Prince or Michael Jackson?
Prince
shareMichael Jackson
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MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Prince or Michael Jackson?
Jackson
shareMichael Jackson.
shareprince is the most talented pop musician of our age.
Prince
shareThe one who didn't have sleepovers with little boys.
shareEven before the recent documentary and the long-standing child molestation allegations, I would have said Prince.
I've seen Prince, not Michael Jackson, live (on more than one occasion).
But to be honest, it also depends what mood I'm in. Prince's music is funkier and harder-edged, whereas if I wanted a smoother, more soothing sound, I'd tend to plump for Michael Jackson (especially 'Off the Wall').
That's why the child molestation allegations are so difficult to reconcile with my fondness for his music. I listen to Jackson to relax and feel good about the world...kind of hard to knowing what type of monster he was.
I was a big OJ fan when he played for the Bills. Sometimes the people we admire let us down.
shareI think it's easier to continue admiring a great sport-star than a great artist, after they have exposed themselves to be monsters. We admire great sportspeople for their expertise and talent, but not necessarily for the way they make us feel as humans. I can still admire OJ on a technical level, but it's hard for me to continue listening to Michael Jackson's music and get the unadulterated sense of joy the music once evoked. Pop music, perhaps more than anything, apart from perhaps stand-up comedy, is hard to reconcile with an evil personal life, because it's such a personal and evocative art-form, and one that is mostly an expression of joy.
I can separate Roman Polanski from his work as a filmmaker because much of his oeuvre is so dark. I can just about separate Kevin Spacey from his work as an actor, because he's playing characters, not himself. Woody Allen is a harder prospect, except for those films in which he doesn't appear on-screen (and even then, it's hard to watch my all-time favourite film, The Purple Rose of Cairo, knowing how much he betrayed the film's lead, Mia Farrow, and how much she clearly loathes him), because so much of his filmography is personal, and much of his output depends on his persona (I can just about rationalise still being able to enjoy Allen, as disrespectful as it must seem to Dylan Farrow, on the basis that the allegation made against him, although incredibly serious, is nevertheless a single allegation and one that is clouded by several other issues, including Mia Farrow's own actions). I'll see how I feel about Michael Jackson in time. I suppose this was a long-time in coming, and many of us had chosen to ignore the persistent allegations until this film was released (although I can genuinely, hand on my heart, say that I truly believed, until now, that Jackson was a weirdo who acted inappropriately around children, but didn't sexually molest them).
With respect to OJ, he clearly assaulted Nicole Brown Simpson on several occasions, and despite being cleared by a jury in a criminal case, I don't think there are many people on the planet who still think that he was, on balance, innocent of a double-homicide.
Still, he didn't rape anyone, as far as I know, nor has he been accused of molesting any children.