Michael Jackson Dead

[pomtzu]

Talk about creepy, his fathers interview with CNN was creepy, he is already trying to promote stuff.

I saw that last night too, and was shocked at his demeanor. He didn't appear to be the least bit upset. Maybe this shouldn't be too shocking tho, considering the allegations against him regarding the way he treated his kids, and MJ in particular.

[Alysser]

I swore I responded to this thread, but I guess not.

Some of the comments on the news articles seriously sicken me. I've seen some that have said horrible things, and while I see there are some reasons not to like MJ, the last thing anyone deserves is a sudden and unexpected death. The life he has lead over the past decade wasn't what I'd call perfect, no, but who doesn't have problems and who doesn't make mistakes? I am glad he was given the respect he deserved here. I was at work when I heard about it, and my whole department(entertainment at Six Flags) was upset. I was not a major fan but his music was undeniable good and he was very talented. It's a sad loss for the world.

I saw that last night too, and was shocked at his demeanor. He didn't appear to be the least bit upset. Maybe this shouldn't be too shocking tho, considering the allegations against him regarding the way he treated his kids, and MJ in particular.

If it wasn't for the abuse his father put him through I would probably say different. He is the exception for what I believe. When people are greiving it isn't uncommon for them to smile and be happy in front of people. I know that I have way too much pride and dignity to cry in front of people and show any "weakness" in emotion in front of people and when Sassy died I only cried in front of 2 people. Maybe his Dad doesn't want to seem like that..although I didn't see the interview and am unaware if he was making jokes and the like. I don't know about this particular case, you'd think if he abused his kids he wouldn't really care about their deaths.

[K9soul]

There are a lot of aspects about Michael's appearance and other issues that can be explained if you just look around and research a bit, and none of it is the sensationalist tabloid rumor crap. He never bleached his skin, he had vitiligo universalis and lupus. Vitiligo causes the skin pigmentation to become obliterated, and lupus medications can further that effect.

He had his first nose surgery done after he broke his nose after falling during a dance routine. He had his second surgery when scar tissue from the first was causing alterations in his voice. The surgeries were not done very well and he also became paranoid about his appearance (some believe he had a psychological disorder called body dysmorphic syndrome) and kept trying to "fix" it. He was somewhat anorexic because he was afraid of losing his 'dancing body' form. He was very mistreated and emotionally and physically abused by his father.

But there was a lot he did too. He was in the Guiness book of records for most charities given to by a pop star. When he was burned badly during a Pepsi commercial simulated concert. "PepsiCo settled a lawsuit out of court, and Jackson gave his $1.5 million settlement to the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City, California, where he had been treated, allowing the hospital to acquire the best available technology for treating severe burns; Brotman subsequently renamed its burn ward "Michael Jackson Burn Center" in his honor." (quoted from Taraborrelli, pp. 279–287, MJ biography).

Also stated in the biography:

Jackson stated that he was physically and emotionally abused by his father from a young age, enduring incessant rehearsals, whippings and name-calling. However, he also credited his father's strict discipline as playing a large part in his success. In one altercation — later recalled by Marlon Jackson — Joseph held Michael upside down by one leg and "pummeled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and buttocks". Joseph would also trip or push his male children into walls. One night while Jackson was asleep, Joseph climbed into his room through the bedroom window. Wearing a fright mask, he entered the room screaming and shouting. Joseph said he wanted to teach his children not to leave the window open when they went to sleep. For years afterwards, Jackson said he suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his bedroom. In 2003, Joseph admitted to the BBC that he had whipped Jackson as a child.

I think it can be said he had a very hard life and was both glorified and then made a mockery of by the media.

[Pam]

All of this talk about autopsies got me thinking. Does anyone remember several years ago the news topic that people were paying $$ ahead of time to have their bodies frozen at the time of their death. This was in the hope of a cure for whatever they had died from and then the ability to be "thawed" and brought back to be healed. I remember it being reported that Michael Jackson was planning to have his body frozen for this event and had paid in advance. How could anyone do an autopsy? Wouldn't that go against his wishes to be frozen and "resurrected?" Just sort of thinking out loud here....

[K9soul]

I can find absolutely nothing to confirm that. Sounds like something from a tabloid. I did find this though:

In 1986, the tabloid press ran a story claiming that Jackson slept in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber to slow the aging process; he was pictured lying down in a glass box. Although the claim was untrue, Jackson disseminated the fabricated story himself. The singer was promoting his upcoming film Captain EO and wanted to promote a science fiction image of himself.

Jackson bought and befriended a pet chimpanzee called Bubbles, an act which extended his eccentric persona. In 2003, the singer claimed that Bubbles shared his toilet and cleaned his bedroom. Later, it was reported that Jackson bought the bones of The Elephant Man. Although untrue, it was a story that Jackson again disseminated to the tabloid press. These stories inspired the pejorative nickname "Wacko Jacko", which Jackson acquired the following year. He would eventually come to despise the nickname. Realizing his mistake, he stopped leaking untruths to the press. However due to the profit being made, the media began making up their own stories

The '80s were Jackson's heyday, and it's accurate to view the decade as a simpler time. Celebrity journalism hadn't devolved into the lowest-common-denominator turkey shoot it is now. Rumors of Jackson's eccentricity -- a pet chimpanzee, a hyperbaric chamber, the Elephant Man's bones -- were spread playfully by Jackson himself. During this period, pop was in its primacy and Jackson truly was the king.

From: http://music.msn.com/michael-jackson...ure/?gt1=28102

and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Jackson (with sourced footnotes)

[Pam]

[QUOTE=K9soul;2164483]I can find absolutely nothing to confirm that. Sounds like something from a tabloid.

It was a news item on an evening news report. It was not a tabloid. I quickly Googled and found this It mentions the cryonics but who knows if it is true.

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2281150/posts

[cassiesmom]

What a shame. He was so talented, but led such a troubled life.

I heard it described on the weekend news as a 'peculiar' life. Not the word I'd have chosen. A troubled life, indeed. So much talent and then such a complex life. I wonder what will happen to his children? Did they ever figure out what caused his death?

[K9soul]

It was a news item on an evening news report. It was not a tabloid. I quickly Googled and found this It mentions the cryonics but who knows if it is true.

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2281150/posts

I'm sorry I should have been more specific, I meant I could find nothing to confirm he had truly paid out money to be frozen, etc. But it might have been one of the things he said, like the other things, that weren't really true. That site doesn't look like a legitimate news site to me... reminds me of the Onion.

ETA: The original article is taken from Daily Mail, which is considered a tabloid.

It’s no wonder at all that Mail Online ranks no.1 for tabloid news sites in the United Kingdom. Everyone loves reading a tabloid and Mail Online does tabloid news beautifully.

http://www.intowebmarketing.co.uk/we...aily-mail.html

ETA x2: I suppose we'll learn in time if he really is to be "plasticated" but it seems tabloidish and I can't find any mainstream news articles about it.

[pomtzu]

All of this talk about autopsies got me thinking. Does anyone remember several years ago the news topic that people were paying $$ ahead of time to have their bodies frozen at the time of their death. This was in the hope of a cure for whatever they had died from and then the ability to be "thawed" and brought back to be healed. I remember it being reported that Michael Jackson was planning to have his body frozen for this event and had paid in advance. How could anyone do an autopsy? Wouldn't that go against his wishes to be frozen and "resurrected?" Just sort of thinking out loud here....

In the matter of a sudden and unexplained death, isn't it law that an autopsy is mandatory? So even if he had made these arrangements, law would have overruled wishes. It appears he can't get away from the law, even in death!

[Grace]

In the matter of a sudden and unexplained death, isn't it law that an autopsy is mandatory? So even if he had made these arrangements, law would have overruled wishes. It appears he can't get away from the law, even in death!

Yes, autopsies are mandatory in all states if there is any indication of foul play. In most states, autopsies may also be ordered if there is a belief that the death represents a significant public health concern (such as from a threatening infectious disease), if a person inexplicably dies who was not under medical care, who was receiving medical care from a physician for less than 24 hours, or if a person dies from an injury, such as an automobile accident.

[Pam]

ETA: The original article is taken from Daily Mail, which is considered a tabloid.


ETA x2: I suppose we'll learn in time if he really is to be "plasticated" but it seems tabloidish and I can't find any mainstream news articles about it.

I have/had no idea about the legitimacy of the site I mentioned. I just Googled to see what was "out there" as I did remember very well the subject coming up on the evening news quite some time ago (we watch ABC for what it's worth) I had never heard of the plasticated idea until I came across the info on that site. For what it's worth, I don't care one way or the other. Just wondered how you could do an autopsy if the person wanted to be frozen to *come back* later.

[carole]

There is so much speculation out there right now, i guess we might never know what really happened, i know that MJ had a fixation with Elvis,isn't that why they said he married his daughter,maybe his death is connected to that who really knows.

My main concern is for his children, there is so much happening there, first we hear his nanny and the granny are after custody, would the nanny have any rights to those children, i found that strange in itself, and now they are saying Debbie Rowe is consulting her lawyers.

I hate the thought of his father having anything to do with his children, he was a horrible man and an abuser, i have not heard anything regarding his mother though, she has been granted temporary guardianship for now i believe, i guess this is going to get nasty and i really feel for those three children.

Every picture i have seen of Joe Jackson he is smiling, hardly displaying the grieving father for sure, i do not like the man one bit.

As for MJ i really don't think he abused those children, he was indeed a strange guy,and in his innocence he seemed to think it ok to share a bed with kids and thought it a loving thing to do, a man of his age should have known better, but he did not seem to,i guess he never really grew up, i tend to believe this version and that he was not an abuser, i hope i am right.

Everyone seems to comment that he was a tortured soul, but was he? i wonder.

I guess there will be a lot more media attention going on with this and we shall just have to wait and see what happens.

[Logan]

My husband and I were talking on the phone the evening that the news broke about his death (I was vacationing with my family at the beach and he was unable to be there). He told me that his first thought was, "The King of Pop is meeting the King of Kings". What a beautiful thought in the midst of all the speculation and craziness.

[Vela]

My husband and I were talking on the phone the evening that the news broke about his death (I was vacationing with my family at the beach and he was unable to be there). He told me that his first thought was, "The King of Pop is meeting the King of Kings". What a beautiful thought in the midst of all the speculation and craziness.

That's a beautiful thought. Thanks for sharing.

[phesina]

Is Priscilla Presley the mother of the children? And if not, who is?

Does she (whoever she is) have any right to custody of the children?