Meeting MJ's Family - What Would You Say?

[ForeverKOP]

<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120%; }</style> If you ever met Michael's family members &#8211; his mother, father, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, and most importantly, Prince, Paris and/or Blanket &#8211; how would you describe to them exactly how much MJ means to you?

I ask this because I feel like the word &#8220;fan&#8221; gets thrown around very loosely and easily and doesn't really describe the depth and intensity of our love for Michael.

For the sake of example, I know that with Justin Bieber and One Direction fans, the words &#8220;Belieber&#8221; and &#8220;Directioner&#8221; are synonymous with &#8220;hardcore fan&#8221; and are mainly used by dedicated fans only. As Michael's fans, we don't really have a term like that &#8211; some people call themselves &#8220;Moonwalkers&#8221;, but I don't think that ever really caught on. The words &#8220;Belieber&#8221; and &#8220;Directioner&#8221; are lone words with the power to convey the exact depth and intensity of love that hardcore fans have for Bieber and One Direction.

So as I was saying, we are very, very different from casual fans of Michael Jackson (those who generally admire Michael and his talent, but don't love him as strongly as we do). A lot of &#8220;casual fans&#8221; may go up to Michael's family and introduce themselves as &#8220;big/huge fans&#8221; of Michael. But how would you differentiate yourself from them? For example, while having a discussion with a friend, the topic of Michael somehow came up. At some point during the conversation, I mentioned how incompetent and careless Murray was with Michael's life. To this, my friend said, &#8220;Yeah, I'm a huge Michael Jackson fan too. Can you remind me how he died? I'm not really sure about what happened to him&#8221;. This again convinced me that terms like &#8220;big fan&#8221;, huge fan&#8221;, &#8220;hardcore fan&#8221;, etc. do not have much value and do not hold much meaning at all.

Also, if you ever met Michael's family members, how would the words you say to them change based on the situation you were in? Some examples:

Would you react differently with different family members (meeting Prince vs. meeting Paris vs. meeting Blanket OR meeting Jackie vs. meeting Jermaine, OR meeting Janet vs. meeting Rebbie OR meeting Jaafar vs. meeting Austin Brown)? And how would you be able to say EVERYTHING you want to say about how much Michael means to you if you only got to meet them in passing for 10 seconds on a crowded street filled with paparazzi and other onlookers?

How would your words change if you actually got to sit down with one of them (Prince, Paris, Blanket, Jermaine, Marlon, etc.) for 10 minutes?

How would your words change and the way you introduce yourself change if you met them as a group (Prince, Paris, and Blanket walking on the street with their cousins) vs. if you met them individually (just Prince, or just Paris, or just Blanket)?

How would your words change if you met them at a place they came to for personal enjoyment (at a restaurant, an amusement park, a mall, etc.) and probably would not want to be bothered by people coming up to them?

How would you explain the love you have for Michael to his mother, the person that probably loves him the most in this world?

So again, how would you react to meeting Michael's family members and how would you explain to them the exact depth and intensity of your love for Michael? Sorry for the long length of this post! Thanks for reading!

 

[Lisha]

I can be pretty shy in such situations and would probably not start the conversation; they would have to say something to me first. And then I'd probably let them lead the conversation. Maybe MJ wouldn't even come up. It would be hard for me to predict. Conversations that you are not expecting can take many surprising turns. I guess I would just hope that after it is finished and I walk away, I would feel it was a pleasant interaction for both parties. And that would be no matter who it was that you have mentioned on the above list; I would treat them all alike. And I'd probably be like I said...shy, because they are someone I don't know and am just meeting. They'd have to make me feel relaxed.

I'm not someone who would go up and start talking with a celebrity.

 

[easter]

Humm...
"Please give my thanks to your father(or your son , Your brother ...)?"

 

[Zakk]

I have a crush on Paris, I'd just build up friendships with the rest of them

 

[ForeverKOP]

I have a crush on Paris, I'd just build up friendships with the rest of them

How would you do that?

 

[reibish]

Sorry not sorry for novel-length response!

<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120%; }</style> If you ever met Michael's family members &#8211; his mother, father, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, cousins, and most importantly, Prince, Paris and/or Blanket &#8211; how would you describe to them exactly how much MJ means to you?

It depends on which family member I came across. I am not very impressed or pleased with most of his family's conduct, but at the same time, I've been in shoes like theirs in some ways before, and I don't doubt they actually do love and care about him. It's complicated. I don't think I'd have anything specific to say to them re: Michael, but I don't get starstruck easily and I'd just strike up a conversation like people do, if the context called for it.

Except for Joe. I'd just walk away from him, ha.

I'm not even sure if I'd approach any of them anyway. The ones that I would like to say something to - Katherine, the J3, maybe 3T - I would probably just let alone. It just all depends. I very much despise unwanted attention and even if they're used to it, it's not them specifically that I'd admire, and I wouldn't want to treat them the way I know I don't like being treated. Approached by strangers, uncomfortable comments, things like that.

BUT, if I DID say something, I would offer a big hug to Katherine and thank her, and offer condolences. I have more words that would convey it better but it's hard to write down here I guess. My best friend died very suddenly last year; she was an only child and I'd always been close with her mom as well growing up. Helping her through that death has given me a lot of perspective on what happens when a parent loses a child. There's no one single right or wrong thing to say. I'd like her to know that Michael was never forgotten, or unloved, and that nothing would ever change it. I'd like her to know that it's not her fault and that she couldn't have done a better job raising him and sharing him with us.

I don't think I'd say anything to the kids, because nothing I would say would be anything different than they've heard. "Your father would be so proud of you," "We see so much of him in you," "He really was a wonderful father" - These are things that they "know" because they hear it all the time, but won't be able to fully appreciate for awhile. They have the most unique experience in the Jackson universe. They are probably the only people on the planet to have grown up not fully understanding who he was as a celebrity, but knowing him as just regular Dad first, with no other pretense. I guess for that reason I would rather let them live their lives. It's not their responsibility to represent Michael. What is important to us as fans is probably not even on their radar, or holds an entirely different meaning. So if I did ever say something to them, it wouldn't have to do with my perspective and suffering as a fan, but more about the loss of their father. They were all really way, way too young for it. If we think we'll never get over it, imagine how they feel?

I ask this because I feel like the word &#8220;fan&#8221; gets thrown around very loosely and easily and doesn't really describe the depth and intensity of our love for Michael.

For the sake of example, I know that with Justin Bieber and One Direction fans, the words &#8220;Belieber&#8221; and &#8220;Directioner&#8221; are synonymous with &#8220;hardcore fan&#8221; and are mainly used by dedicated fans only. As Michael's fans, we don't really have a term like that &#8211; some people call themselves &#8220;Moonwalkers&#8221;, but I don't think that ever really caught on.

I agree - there's no real phrase for us. But that being said, I think it's because we as a fanbase are far more deeply involved in different ways than Directioners, Beliebers, Lambs, whatever. I also see those titles as a sort of branding, that they represent only the image and material value of their objects of affection.

I never really had to put a title or label on my fanship of Michael, and sometimes I think even calling myself a fan doesn't really capture it well. We appreciate and love much more about him than just his artistry and celebrity. That's not to say others don't do the same for their "favorites," but there was something different about Michael that drew us in and kept us close that I don't think others really have. And because of that there's no real title needed.

When Michael died, everyone - EVERYONE - I knew immediately came to my side. People who were not fans, those who were acquaintances of mine, and some who were close friends - everyone knew that it was a Big Deal for me. They all said the same thing "We know you loved him deeply, and this is serious loss for you, and we are so sorry this happened." I never really had to say or do anything specific to get that message across that I was a superfan. I just lived my life and did my thing. People noticed, they know the difference between casual fans and superfans, hardcore fans, whatever the word is. We don't really need one, it's just evident in the way we conduct ourselves.

 

[Bringing Brighter Days]

First thing before anything else, I would tell the family society owes them a huge owes them a huge apology for the way they have been attacked over time

 

[dam2040]

How happy were you when the "beloved" brother called you all out on how "tight nit" you really are?

How upset were you when Michael no longer decided to carry the rest of you and dumped you after 84?

Kidnapping Katherine, did it get you the publicity you all wanted?

How come Elizabeth Taylor was at Michael's side before you, his family, were in 1993?


His children however, would get treated with the respect they deserve. They had a wonderful father taken away from them at an incredibly young age.