Tell me.
Earlier today, while it was still the 25th of June in America where it happened, Michael Jackson died.
And, I get that he changed pop forever, sure! I was way tripped out when I found out that he died this morning, but just because you never think about these things.
I'm not trying to be insensitive, uncaring, or rude. But I don't get it.
I don't get how people cry for these people... They are NO BETTER than other people! Every day millions of people die who we don't know, and live through hell. Barely any one stops to think about that or shed a tear for that, yet just because this guy made good music, was made into a celebrity, doesn't make him any more valuable, and yet he is mourned the world over.
He's just another person! It's sad that he died but why would I cry over it? Why would I think, "Oh, the world has lost an amazing person"?
Every single person is amazing, valuable. Equally. Fame does not add to or take away from that.
So why would I mourn the death of one in a million people who also died today, none of whom I know? I feel sympathy towards his family, sure. Because I know about it. But think about it. Today, millions, millions of families are grieving over the death of their loved ones. You heard about some of those. You feel bad when a family member of a friend dies. But you feel sad because of their sadness. You empathise. Because of their grief! And perhaps you even cry over it.
But, celebrities. Unless you know them or know someone who knows them, how can you feel so much for them? Why not feel for the others who have died today? How many times have we watched tragedies on the news, yet due to the distance, feel sad and not much more? It's not personal, it's not happening to us... It's not even that we would think this consciously, but rather that it is hard to feel something so far removed from us.
We are not involved in celebrities' lives, yet it becomes easy to think we know them well when we read and hear all about them constantly. They are still just ordinary people, like us.
It's heart breaking that he is dead. But not for us, I don't understand how it could be for us. He's not someone we love as a friend or family member, someone we have a relationship with. He's someone we know about.
We hear about people dying in poverty, children dying in poverty. It's become something so common that most of us barely even bat an eyelid over it. We may think that we're privileged and as such, our duty to help these people out, so we donate some money. But do we really feel for them? Honestly?
And as for this matter of respect. Just because it's the day MJ died, doesn't mean you should be respectful. If you're going to be respectful, then be respectful full stop. When the person is alive, which honestly, is what matters.
If you're gonna talk shit about the person when they're alive, do it when they're dying, do it when they're dead. Do not like decide to be nice about someone because they've died, that's ridiculous, how does that help them when they're dead??? That is ridiculous. It is hypocritical. Be nice to them when they are alive. It's too late to regret it or try to be nice about them when they are gone.
I need to be nicer to a lot of people. I fully admit that.
And I think you should keep your negative opinions about a person to yourself, especially when they have died and their loved ones are grieving. That's the least a decent person could do. But realistically, it's so much more valuable to do when they are alive.
Every person's death should be felt with as much grief as some are feeling for Michael Jackson's right now.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
I agree completely with what you're saying here, especially the third last paragrapgh, lol
ReplyDelete'parently shazz was getting totally pissed off at curtis 'cause she was making fun of/insulting/bagging MJ. I remember i always used to make fun of steve irwin, and his death didnt stop me. But its not liked i went up to his family and cracked stingray jokes, and the same goes for curtis. Some people get unreasonably attached/defendant towards celebrities they dont know.
People are stupid.
I think you have missed to point of who Michael Jackson was to people.
ReplyDeleteIt's not simply his fame that has caused people to care, its the fact that he touched people and he gave people something. He gave people music, he gave people an icon. Sure, there are millions of people who die everyday, and do you know what, they WILL be mourned. Not by US, because we did not know them. Sure, his fame gave him the opportunity to grant him a day of world wide mourn, but that's because he was put into the spotlight, that's because HIS life was put out there for everyone to see, and those people that STILL feel something for him, are ENTITLED to mourn.
You can't justify telling people that they should not mourn the death of someone because they do not personally know them, that's unfair to the connection they may have had for the man. He may not have been in there homes or hearts in a true form, but rather in his messages and in his songs. The reason so many mourn is because he did more than most and he offered himself purely. He stood up against ridicule and controversy, against his tragic up bringing, against the constant glare of media attention.
He is no more human than anyone else, but as a person he offered more than those other million that died. It's sad and unfair, but true. They died only anonymously to the masses, but they did not live a life in the public eye.
I'm not suggesting that his passing is anymore SPECIAL than any other, but the truth is, you were not talking about other deaths until this one. You did not come on here and tell us about all the millions that died on the 24th. In fact, the only reason you are stating that, is to try and undermine the death of Michael Jackson.
The truth is, he is and always will be, a legend. No amount of comparison will change that.
You can't tell a person they don't have the right to mourn.
His death IS more significant, because his life was so significant, maybe not to YOU, but it still meant something. And as you said, you can't go changing your opinions once someone is dead, because then whats the point, people cared for him alive, and they still will now he is dead.
I only say all this because you are speaking from a purely basic understanding of the whole thing. The big picture says that NO, he shouldn't be mourned like everyone else, because the truth is, he's not like anyone else, in life or death.
x
Random Ranter of Rants - FUCK YOU.
ReplyDeletewhen i die, i want people to say "she was a great friend, she was a great writer, she helped me through a lot of things" (i dont believe any of these things, but it is touching when said), not "oh yeah, i remember that douchebag, im pretty sure she was gay and man did she need a haircut/to pull her jeans up"
I HOPE WHEN YOU DIE, PEOPLE LAUGH ABOUT YOUR BAD HAIRCUT, HOW NO ONE COULD UNDERSTAND YOU HALF THE TIME, AND HOW YOU WERE AS ANNOYING AS FUCK.
i mourn michael jackson for being a significant part of my growing up, a significant part of my life. it is my right to mourn, and not be ripped apart and called stupid because of it. i woke up yesterday, and it took me 5 minutes to remember that MJ was gone. and just like the day before, it felt like a punch in the guts. i dont care if you dont care that he's gone. but i do. and fuck you if you want to tear me and others down while we mourn someone who brought inspiration into our lives. fuck you. seriously. if anything, you're not understand this worldwide reaction is just showing that you dont love anywhere near as hard as i do. i never met michael jackson. i never spoke to michael jackson. ive never even seen michael jackson. but he surely had enough influence upon my life to make me cry every time i think about his death. so fuck you if i love hard. i hate just as hard too. R.I.P. MJ. you were surely a legend. Daniel Brown is surely not.
Someone got unreasonably angry about what I said.
ReplyDeleteI dont know where you got the tearing you down from, i was just pointing out it seemed illogical to get annoyed over someone insulting someone who you didnt even know. Also you wouldn't have cared last week if she'd said those things, or at least not as much.
I wasnt saying you shouldn't be sad about him dying, what i was saying was that you shouldn't care what other people say about him, especially people like jess curtis.
I think we should remember that blogging is like a journal. People put their own opinions and judgments out there and they have every right to. Remember it is only a blog and that everyone's feelings are valid. while we don't agree with all of them, we never will, we are all welcome to feel how we feel, mourn the life that leaves us and celebrate what makes us happy. I hope that we also remember to acknowledge that there should always be a place to use as an outlet for our thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI did not know MJ, but he was an experienced performer who was a Master of his craft and for that, the compositions he still had in him will be missed. I wish his family and friends my sympathy and hope we can all come to a place where anger and put downs is left to the wayside. =)