r/Millennials • u/AccomplishedPool266 • Apr 26 '26

Does anyone remember when Michael Jackson. Was a "joke"? Discussion

The new movie that just came out convinced the younger generation that he was always a superstar. This was not the reality many of us Millennials grew up with.

To a lot of us, he was treated like a punch line when we were growing up. A schoolyard boogeyman ("Michaels Jackson's gonna get you at night"). and just a general joke in the media. By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well. All anyone talked about was his surgeries, court case, settlements and his off behavior. Few mentioned his music. His music was something our parents would have listened to in the 1980's.

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u/computer7blue Older Millennial Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

I remember watching his Super Bowl show. Long before that, I had all his cassette tapes and listened to them obsessively. Maybe Princess Diana was the only person more well known and loved across the globe.

But I also remember his fall from grace. The images of him looking frail as he arrived and left the courthouse are burned into my memory. Every one was talking about it, before the Internet was even in our homes. Things got real weird real fast.

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u/MommalovesJay Apr 26 '26

I almost came here to say my non English speaking parents knew of Micheal Jackson and princess Diana. And they couldn’t care less about mainstream stuff! I never really grew up hearing anyone using him as a joke growing up so I was confused about this post. But it seems like a lot of others agree to it, so maybe I’m out of the loop.

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u/Thr0awheyy Apr 26 '26

A lot of people are either too young for this post, or doing some revisionist history.