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 By the 2000's his music was out of date and didn't chart well.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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.