We have to try to keep these issues in perspective. The gutter press always write stuff about celebrites that is not flattering, so to speak. Also, most part of the articles published in the tabloids and such are meant only to make headlines, not actually to offend the artist and even when it is the case you cannot take it personally. It's par for the course in the entertainment business.
I personally am more offended at anyone who actually thinks it's funny, and would feel that way even if I wasn't a Michael Jackson fan, because it is comedically lame. I want to say it's a 4th grade insult, but honestly 4th grade kids are funnier than that. Journalists stick it in there as if they're saying something giggle-worthy or amusing. The fact that the name stuck makes me sad for people's taste in humor. I remember in middle school, when I'd sort of temporarily drifted from being an MJ fan for whatever reason (it didn't have anything to do with the allegations. I was an early childhood fan, then I drifted at about the age of 9, then I became a full fledged fan again in my mid-teens), and I was talking to two kids...
Kid #1: Yeah, they call him Wacko *****.
Then they both proceeded to laugh as if they'd told the best joke ever.
Me: What the hell are you idiots laughing at? That was retarded. It rhymes. Wow.
Oddly enough, the discussion made me go home later that day and re-discover "The Way You Make Me Feel." So thanks for that, geeks.
really? you get insulted if somebody calls you danny instead of daniel? im the opposite to that.if somebody calls me azza instead of aaron i really like it.i find it really endearing lol.
when i was a kid people called me aaron/sharon or aaron/karen & it hurt my feelings because i was a kid,but if somebody said it to me now i find it funny.
i was dating a girl named sharon & it was aaron & sharon & it was soooooo funny.if michael don't like being called ***** then i will stop calling him that of course.but why have some of the people here who find the name insulting refer to michael as mj?
if he wants to be referred to by his birth name should we also drop the tag 'mj'?
(MJ FANS HAVE THE PRIVILEDGE OF CALLING ME ANYTHING HE!)
not really insulted as such... but i prefer people to call me by my real name. its like when people shout OI! to get my attention.
and what about the context in which you use the word 'retarded' to describe people? i have a family member who is slow & goes to a school for retarded people.and you use that word in a derogatory sense as if its ok,yet your offended by the name j.acko?
its a little hypocritical if you ask me.you have fans on the one hand that get sooooo offended by something they regard as grossly offensive,yet they'll refer to using other types of (imo far worse terms) & not give it a passing thought or realize they could be offending others.
i like you grand master,your a really nice person ( and im not offended by what you said) but im just using your quote as an example of everyday terminology in which 'we are all guilty'.
if a friend of mine says,aaron your an mj fan? i saw j.acko in concert & he was f##king amazing! or aaron,you were drunk lastnight.you were such a retard.im not gonna waste my time feeling insulted or offended.
& for the peeps who do feel insulted,perhaps it's time to practice what you preach!
I think you sort of missed the point of what I said I find offensive about it. Actually, I have an autistic little brother, but when it comes to using the word "retarded" metaphorically to describe something or someone you find stupid even though they're not literally mentally handicapped, I don't get worked up over it. But that's only because I hate it when people laugh at any offensive joke they hear, then get pissed off when they hear one that applies to their life. Now it would be another thing if I heard someone insult someone who's actually mentally handicapped, or my brother especially.
But re-read my original post, 'cause I believe you misinterpreted what I said I found offensive about "*****." It's just really stupid.
^^ I can't stand the use of the word retard, it is the most highly offensive to some from American youth culture. It's a hideous word to use to describe a person.
On topic, of course j.acko isn't offensive. How many people reading this do not have a nickname that isn't a shortened version of wither their first or surname. Almost every celebrity has this as well (Madonna / Madge, Beckham / Becks).
I can see why you don't like w.acko but come on, Michael invented a lot of that himself in the early years and after everything else he's been called in the last 15 years, "w" is nothing, it's almost affectionate.
Having said that, I'd be happy never to read it again. But banning & getting offended by j.acko is just ridiculous. It would be like like Prince not liking his name and changing to to, I don't know, an unpronouncable symbol...oh wait...
no.i read your post more than a few times & i fully understand it.my only point is,that the word 'retarded' is used to describe someones behavior as a casual put-down,but the word actually means something.retarded means 'underdeveloped,mentally'.so thats a pretty insulting observation.
now j.acko means nothing at all.its a nickname.so my only point is their is alot of hypocrisy (of which we are all guilty) living in the modern age of this so called 'political correctness'.
now 'wacko',like 'retard',means something.wacko comes from the word wacky which means 'eccentric or funny' in other words 'nut-job'.again 'that word' is the insulting part & i believe (i may be wrong & if i am somebody let me know)it was the news paper 'the sun' that attached 'wacko' to 'j.acko' in the 80's.hence the insult.
now what is wrong with this picture? i have know problem with casual insults because they've always existed & its part of life i guess.& if you are guilty of using it in your own words then in my opinion its a bit cheap & hypocritical to be insulted or offended by a word that means nothing.
what has happend is that because wacko & j.cko have been used in the same breath time & time again,we now see it as the one word.the one meaning.
but ive also seen the term 'j.cko' used in a positive light.such as 'j.acko is backo' & im not offended by the word one bit.thats just me though.ive heard dj's,strangers,friends refer to michael as j.cko & why should i feel offended by that?
if you are going to be offended by the word j.acko,then perhaps you should not use words like 'retard' to discribe others.because that would make you hypocrite.you cant preach one law & practice another.
The difference is also that "retarded" typically isn't used as a specific catchphrase or slogan or nickname. Wacko ***** is obviously supposed to be clever and especially funny, and it isn't. Which is the only thing I've really said.
As for being comfortable referring to things as "retarded" in general, I guess I'm a bit less reserved in my vocabulary. I do know the line between joking, arguing, and bullying, however, and I would not venture into the latter. I just feel that if I rendered that word offensive in the context it's typically used in jest, I'd have to re-evaluate every joke that pushes the envelope a little. That word can't be wrong simply because it applies to my life because of my brother, while I laugh at other jokes I see on MAD TV, Family Guy, etc. That would be hypocritical. There is a difference between that and specifically hazing somebody, however. I would be very much offended if someone used "retard" or "retarded" to address a mentally handicapped person. I do know what you're talking about when you mention your sister.
I agree with the poster who said that he doesn't find ***** offensive (other than it's comedically lame), but Michael obviously does find it offensive, and that's the important part. I'm sure no one ever considers him as a living person when they write stuff like that. Michael is such an entity-like icon that I think sometimes people forget he actually exists in the world, wakes up the morning, eats, lives, works, sleeps, etc.
it just seems a bit hypocritical to me.but thats not your fault either & i understand that.culture changes,words change meaning & we are all to guilty of it to an extent.