Michael Jackson dead?

[_emma_]

What is this place and where is the correct URL for that nice HL forum I used to know and love?

IZ.

Thank God I've never really loved it so I have nothing to regret.

May I just add that I'm deeply convinced that the minds of those who make up such "jokes" and laugh about them are far more corrupted than Michael Jackson's mind was. My opinion, sorry if I hurt anybody's feelings.

[James Blast]

human nature dear, relax and have a slice of meat

[Bartek]

am i the only one who think that this 'jokes' are at~least not funny ?!

just btw. do you think that if you hadn't a normal childhood you might be a bit freak out ?

What is this place and where is the correct URL for that nice HL forum I used to know and love? Neutral

IZ.

[James Blast]

still don't care

[Bartek]

you don't have to.

[Pista]

What's to care about?

The guy was odd.
He bought himself out of a kiddy fiddling case.
He made some utter cr@p music.
He's now gone, so let's move on huh?

[stufarq]

@ stufarq
don't care, there was something a bit 'odd' about the man, face it - you'll no doubt come back with allegations of his own dysfunctional existance but he had more opportunities, talent, siblings, money and chances than I had

I didn't say anything about jokes regarding the person - that's entirely another an issue. I said that claiming that you're having a go at the paedophile doesn't make jokes about paedophilia okay. Try the following, copied from above but with the words "Michael Jackson" taken out.

McDonalds have released the paedo burger. 50 year old meat between 10 year old buns.

Still acceptable?

[James Blast]

aye, have this

[EvilBastard]

McDonalds have released the paedo burger. 50 year old meat between 10 year old buns.

Still acceptable?

Not acceptable, because it's not funny and makes no sense - why would MacDonalds create a paedo-burger? The Michael Jackson component (dead or not) makes the joke.
Consider this one:
"if you're going to date [a man], remember to take your water wings."
Not at all funny, and makes no sense.
But replace "a man" with "Ted Kennedy" and it becomes much more amusing. Still not funny if you were friends with Ms Kopechne, but the use of a personality coupled with a well-known incident immediately gives the "joke" relevance. And it only works if the person and the incident is famous enough to carry through. It wouldn't work on a wider scale if the man in question was just some guy who lived on your street. But if that guy happens to be Fred West? Well, you can see where this is going.

[Bartek]

@ JB: i also love media.
@Pista: [rude_mode] how someone who's The Cure fan dare to call others music "cr@p"?![/rude_mode]
yes i know, it's all a matter of taste

[stufarq]

aye, have this

Again, completely missing my point.

Not acceptable, because it's not funny and makes no sense - why would MacDonalds create a paedo-burger? The Michael Jackson component (dead or not) makes the joke.

No, it still makes complete sense and either way it's still not really a joke about the person. The punchline is simply a pun about a grown man having sex with children.

[Ahráyeph]

We could all go back and forth about the sense or nonsense of joking about dead people and still not reach a consensus. Fact of the matter is that humour, painful as it is, is used by many people to alleviate their uneasiness concerning death. You may or may not have liked Michael Jackson - I for one remain indifferent about him although I acknowledge his impact on pop music - but the fact he died reminds everyone of their own mortality and people unconsciously, and sometimes rather cruelly, joke about it to keep thoughts about their own mortality at bay. Then, of course, you have those who genuinely don't give a toss and just want to be politically incorrect at all costs. I'm neither for nor against jokes about dead people myself, as I feel some irreverence can be good to alleviate the aforementioned tension, but sometimes it goes too far. I recall the jokes being made about the dead children when the whole Dutroux affair surfaced here and while some jokes put a smile to my face, I still couldn't help wondering what their families must have been going through because they lost their children for the second time and it seems as if the whole world thinks it's a mere joke. Try to put that in perspective while you're trying to come to grips with all the horror you've just been dealt. In Jackson's case, he was the butt (you decide for yourself is that is an intended pun) of many jokes - and not just about paedophilia - while still alive, and having that said, though, I found I couldn't resist one big assist handed to me by the noon news bulletin on national TV today.

New presenter to journalist : "So, André, what's left of Michael Jackson now he's dead?" (alluding, of course, to his legacy)

Before André (Vermeulen, for those of the Flemish persuasion here) was able to answer, I automatically answered the question myself : "Well, those parts that were taken off/out during all those plastic surgeries, of course". Just couldn't help myself...

P.S. : James, that is a really great cartoon, and it perfectly described what went on on just about every news station last night, as I watched this unfold while doing something more worthwile in the process. But, as you yourself know all too well, this applies to so many news reports these days. Way too many, actually...

[splintered thing]

A traumatic/tragic/unusual childhood does not give you permission to replicate that trauma in someone else's.

Proven or not in law, kids were hurt/effected, that alone is enough to mourn for.

[Pista]

@Pista: [rude_mode] how someone who's The Cure fan dare to call others music "cr@p"?![/rude_mode]
yes i know, it's all a matter of taste

Go on. I can take it.

[GC]

The big question is of course.. Did he bum Macauley Culkin? Lets hope so.

[_emma_]

OK, I am now going back to Sisters Chat and Private Messages.
Thank y'all for the delicious tea and biscuits. Byyyyeeee!

[markfiend]

We could all go back and forth about the sense or nonsense of joking about dead people and still not reach a consensus. Fact of the matter is that humour, painful as it is, is used by many people to alleviate their uneasiness concerning death.

True words

You have to laugh or else you'd cry.

[Izzy HaveMercy]

What I wanna say is that it is okay to make jokes about (dead) people, I do it myself.

What I find striking tho, is that on a couple of other forums we have the same thread about Michael Jackson's death. The reactions there go from 'oh, no, this cannot be' over 'ah, pity but does not really affect me' to, 'well he did make a good choon or two'.

On HERE we have the news proper (post 1), then a paedophile joke (which was never actually proven so this is close to slander) then a Von comment, then another paedophile joke, then a cosmetics joke....

In short, nothing worthy or even to the point to say.

Ah maybe because I think this forum is going that way for some time already that it now really annoys me.

Whatever, just carry on , just don't lose respect for people in general.

IZ.

[EvilBastard]

I agree with Iz insofar as this thread doesn't really have a point. But I think the thing I like about this forum as opposed to some others (and this is purely a personal viewpoint) is that conversations/threads evolve in an organic manner, turning this way and that as the mood takes them. Every so often they get back on track only to explore side-streets and little alley-ways. This is the way conversations go in the "real" world (not that I spend a lot of time there! ), and that's what appeals to me.

The title of this thread being "Michael Jackson: dead?", there's really only one reply that is pertinent, which "Yes, he's dead."
Anything else is off topic, I suppose.

[DeWinter]

I've often wondered wether Jackson's s**t crazy fanbase contributed a lot to him becoming a recluse who couldn't relate to the "average" person any longer.
Of course, Sisters fans do have a fairly large element of that s**t-behaviour, and hey presto, reclusive frontman who outright despises his own fanbase. Neffs fans believe there are hidden occult meanings in everything McCoy says and does, and look, another recluse..

[weebleswobble]

Neffs fans believe there are hidden occult meanings in everything McCoy says and does, and look, another recluse..

The f**k I do

[James Blast]

and that's the general consensus over on DR?

[markfiend]

...a paedophile joke (which was never actually proven so this is close to slander)...

He did actually admit to sharing his bed with children. And of course if you throw enough money at a problem, especially a legal problem, it does have a tendency to go away. OJ Simpson proved that.

And of course he's dead now, so slander doesn't apply.

[weebleswobble]

and that's the general consensus over on DR?

I don't speak for all

DR has a number of opinions on the matter

[Izzy HaveMercy]

...a paedophile joke (which was never actually proven so this is close to slander)...

He did actually admit to sharing his bed with children. And of course if you throw enough money at a problem, especially a legal problem, it does have a tendency to go away. OJ Simpson proved that.

And of course he's dead now, so slander doesn't apply.

You can call another child a paedophile then when it sleeps over at a friend?

I remember times that a friend of mine slept over and a heavy storm started, so we all climbed into my parents' bed. Are they paedophiles too then?

Nuances are important. If my child was molested by someone else, I would not grab the money and run. I'd not rest until the molester was behind bars or possibly dead.

Michael was just a bit odd in the head and tried to live the childhood he never had while he was a grown-up man.

My opinion.

IZ.