Everyone walking the earth can blame almost everything about their personality on their childhood good or bad, even Prince. Why is Michael's lack of childhood sooooo acceptable as an excuse for his behavior. He's a grown ass man!!!!! Hello...he's pushing 50. My friend had a point, the entertainment industry is littered with former childhood stars who were abused by the "industry" and/or their parents. They got help or died trying. Is his moonwalking ability that mesmerizing????

Prince, though he does get his respect "THE RIGHT WAY", always seems to be demonized for taking responsibility for his actions and making strong decisions (good, bad, weird or otherwise). We really don't owe celebrities anything. We pay for their lifestyles by listening to them, buying their product and so forth. Shouldn't we expect better out of them? I was a Michael fan. I can listen to anything up to Bad with a smile on my face whether he's found guilty or not. I'm pissed at how Michael turned out and there is no excuse for any of it. It was decisions HE made in his life. If Prince were going through the same thing (which would never happen because he's got control of himself) would people be as sympathetic?

MistyCotton said:

It is not an acceptable excuse IF he has done something wrong.

love

Maybe because Prince hasn't been in the limelight since he was 8. Micheal has.

wrong forum...'sides, there's dozens of mj threads in the correct forum. why start up another one?

MistyCotton said:

WTF??? Nobody's sypathetic, but fans and a handful of people with an open mind.

MistyCotton said:

you know besides his hardcore fanbase, nobody even thinks about Prince or finds him particularly weird anymore, until they're reminded of him, then it starts again.

ATWIAD demonstrated to me Prince was determined not to go the MJ route in terms of retaining that level of fame. I think 1984 bothered Prince more than he'll ever let on, and by that time he was into his mid-twenties.

spare a thought for 10yr old Michael, working the chitlin' circuit night after night, doing the Apollo, signing with Motown. He got lost somewhere, Prince shared girls with Andre, signed a deal at 18, didn't become a world star well into adulthood, then like i said, had enough wits about him to step back a little from it all.

It'd have been OK for Michael if he kept the level of fame he had after leaving Motown, but as we know that didn't happen.

LightOfArt said:

Well, quite.

beret1022 said:

Perhaps, you have a point. Micheal's early start in stardom plus a fucked up childhood brought him to the point that the public just looks at him as a spectacle. Whereas, Prince has become more non-chalant over the years,
[Edited 6/10/05 8:21am]

Hotlegs said:

Come on. Apart from last year Prince is so far off the radar to most people it's unbelievable.
[Edited 6/10/05 8:24am]

MistyCotton said:

VERY WELL SAID, Misty.

in my opinion, intially (following "thriller") Michael's craziness/wierdness was mostly "harmless"..
after all.. it is a safe presumption that.. a person's life will change CONSIDERABLY after selling over 40 MILLION COPIES of
1
album.. & all the "fame" that follows that..


me too - I am BEYOND SICK & TIRED of Michael whining about not having a childhood. when he was a younger child, I could see him having "less choice", but by the time he was a teenager, he definitely could have (or should have) had more say in his career. it's not like Michael "hated" performing on stage, no 1 "forced" him to be a singer & dancer. Michael MADE THE DECISION to be a singer & dancer.. & in
MAKING THAT CHOICE
to be a singer & dancer & to tour all over the world..
then YES, he GAVE UP many of the "perks" of a "normal childhood"..

now he wants people to feel sorry for him because HE made the choice to sing & perform for all those years???

I don't think so.


Michael gives the impression of being so far gone from reality it's not even funny. if he gets convicted of this child molestation thing, that might bring him back to reality..

mltijchr said:

I am inclined to agree w/you.

uhh mistycotton, you must spend too much time on this forum, cos no one outside here sticks up or feels sympathetic for him, hell even most the people on this site dont stick up for him. i have absolutely no i dea what yourtalking about and this is a completely WTF moment. mj's 'brand' of 'crazy' is FAR LESS exceptable to ANYONE elses 'brand'. NOBODY (whos not an mj fan) sticks up for him or feels sorry for him. what the hell's wrong with you?

hellomoto said:

Marrk said:

He really hasn't done anything crazy, to me - well maybe the name change thing, but to me, that wasn't a crazy move - he had a valid reason for that. I think it was an intelligent business decision on his part.

MistyCotton said:

I agree with everything you said.

Hotlegs said:

well I'm not, even thousg some points makes sense.

Michael felt he HAD TO sing and dance. Even if he didnt like it, which I think he did, he felt he had to. Why? Because by doing it, he was bringing the freaking food to the table since, what 6 or 7? Some people people may think he started at 11 when he signed to Motown, but before that they were doing all kinds of clubs 6 days of the week and the 7th day as well if Joe could get it planned.

And probably Joe's cruelty added some stress as well, not to mention his problems with his face, and I guess it wasnt very easy to be on stage infront of thousands, if you don't like your appereance

so yeah I cant help but be sympathetic

mltijchr said:

Are you saying he deserves to go down purely just to get back to what you would consider 'reality'?

That's pretty harsh, but the way i read it.

I don't know how you were brought up, but while i was a teen and living in my parents house, i abided by their wishes for the most part. He was the breadwinner for that family for the longest time. He had a father that was both overjoyed and jealous of his sons success. I just think Mike felt so obligated at times to help his family.

I'm afraid little Mike is where all his troubles began.

Just maybe all this crap will stop parents wanting to shove their children into showbusiness.

LightOfArt said:

Well said.

hellomoto said:

[quote]

What the hell is wrong with you!!! Don't fucking curse at me. It's not about me being on this site too much. So watch the unecessary nastiness. It's about people, even if they think he is guilty seem to still be saying "oh well he did have a messed up child". I have discussions with people(in person, thank you) who always seem end it with that statement which is dumb to me. I compared him with Prince because people are so quick to use negative adjective with Prince when all he is doing is navigating his carreer to the best of his ability. He gets praised for it and also demonized for it.

MJ is a victim of arrested development. He has thrown 100% of his life into being a superstar entertainer. He doesnt know what its like to be anything other than that and his behavior reflects it. I dont think its fair to judge him like we would an average person beause he isnt an average person. His riches has afforded him the ability to create an artificial world where his psychological impairment has only worsened. He hasnt seeked the help that he needs to deal with the things that have happened in his life and as a result we have a bit of a sociopath.

We certainly cant compare MJ to Prince for obvious reasons.

MistyCotton said:[quote]

hellomoto said:

Tell'em Misty.

dreamfactory313 said:

Now there's a well considered response.

dreamfactory313 said:

I completely agree with this. People who have had similar childhood issues grow up because circumstances force them to. It's a matter of survival. Michael's lifestyle enables him to continue this way. He's created a world--Neverland--that supports this ongoing childhood fantasy. And when he's confronted or challenged by real-world situations it seems to really throw him for a loop because the validity of 'his world' is being threatened. Throw in the fact that he probably feels victimized so everything is someone else's fault but rarely if ever his own.

He's wounded and most likely never took the time to heal that part of himself so it continues.

dreamfactory313 said:

I agree with you...

It's obvious that Mike has some big issues in his childhood...
Joe Jackson damaged a lot his own kids (look at Latoya Jackson though)...

A lot of others childstars started to fall off very bad in their adult age...

But since the beginning, I think Mike hasn't never beebn able to support the life of childstar...

The only thing that pissed me off, is that Mike loves using his childhood to explain his strange behaviours, if your childhood was so hard, you got to follow a strong therapy...
[Edited 6/10/05 9:56am]

krayzie said:

That mofo's had like 5 childhoods by now.

When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man I put away my childish things. [I Corinthians]

krayzie said:

I agree . Why hasnt MJ gotten help? Could it be so bad that he is afraid to confide in someone? I just dont get it.

JackieBlue said:

That's one way of putting it.

dreamfactory313 said:

Maybe because he doesnt think it's a situation that needs mental help. Maybe he thinks a normal person wont understand him.

That may be why his best friends are child stars.liz taylor etc...

Mike's been hanging around kids what? Twenty years now? As I recall, you only get to be a kid until you turn 18, so it's time for that shit to be over. I don't care for excuses like he never got a childhood or his riches afforded him, etc. If his family loved him, they would have gotten him some help a long time ago even if it was in the form of putting him in a institution. It's obvious to me that the jurors in his case are trying to decide their perceived guilt on whatever charges because they have not reached a speedy not guilty verdict. What the fuck is gonna happen to him then?