Michael Jackson - end of an era - RIP

[Roy Hersh]

Just heard that bad boy Michael Jackson collapsed and died today. Don't know but think we share a birth year.

So what is your opinion? How will he be remembered?

[Frederick Blais]

How many parties have you done when you were young, dancing on vinyls of M. Jackson. We had dance competitions with his song when I was like 5yo and dancing in those days :)

I think his music will live on and many artists will cover them for years to come. He did so much for the music, he inspire new styles, new videos technologies and sketch, dancing moves. He was a fantastic artist, unfortunately it did not went all well for him, can't blame him for all, he's an easy target, his father was bad... but hey, his legacy will live longers than the bad things he could have done.

[Moses Botbol]

He is/was an icon and will be for a long time. His music is eternal. Personally, I have his greatest hits on my iPhone and listen to it on the tread mill. Thriller is a masterpiece that few records have ever even come close to. Just as timeless and fresh now as it was in ’84.

To the outsider, he physical appearance would lead one to believe he was quite frail and probably in poor health. We all remember his hair catching on fire. He had also broken his back and leg and chronic pain from that. There’s plenty to joke about him and his oddness & fondness’s, but it’s not appropriate to jest about those right now.

I feel pretty confident we’ll find that prescription drugs played a lion’s share in this tragedy. No one told Jackson no, and they were all enablers. He was under huge financial obligations and many were reliant on him to complete his 50 concert tour.

I applaud his contribution to music and culture. RIP MJ

[Ray Barnes]

I have to admit to never being enthusiastic about popular culture. Having said that, one cannot deny his towering influence there. I have never very much liked the tone of his singing voice, nor the vocal embellishments in his songs. In watching a performance of Beat It just a few years ago, I found something also quite disingenous with the front rows of screaming teenage girls. I also found his habit of putting his hand on his crotch while dancing to be in very questionable taste.

Having said that, there is no question in my mind his skills as a dancer were peerless. He was almost a human slinky. His movement achieved such a high level of fluidity that it appeared to overcome the sequentiality of dance. It is not unlike in music where the form structure is so fully realized that one is no longer even conscious of it (such as in the Piano Quartets of Brahms). The intensity level of his performances was very captivating.

I watched Thriller for the proverbial umpteenth time on youtube yesterday. It remains a masterpiece of its genre.

To my mind, Michael Jackson was almost a 20th century version of Richard Wagner. They were both revolutionaries in the art of choreography and the overall visual elements of musical performance. They were also highly idiosyncratic geniuses whose motives were called into question by those who might either envy or not be able to understand them. They have also been accused of sexual indiscretion, although I feel that Jackson is innocent of everything except his own naivete.

MIchael deserves the utmost respect for his philanthropic work. His involvement with We Are The World unquestionably made the lives of millions of children for the better, far more than the few he has allegedly made worse. One could also argue that Beat It is a very effective anti-gang violence statement which has saved more lives than has been credited.

Michael has done more good than harm and critics should not be too hasty and judgmental.

[Ray Barnes]

In watching and contemplating upon some retrospective commentary this evening on ABC's 20/20, and seeing (again for the proverbial umpteenth time) his inaugural performance of Billie Jean, I was struck by the inspired nature of his movement, for which dancing seems an inadequate expression, in which his body was made to portray the emotional content of the lyrics above and beyond that which could be conveyed in the text. It also portrayed, in my view, a state where the body appeared to be functioning at an intuitive level, achievable only upon prior mastery of analytical details. It is said in mystical circles that complete freedom is achievable only through complete discipline. Given Michael's perfectionist reputation, perhaps that was his artistic goal in performance.

In watching him dance, one is provided with the sense that the physical vessel has become an instrument for the expression of the emotional and spiritual content contained therein, and this vessel had been tuned to the point of close to human perfection, such that in watching him perform one could feel something above and beyond the normal limitations. In effect, his stage work became sublime, transcendent. This in my view led to the messianic zeal of his worldwide fanbase during the height of his popularity. In truth, Michael Jackson was able to overcome the laws and sociological conditions under which he was born through the resolute application of his considerable talent. As far as being an artist was considered, he was true to himself. This is something everyone should strive to do, with our own respective unique gifts.

HIs dancing conveyed a state of absolute integration, of apotheosis, and in live performance this undoubtedly had a Dionysian effect on his audiences. Perhaps my earlier comments about the apparent disingenuousness of some (perhaps) overenthusiastic audience members were in error.

It is unfortunate, I think, that his personal life outside of his art was not executed with the same thrilling (sic), consummate mastery. It does give one cause to mourn indeed.

[Roy Hersh]

A very balanced article and farewell recounting; from a could-be-fan-or-foe:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/n ... tacle.html