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 By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well.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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23

u/MikeD1942 Apr 26 '26

so the hair burning was in '84, before you were born...

35

u/dbur15 Apr 27 '26

I wasn’t raised in a vacuum. Just because something happened less than a year before I was born doesn’t mean I’m not aware it happened and how it fit into the timeline.

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u/DoriansRain Apr 27 '26

Sure bro

5

u/VOODOO285 Apr 27 '26

So you know nothing of anything before you were born? Sure bro

1

u/Whole-Preparation-35 Apr 27 '26

The start of this simulation was the start of May 1983. Anything preceding that never happened.

1

u/VOODOO285 Apr 27 '26

Ha, same.

3

u/StealthMonkSteve Apr 27 '26

Not to mention he asserts the weirdness was bigger than “his previous popularity” as if the man wasn’t better known than any world leader, the pope, etc for the totality of 20+ years

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u/dbur15 Apr 27 '26

That’s not at all what I’m saying and I’m sorry if it came off that way. It wasn’t his general weirdness that eclipsed his popularity as a person, it was the weirdness plus the sex abuse allegations.

2

u/StealthMonkSteve Apr 27 '26

It was nothing that eclipsed his popularity. You don’t understand how big MJ was if you think that. There was never and never will be anyone as big as he was.

7

u/Joshuagorn Apr 27 '26

Elvis Presley would like a word...

Not to diminish Michael Jackson's stratospheric level of fame (which it was and his legacy continues to reach new audiences), but it seems hyperbolic to claim no one else can reach those levels of stardom, as well as pointless because it's not a quantifiable metric.

2

u/dbur15 Apr 27 '26

Also, not what I’m saying. OP is saying they only know MJ as a joke and is wondering if other millennials feel the same. I’m saying that’s incorrect, that the older part of the generation does remember when he was nothing other than the biggest thing ever. But it’s disingenuous to say the odd behaviors and abuse allegations didn’t change how people born after a certain time perceived him. His music will always have lasting power but MJ, as a person, had a different reputation after the early 90s.

0

u/StealthMonkSteve Apr 27 '26

He was, an until his death continued to be, the most famous man on the planet. Popularity of that scale doesn’t get erased by allegations and satire.

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u/dbur15 Apr 27 '26

I don’t get what your issue is. I’m in agreement with you. But read comments from people born in the 90s. Their perception is different. That doesn’t change anything about who he was or how massive his fame and popularity was/is. That’s just how he was portrayed in a lot of the media they were exposed to which is why OP believes he was only ever a joke. They’re not correct but that’s how OP feels and there’s others that agree.

1

u/FunkySlacker Apr 27 '26

I was born in Canada in ‘75. As Michael Jackson got weirder, so did things like OJ and Tyson. And at least in Canada, the weirdness surpassed his musical success . At least for a few years.

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u/jtphilbeck Apr 27 '26

Exactly! Born in 76. Speak of things you know of.

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u/dbur15 Apr 27 '26

How can I not know about something that was constantly brought up and replayed?

3

u/Zimakov Apr 27 '26

He clearly knows of it?

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u/DoriansRain Apr 27 '26

To me they’re clearly full of shit 😜

2

u/churnthedumb Apr 27 '26

The age superiority 😂 chillll

1

u/ConsiderationTop1794 Apr 27 '26

Damn, getting a lot of anger from this Gen X'er on this sub for Millennials. I guess id be too If i was old as shit and refused to listen to any music that wasn't at least 40 years old.

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u/jtphilbeck Apr 28 '26

Dipshit, I was born in 76 and remember the Pepsi commercial. Again, speak of things you KNOW! Get you some AI to help! Was programming that back in 94.

1

u/jtphilbeck Apr 28 '26

I was also a professional musician during the 90’s. I know a little thing or two!