Michael Jackson – An icon of mediocrity

This seems very silly to be upset about. It doesn't seem like a stretch at all to agree with the premise that jacko wasn't in the same league of talent when put against music that will span the ages. Why does that make someone stupid for having that opinion?

It's not about race or dance skills or parental exploitation or worldwide popularity or psychological imbalances or facial reconstruction to look like morgan fairchild or didlling little boys in a peter pan costume, putting that aside, in what way does composing "Bad" stand up to Beethoven composing Ode to Joy while deaf? And why is it heresy to say in your opinion i don't like this person's music? Does everyone have to love this guy or they're wrong? yeah yeah, 50 million elvis fans can't be wrong etc etc. But they can be lemmings. Popular doesn't equal genius. Quincy jones saw dollar signs at michael so I'd call him genius too if he was putting my kids through private school.

Michael Jackson deserves criticism for different aspects of his personality, his maturity -- or lack thereof, his behavior and his decision-making ability, but criticizing his musical and performing abilities by calling them "mediocre" is just beyond moronic. So what do we say of someone who brags about her Berzerkeley "education" in an attempt to establish credibility and then proceeds to criticize and dismiss Jackson thusly ? ? ?

There are many people who hold Ph. D.'s in economics . . . but will never understand economics no matter how long they live or how many economics books they read.

There are many people who've taken many math and physics classes but will never be analytical thinkers and will never have a "received sense" of the orderliness of the physical world and will never "conceive of the world in mechanical terms," as Will Durant said of Francis Bacon.

Having a college degree doesn't garantee knowledge, understanding, wisdom, intelligence, or credibility.

Miss Valdes' college degree means nothing. Sorry to be the one to break it to her, but she needs to go get her money back. She's simply educated beyond her intelligence -- as are many college grads in general (and many college professors in particular).

This in no way is meant to disparage those many individuls who are worthy of a college education and make the world a richer and better place as a result of having one.

What Valdes is . . . is a spoiled, hyper-self-indulgent, over-introspective, ultra self-asorbed whiny child of the politically correct academic world. And on top of that, she is vomitously hyper-concious of her own ethnicity, constantly
referring to "Latina this," and "Latina that," and "as a Latina, blah, blah, blah . . . ."

Reading two paragraphs of her writing makes normal person want to puke.


---Herbertificus

According to you MJ was just mediocre? Are you kidding me? The fact that u are saying MJ was considered a musical genius only because people hold negative stereotypes against black people, shows that you yourself hold negative stereotypes about black people. Why are you bringing his race into this? Why are u basing his talents and gifts on his race? U seem racist to me. I would like to state that I am not black, but people like you make me sick.

Many many great artists and professionals have commented on MJ’s genius and talent. Who are you to say he was mediocre? Your bachelors degree in “performance” means nothing compared to the opinion of professional artists.

MJ was huge all around the world…in japan, china, india, middle east, Africa, Europe. What artist has ever had such an influence on the world? NONE!! are you telling me that people all around the world, even in non-white countries, have negative stereotypes about black people?? That’s obviously what you are implying since you say his fame is due to the “low expectations people have of black people.”

No artist or performer can surpass MJ in his dancing skills. No artist or performer has had such a positive effect on the world. No artist or performer has ever been respected and admired by other artists to the degree that MJ has. Very few artists write powerful, meaningful songs like MJ. Very few artists donate their money and time to helping and healing others. And most importantly, very few artists sing their songs with such passion and emotion as MJ does. The main quality that makes a great performer/artist is the emotion that is vocalized in their voice, and MJ sang with the most emotion and passion out of anyone. Music listeners hear that emotion and are drawn to his music. Maybe his vocal range was limited but the emotion that came through when he sang was absolutely mesmerizing. He had soul.

You nor I know how MJ felt, so for you to claim he was trying to be white is wrong and unfair to him. I believe MJ was very insecure about his appearance (as has been stated by people close to him) and much of his insecurity stems from his childhood, especially his father. He once said his father used to make fun of his wide nose. That obviously scarred him. If u knew anything about psychology, you would realize that mj wasn’t trying to be white…he was just trying to look different than what he looked like. If he was ashamed of being black he wouldn’t write songs like “they don’t care about us.” Friends of MJ have even said that he was very proud to be black. Are you going to say they are lying? They are the one who know him. You don’t. Youre just judging him. We all judge, but the key is to realize that you are doing it, and to correct yourself.

I cant believe you are denying mjs brilliance. All the beautiful and heartfelt songs that he has written. Songs like: man in the mirror, earth song, heal the world, black or white, why u wanna trip on me etc. Listen to the amazing lyrics of these songs. How can you deny his talent and his good heart?

Again I would like to say that I am not black but I will gladly admit that the majority of the best performers throughout time have been black. You say that the US is “a nation that has a long tradition of white folks watching black folks perform embarrassing and mysterious works for their entertainment” I would like to know what you mean by embarrassing and mysterious? Yes, whites in America have long been entertained by black performers but not in an embarrassing way. Black people are great performers with amazing voices and their talents and skills entertain ALL people.

Look at yourself in the mirror Miss Valdes-Rodriguez. You come across racist because your entire blog is about his race. If you don’t like him thats fine, but don’t write a whole blog about his race. It shows your ignorance more than anything.

she sounds complete unstable. found this:

http://blog.shankbone.org/2009/02/13/alisa-vald...

opinions like her's are typical of collegiate elitists. Michael Jackson was self-taught. I can imagine HOW frustrating that must be for less talented "college educated" people such as herself. deal with it honey- money can buy you a degree but it won't ensure your own billy jean!

Just didn't attend a good university then

I partially agree. There are better songwriters, there are better singers, there are better dancers and there definitely are better looking guys. But MJ worked hard with what he had and his "mix" was very appealing. Ultimately it was not just the things that he had, but also the things that he lacked, that made him a star. He had to overcome his shortcomings.
It's a bit like that with every major mega star.
Look at Madonna, her singing is below par, but alas she dances and does her thing and it works. She had to overcome her shortcomings.
Look at George Michael. The man is a fabulous singer-songwriter and quite handsome, but he had very low self-esteem and was sexually confused. He pushed himself, and he became the guy every woman wanted to sleep with and guys imitated. He had to overcome his shortcomings.

1st off I wouldn't admit that you actually paid money to go to Berklee. That place is a money making machine. Students shouldn't have to pay that much to go on to become waiters and waitresses and sing in wedding bands.

2nd Oh my God how socially inept can a person be? The fact that she slapped her photo and real name alongside this article PLUS links to her Facebook page tells me that this wackjob is a sociopath. Stay away!

I always wondered what a book written by the dumbest woman on earth would be like. Now I can find out!

That means I'm a psychologist because I took Psyc 101 in college.