What an awful thing to say? My comment was in support of your point lmao. WHE may seem like a "global smash" to the MJ community because we love the journey and story of Michael's life and we're emotionally connected to it, but the average person on the street doesn't look at MJ as we do
And you can call it "my reality" all you want, but the proof is all over the world if you take the time to read reviews, articles, social media comments etc and look at reality outside of the "MJ fan" bubble. A lot of people don't like the post 80s work, and it's because they think MJ turned preachy. My real life experience just backs up the reality of the situation.
I realise though that trying to convince people on a Michael Jackson forum that Michael Jackson is not perceived the same way as he is to us by everyone else is an impossible task. You seemed to have some sense of the overall picture outside of our bubble, which I was trying to support. But obviously not lol
Ps. Also I said disconnected from the rest of society in terms of awareness of the overall image of MJ, not "disconnected from reality".
I'm sorry but you've fallen victim to the narrative the white rock press has been pushing for the best part of 30 years.
Because Michael Jackson is black he is not allowed to think as an artist or spread his wings as an artist who challenges himself and/or his audience. There are black artists who
are allowed, sure, but certain provisos exist.
You've been conditioned to believe that this space, in the artistry of pop, is reserved for white men. Those people, those ideals, will not tolterate a black man with a massive audience to become the thinking man, the knowing man. They have to reduce the black to the margins, the simple song and dance man - sing and entertain, but don't inform or challenge.
It's a clear double standard. Where Michael's white peers moved on to create a more more mature and intellectual output, and were heralded and supported (at the time, since, and before), Michael Jackson was mocked and undermined at every step. His output dismissed as merely "preachy" or "paranoia", or worse. It's still unbelievable to me to this very day that Michael Jackson was criticised as failing to move on, and that he rested on his laurels, and tried to recreate past successes, when in reality he moved on light years from Thriller to Bad, Bad to Dangerous and Dangerous to HIStory, but that was exactly what they
didn't want
him to do.
All your pals and what you call society are merely parroting that complete myth.
Michael Jackson was aware of the importance of being commercial throughout his career but at the advent of the 1990s he dispensed of the need to appeal to radio. He had his audience and he went in the direction of which he had conviction. And throughout that entire decade he did not look back.
And for that, I salute him.
