lose money since regular customers and clients will be avoiding the area or won’t be able to get to them. Lost revenue means lost tax dollars.

There will be no revenue from Staples since there will be no taxes from ticket sales. There may be some from concessions inside Staples Center. There will be tons of unlicensed street vendors hawking t-shirts and memorabilia – again no tax dollars. (btw, it sickens me that there will be people selling crap at a memorial service.)

I finally watched the MJ rehearsal video. I felt like I was punched in the stomach at the end: Hold for applause, hold for applause …. dim the lights.

On the news last night, I heard Al Sharpton is calling for a National Day of Mourning for Michael Jackson. Give me a break!!!!!!!

THe Larry King interview with Jermaine was very moving. Neverland Ranch is quite beautiful as is the main house. I felt so bad for Jermaine and was quite touched by him.