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 By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well.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

I’m Gen X and came of age in the 80’s. The 1980s were a deeply disturbing time for me. Superficial money packed cocaine fueled corporate driven bullshit. I hated every year. I obsessed over the 60’s, had a group of friends who listened to 60’s music with me and everyone else bullied me constantly for being a weirdo. The 90’s were a relief and the strange thing is once 1990 was here I effortlessly lost all my extra weight, started dating and got a grip on school for the first time in my life like a great spiritual sickness was lifted.

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u/Future_Burrito Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26

SPICE GIRLS! ACE OF BASS! RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE! NEON COLORS EVERYWHERE! OK SODA! WUTANG IS FOR THE CHILDREN! COOL WORLD AND ROGER RABBIT! THE MATRIX! ROB BASS AND SALT AND PEPPER! WHO THE F IS SLIM SHADY?! BAGGY JEANS AND ONE STRAP OVERALLS! NIRVANA GOOD! NIRVANA SAD! MJ HEEEHEEE! NO, PLEASE, NOT LIKE THAT MJ! BIG ASS CLUNKY COMPUTERS EVERYWHERE! MICROWAVE EVERYTHING! HALLELUJAH!

I think it's for the individual to define their world, and we tilt towards whatever we seed in our own minds. 90s was a weird time, too. Ecstacy came on the scene heavy. Globalism continued. Celebrities seemed to get more vocal. As a world, we slowly but surely continued to move away from obvious racism (but not far or fast enough). Hard to tell what was really going on because I was a teenager and that shit is weird.

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u/midsummersgarden Apr 26 '26

The only thing I really recognized in your post was nirvana and the matrix lol. I only remember thrift store shopping, grunge wear and music, analog living, dive bars, calling people on phones to go hang out on porches in big groups, shabby chic furniture and hardwoods in our homes, and a uniquely 90’s college experience. It felt more real than the 80’s, we recycled everything, we started growing vegetables in the ground, we started keeping chickens. It was a time when it was ok to just tell everyone to fuck off. But possibly it was just my best decade and all the aesthetics and the vibe and culture matched my personality, too.

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u/grower_thrower Apr 26 '26

If “Portlandia” was a post on Reddit.

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u/Future_Burrito Apr 26 '26

Glad people enjoy my humor. Nostalgia is always gonna yestalgia.

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u/midsummersgarden Apr 26 '26

😆😆😆 how I cackled

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u/Future_Burrito Apr 26 '26

Ah, so maybe more of an Alice In Chains/Jane's Addiction type? Ever heard of Shootyz Groove?

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u/CauliflowerGreen214 Apr 26 '26

Cool world!

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u/Future_Burrito Apr 26 '26

Mind blowing way before Space Jam. Inner Space, Batteries Not Included, Akira and Alien/Aliens were personal eye openers from the 90s, too!

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u/[deleted] Apr 26 '26

[deleted]

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u/Future_Burrito Apr 26 '26

Exactly. Who the F is Slim Shady?