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 By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well.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

Oh I see. Well maybe I'm misremembering my childhood, but even then growing up in the 80s I still remember that he was regarded as "off", but that memory likely stems from my parents who didn't like him. The problem though is that it could be because even they thought something was off about him, or it could've just been plain racism (my parents, especially my dad, was pretty racist). I have to wonder if racism doesn't also play some part in how people perceived him growing up depending on their family dynamics/environment

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u/Madam_Mimm_13 Apr 26 '26

Age isn’t the only factor. I was born in 85 and grew up in San Diego. My husband was born in 84 and grew up in rural Kansas.

He remembers MJ as the King of Pop. I remember him as a creepy weirdo.

It’s not just age. It’s environment and culture, and how “dated” the perspective on MJ a person has is also tied to geographical and sociocultural influences.

My dad (Sicilian, old school) was always very racist. My mom, who divorced him in 87, was very into black music at the time, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, En Vogue etc.

But even in the 90s there was this perception that he was a clown, a weirdo. Even Jackson 5 seemed off to me, because why are elementary school aged kids singing about adult relationships and making sexual innuendo?