They say bad things happen in threes...

Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and Michael Jackson. Billy Mays threw in the forth at NO EXTRA CHARGE!!!!!

Of course that's a joke... because Michael Jackson dying... is not a bad thing. I know I'm one of the few to realize that.

On that note... to the "he was never convicted" crowd, give your head a shake. Any innocent person can't wait to get to trial to be acquitted. Hell some GUILTY people can't wait to get to trial to be acquitted. (OJ was never convicted either... morons)

Sorry but all those kajillion dollar cheques MJ wrote to those families shoulda had the words "This is proof of my guilt" in the memo line. If you DON'T believe that, you are:

A) A fucking idiot

B) Part of the problem. The problem being that we in this society put such a high premium on celebrity (and to a lesser extent money) that we assume anyone famous (or to a lesser extent rich) must be the most content and fulfilled people in the world and would never want to do anything to jeopardize losing that fame/money. Please. Some people just ain't right... and surprise, some of those people can write songs and hit baseballs and act. I for one, will not give Michael Jackson a free pass, even in death, like the media seems to want me to, for molesting children just because 'Billie Jean' is a fucking fantastic song.

This brings me nicely into my next point. There's another crowd of MJ mourners, the "Yeah he did some bad shit but it's still sad for the music world blah blah blah".

At this point I'd like to turn this article over to the music world to say a few words.

Hi, it's me, the music world. It's OKAY. I'm OKAY. Had Michael Jackson died in 1982, or even as late as 1991, I'd be pretty sad. However, since he spent the last 15 or so years proving he had nothing left to give to me, I'm really doing just fine... quit sending flowers and cards. I guess I'd be VERY sad if when MJ died, somehow all that amazing music he made in his younger days went with him, but guess what, it's STILL here... so no harm done... and to young boys everywhere, no MORE harm done. It's win-win. Actually, now he won't be phoning in a bunch more crap songs that are a watered down retread of his early work like on 'Invincible' (ironic title hey? Too soon?) So I guess... I guess I'm happy he's dead. Oh and by the way, fucking Mariah Carey and John Mayer DO NOT speak for me, I've been trying to get both of them to stop hanging around me for YEARS..

Whoa... That's some rather harsh words from the music world. I can't believe he said some of those things... but I agree.

This article isn't even intended to focus on MJ... but I haven't said a word on the subject on here yet so... there ya have Chris Real's (and the music world's) take on it.

What I wanted to talk about was celebrity death in general. The idea of "mourning" someone you don't know. It's odd. Now, I can't question the theory behind it in its entirety, because I've done it myself. Kurt's death, and comedian Mitch Hedburg... both really got to me. Those were the only two. I've been shocked lots, but only sad those two times.

There are celebrities still living whose deaths would cause me the same grief... Bono, Brett Favre, a couple others, but that's pretty much it. I generally find the idea of being sad for someone dying that you've never met to be laughable, but like I said, I've been there and I'll be there again so... I don't fully understand it but it's there.

Of course the media is the guiltiest party in all this... even in the Michael Jackson case they are, and that's TOUGH to pull off when your competition molested children. The almost complete ignoring of that fact makes them more guilty. The celebrations and tributes and week long eulogy and blah blah blah is like condoning his actions. "Jackson's troubled past" or "the controversial figure" was as negative as it got... I woulda liked to seen the families and the kids more than MJ's music "touched" get some air time... but that wasn’t gonna happen.

Even if they're not covering the death of a should-be criminal, the media is still suspect in their coverage of every celebrity death. I bet Farrah Fawcett's ghost is PISSED OFF. Her last chance at some publicity gone... Michael's very last rape I guess. Oh well, she got a good three hours in... for three hours a media that had spent the last 20 years reporting on her every scandal and nuance of her sex life and making her into a joke all of a sudden had a change of heart and her death became a tragic loss. Everything is business... media used to be a public service, now it's a public panderer. It used to be pride based, who could scoop who, now, it's the same "give the people what they want" mentality of McDonald's or Wal-Mart... and the same "tell the people what they want to hear" mentality of a politician.

Human beings with logic, a society with decent judgment, and actual journalism, now THOSE are losses worth mourning.

No film at 11.

cfr