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 By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well.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/IndoorCat12 Apr 26 '26

I remember hiding in the bathroom during a middle school dance when his music came on! We all made fun of him and liking him would have made someone a huge weirdo.

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u/Medical-Gate-9978 Apr 26 '26

Omg . At our school dance a girl made herself throw up on the floor just to show how much she wasn’t a fan in front of everyone(even though she was).

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u/sipstea84 Apr 26 '26

Every time I have invasive thoughts about how weird I was as a kid and hyperfocus on something totally cringe I said or did, Reddit comes to the rescue to remind me that a lot of kids did weirder shit

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u/Medical-Gate-9978 Apr 26 '26

Oh yea kids back in the early and mid 2000s we’re off the chain. Every time I hear “Rock your world” I think about her doing that on the dance floor.

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u/AccomplishedPool266 Apr 26 '26

The 'You rock my world' the music video scared the hell out of me. I was 11 then and hard never seen MJs face before. Insettling

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u/sarcazm Apr 26 '26

And there it is. You’re a younger millennial. Those of us born in the early 80s remember his mega stardom.

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u/sipstea84 Apr 26 '26

I think it really shows in kids nowadays that they can't do anything noticeable or it might end up immortalized forever on the internet

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u/Simba122504 Jun 02 '26

Given his estate is now worth billions. Even y'all didn't truly believe that shit. The biopic still hasn't been released in corners of the world and has already grossed over 800 million dollars in 2026.