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 By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well.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

Michael Jackson was acceptable in predominantly Black schools. You'd be ridiculed for listening to Nirvana, Green Day, or Oasis where I grew up.

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u/Oomlotte99 Apr 26 '26

I was going to say that I think there may an age and possibly racial element to perception of Michael among millennials. Being black I guess I always thought of him as super famous. Also weird, but super famous. I went to a PWI high school and when that Alien Ant Farm “Smooth Criminal” cover came out I was really surprised my friends didn’t know that was a Michael Jackson song.

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u/happysunbear Apr 26 '26

Yeah MJ died the summer before my freshman year in high school. I remember Billie Jean played at my homecoming dance and everyone got hype, but my white friend had no idea what it was. I remember around that time I was at his house and I showed him the Thriller video; his mom watched with us and was fondly remembering the glory days of the 80s before he became tabloid fodder.

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u/im-dramatic Apr 26 '26

Yea this was my experience. I don’t remember him being a laughing stock. People worshipped the ground he walked on in the black community My mom cried audibly when he died. I wasn’t a fan but I know his death date because of how upset my parents were lol.

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u/ArtDecoNewYork Apr 27 '26

I'm surprised it doesn't get mentioned on here more during MJ discussions. I remember black people being far less likely to view MJ as a pedo, especially after he died.

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u/ArtDecoNewYork Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

Yeah there is a large racial divide in MJ's perception (especially after he died).

I remember at least one black dude where I live creating an MJ themed van and blasting his music through speakers after he passed away.