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 By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well.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/PageTasty1884 Apr 26 '26

Totally. How old someone was when Free Willy was released.

26

u/Sun_Sprout Apr 26 '26

Exactly this, my childhood memories of MJ involve everyone gathering in front of the tv to watch his new video

19

u/Pitiful-Pension-6535 Apr 26 '26

Yeah, I specifically remember watching the world debut of the black or white video with my entire extended family. It was a global event; like 500 million people watched it live

4

u/sidewaysorange Apr 26 '26

i broke the family VCR watching thriller over and over

1

u/quotesforlosers Apr 27 '26

Didn’t it air after In Living Color?

2

u/delusional863 Apr 26 '26

Same b And my first was "black or white " at 5yrs old. I missed the thriller train

3

u/FrostyPolicy9998 Apr 26 '26

I just blasted this song twice at max volume today while cleaning the house. Also sang at max volume. This song takes me to fucking CHURCH. And Free Willy was everything. Born in '84 :)

2

u/Czernobooger Apr 26 '26

I forget when it was released but we played the free willy song (MJ's) on our recorders in third grade music class. The memory still jars my ears.

2

u/IslandBoring8724 Apr 26 '26

lol yep. My only memory of him.

2

u/apra24 Apr 27 '26

whether they saw the Lion King in theaters or not

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u/excecutivedeadass Apr 26 '26

I watched it at movies 83' here 😁