..and I will certainly get a lot of flack for this...But has everyone suddenly forgotten that he was COMPLETELY insane?

Yeah, this will probably offend people, fair warning. I have strong opinions, and maybe you need to wear a jockstrap for this one. So you know, don't read if you're going to get all emotional over this, which I can actually understand. Know that I'm not completely heartless or insensitive, but that this issue is bothering me quite a bit. Nevermind that everything becomes taboo around death, and suddenly, we are supposed to be sanctifying a man whose motives were often times questioned.

What I find sad in all this, if we're to talk about celebrity passings (whatever level of relevance that does/should (or shouldn't) have in our lives, that is), is that Farrah Fawcet's demise is being completely overshadowed. I'm not saying that because of a popularity issue either...It's not like I'm some rabid Farrah Fangirl with fluffy blond locks swaying in the breezes of Playboy. What I'm saying though, is that in her golden years, at least Farrah had done an amazing amount of work to raise awareness and money about cancer, more specifically anal cancer, which BY GOD, HOW DO YOU EVEN GET THAT ANYWAY, and was doing some good from a terrible, TERRIBLE situation. That's saying a lot from the weirdo celeb front, and people could have taken heart (and ass) in her cause, with her passing, since the media would have been all over that like the usual flies to carrion that they are. At least some good could have been done here.

Michael Jackson on the other hand, simply succeeded in his later years, at being completely and utterly bizarre, if not entirely disturbing. Yeah, let's celebrate and remember a guy who made some awesome music when he was normal, but then completely lost his marbles (perhaps as literally as figuratively) and proceeded to build fantasy zoos for children he slept in the same bed with, dress his own creepo-kids in veils and gloves, dangle babies off of balconies, marry Presleys and/or all other manner of disfunctional you can think of. I don't care that it's disrespectful... but the man was far more than one clown short of a circus, even if you do discount the enjoyment the press took in mocking him.

I suppose I should focus on the good though, and no, it ISN'T very nice of me to be criticizing a dead guy. NO argument there, but this is but one blog on the internetz in a sea of others who will support him, so go read those instead, I won't hold it against you, seriously. Take a big glass o' water and swallow that grain of salt like you're getting paid to. It's not the opinion of one cynical French Canadian that's going to change all the hooing and hawing going on anyway, and I digress.

I will say that it's sad that a man of his talent went so wonky, only to end up dead. Tragic, really, and I say that sincerely. I will never deny that I LOVED his music, and I will never deny the impact it had on the music scene, forever. It IS very sad, and I can't say I'm not disappointed, in that whole "wow, it's the end of an era" kinda way. (I mean, what will the National Enquirer do now? ) And as a man, it was easy to feel sorry for him, in terms of how crazy the media attention clearly made him. But to those who are forming prayer circles, rallying to his doorstep with candlelight vigils and sobbing with epileptic dedication, as I've seen on the news, or again, to those making tribute art... You people kinda disappoint me immensely. I can understand where you're coming from, and I'm not trying to be overly mean but... DAMN.

I mean shit people, mobilize for cancer. Mobilize for poverty. Mobilize for helping your neighbor, or your grandma, or for getting your own fat ass off the couch.

But for godsake, Jacko did not give a crap about you. Only your wallet... or possibly your porcelain-faced little boy, but that's never been proven, so I'll no further poo poo on a dead man's rep, since I've clearly lost all the shame I have by posting this already.
In truth, nobody knows what he was really like, and I won't presume to any further.. and besides, both sides of the Jackson debate could argue until they were blue in the face about what kind of person he was, and it wouldn't change anything at this point. Yet, I still don't think that just because of the inherent taboo of death, that we should be suddenly deifying him.

My point is merely that I think it's amazing what lengths people go to, to mourn celebrities... driving thousands of miles... when there's tons more to be done in their own backyard.

Anyway, I'm sure this is gonna be but one of many super annoying Michael Jackson posts. so I'll call it quits here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it, and I now await the flames.

RIP Farrah and Michael and Ed McMahon, while we're at it.