By my definition, a Moonwalker is an extremely dedicated fan of Michael Jackson who should AT LEAST have these qualities:
1. A Moonwalker should respect Michael Jackson as a human being. Moonwalkers don't stand for ANY mockery or slandering of Michael's name. A moonwalker wouldn't laugh at insensitive parodies or jokes about him (we only laugh at the idiots who make such jokes), and speaking of slander...
2. A Moonwalker knows that Michael Jackson is innocent of all of the criminal charges made against him. I understand that there are some casual listeners, and even so-called fans, who doubt his innocence, but if you were a true Moonwalker, you would know that the man was incapable of doing anything criminal.
3. A Moonwalker should respect Michael Jackson as an artist. A true Moonwalker knows that Michael Jackson is a timeless legend, and they would not support or listen to artists that disrespect him. Moonwalkers would not support people (that we know of) who have backstabbed him. Also, a true Moonwalker would not support songs sung by impersonators that try to pass themselves off as him (*cough cough*).
And this last one is a big one, (don't hate me for this) but I feel that a true Moonwalker wouldn't listen to unfinished songs that were completely remixed posthumously. Again, this goes back to respecting him as an artist. Listening to songs released posthumously is already a very controversial topic for me because he is no longer alive to approve what is being released. I have honestly stopped listening to his posthumous songs for the most part, even the songs that were not remixed. I feel that listening to posthumous Jackson 5 songs are not as bad because most of them seem finished, Michael didn't have much control over them anyway, and there were many songs released by Motown after he left the company that were arguably worse than the posthumous albums (e.g. Farewell, My Summer Love, Boogie). In fact, Michael bought the "Pre-History" CD with Steeltown tracks, and some may not know this, but there's actually a couple of songs up there that are not even sung by The Jackson 5! But anyway, to have some awful producer remix the songs that he worked so hard on in an attempt to "modernize" them, and then have the song sold as a "new" Michael Jackson song, is against my principles. Now, if a little mixing or remastering was done to improve the quality, while retaining all of the original elements, then I'm fine with that. But I DO NOT support those trash remixes on Xscape, and especially Michael.
4. Finally, I think ALL Moonwalkers should at least have a basic knowledge of Michael Jackson and his music. I don't expect them to know every fact about him (even I don't) but at least know his most significant songs, short films, and such.
So yeah, everyone has their own definition, but this is what I believe a true Moonwalker is.
Edit: I know that many of you have different names for his fanbase (e.g. Moonwalkers, Soldiers of Love), But whatever you want to call yourself, I feel that true fans deeply admire Michael Jackson's music AND him as a person. If you just like his music, but don't like him, I say you are a casual listener. If you like his music and like him but still support those who disrespect him, then I say you're a casual fan. Also, I know that there are a lot of listeners who enjoy the posthumous remixes, but I feel that if you don't listen to that posthumous stuff, you've reached the ultimate level of fanhood so to speak! And, of course, he should probably be your favorite musical artist (I know he's mine)!
That smooth criminal...
