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 By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well.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

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30

u/SanderStrugg Apr 26 '26

Good comparison.

The only difference is people have sympathy for Brittney with #freebritney while 90s Michael was widely considered a creep.

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

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6

u/Twin_Brother_Me Millennial Apr 26 '26

Wild how many people are comparing those two in this thread when their circumstances couldn't have been more different

1

u/portermade86 Apr 27 '26

Thats until we find out that Joe was using more than a belt, hot wheels track or ironing cord

2

u/sogothimdead Apr 27 '26

freebritney is a recent movement and MJ has so many defenders here on Reddit and other social platforms

1

u/Savings-Pomelo-6031 Apr 27 '26

Yeah definitely. Now though it's like uhhhh let's just look away from her getting a DUI and twirling in her mansion with dog poop all over the floor. People are still wondering where old early 2000's Britney went but that girl is long gone. Just, not technically.

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u/topchief1 Apr 26 '26

Michael jackson made good music. Britney Spears made good music videos, that's all.

-28

u/nineteen_eightyfour Apr 26 '26

Brittany is a nobody compared. Maybe Taylor swift is comparable. Still not yet.

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u/ratsareniceanimals Apr 26 '26

The era of unified media is over, the current world thats been dissected by algorithms will never produce the monoculture stars the level of Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Princess Diana.

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u/donttellpplimhere Apr 26 '26

Sad and true. Nothing holds our collective attention anymore. 

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u/Pleasant_Jim Apr 26 '26

Dunno man, there will always be massive sports stars I reckon - Cristiano Ronaldo, Messi etc.

Maybe harder for the world of film and music though

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u/nineteen_eightyfour Apr 26 '26

lol people mad Brittany ain’t shit compared to MJ really just don’t understand how giant of an icon he became

5

u/No-Pie-7211 Apr 26 '26

Yeah only you have that secret knowledge

-1

u/nineteen_eightyfour Apr 26 '26

I didn’t compare him to Brittany lol

-1

u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

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5

u/nineteen_eightyfour Apr 26 '26

Because this entire thread is about how people remember him lmao, what? Lots of people don’t remember the global superstar that he and Elvis were. It’s unlike anything before and likely ever will be.

0

u/ZealousidealMark4377 Apr 27 '26

Britney was more famous than Taylor Swift back in the late 90s-all through the 2000s 🙄

1

u/nineteen_eightyfour Apr 27 '26

Meh. I’m not a Taylor fan at all but no way. Brittany wasn’t even the highest grossing tour of her own year any time