I vow never to write or say another bad word about Britney Spears ever again

After reading all the hateful words about Michael (and his fans) both here and other places, I feel like I've had a mirror shoved into my face because I said nasty things about Britney.
I remember Michael from his Jackson 5 days, what a talent he was and how much my grandmother, my mother and I enjoyed his music and watching him dance. People who grew up in the '60s may not understand why we enjoy him as an entertainer. That's fine but you don't have to disparage him or his fans. I don't understand Britney's pull, but I guess it's generational. Still I don't ever intend to insult her fans anymore. That won't stop the hate, but at least I won't be taking part in it.

entertainer then they either just want to be insulted or they take entertainment more seriously then they should for their own happiness.

Children may be a different story since their brains are still developing and their self esteem is fragile.

It is just entertainment. Jackson, Spears, zombie movies, football, and Pac-Man are all the same.

(I hope my post is readable, I took a muscle relaxer and I feel a bit off.)

There are plenty of artists, performers, shows, etc (some of which are Idols here in the Lounge ;)) that I find boring, saccharine, insipid, bland, or outright awful - but I think it's just good manners to refrain from using your opinion of an act to conclude that its fans are the worst nimrods on the planet.

Individuals may in fact be uber-nimrods, but let them prove it by their actions, rather than their likes...

:)

"football sucks" and "football fans suck".

Maybe people don't like having something they enjoy poo-pooed by others who think they're superior because they don't enjoy the same thing. Kind of like someone pissing on a beautiful ice cream cone you'd been waiting all day to devour.

Damn, now I will have to say I will never disparage Britney Spears OR football ever again...

destroying your property and efforts. Mocking an entertainer you like is merely someone's right to express his or her opinion and shouldn't bother you unless you let it or actually want to be bothered.

For my part, I'm not a Jackson hater, but I was never a fan of his sort of music, really disliked the "YEE-HEE" and other noises he made during his singing, and therefore really couldn't care less that he died. Actually, I take that back - I wish he was still alive, but only so that I wouldn't have to hear about him every thirty seconds. They're even covering his death on fucking sports talk radio.

I must have hidden 50 Jackson threads or more in the past couple of days.

That's the way DU operates. It's been that way ever since I've been here and I don't think it's ever going to change.

I've lost my tolerance for Mark Sanford threads. I've hidden about ten of them today. The "sensational" news tends to bore be very quickly.

When Sanford resigns or they find out exactly what killed Jackson, I'll listen. Until then, I don't care about either.

Telling a child that Hannah Montana sucks could hurt their self esteem if they love Hannah Montana.

Kind of like someone pissing on a beautiful ice cream cone you'd been waiting all day to devour.

That would ruin the ice cream cone. People tell me zombie movies suck, but I still love watching them.

It's always better if we choose to not speak poison, no real good ever comes of it anyway.
We never really know what it's like in someone else's life. I think we would all be surprised if we had to walk a mile in anyone else's shoes. Assumptions are never good.

It's hard to do this,though. I have to remind myself often about it.

Very true about walking in someone else's shoes. And it is hard to do. I hope my memory serves me if I ever find it welling up in me again. :hi:

most people think the music they like is the good stuff and anyone that doesn't agree must have something wrong with them. It's interesting in my poll of celebrity deaths, it seemed music celebrities were the ones most often mentioned. I guess there is one thing about music, no matter what the style it have the abilty to touch people's hearts.

The ones I enjoy bring me the same feelings I had when I heard them 20-35 years ago. The first time I heard Thriller I was at a party with my first boyfriend, young, pretty, dancing and in love.

music like certain smells can bring back memories.

he was.

She's a marketing wet dream.

And I agree that I don't see Britney's. But some people do, and that's their right.

And Britney's antics made Michael's grabbin' nothing by comparison.

it shocked alot of people at the time, because Michael was considered to be a wholesome performer.
Sammy Davis Jr. didn't seem to care when he did it at his tribute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c8UI1Roxpo

Another classy thing about Michael: he acknowledged that others came before him to "knock down the door": Sammy, James Brown and others. Then Michael redesigned the building...

Michael was a real deal, truly inspired and talented artist.

I'm not a big fan of his music, because I don't like pop, but he took pop to a high level of artistry and interest. Madonna is the only other pop star I can think of that also managed to take what is normally a derivative, demographic-driven, engineered musical genre and make it into something worse listening to that's creative, interesting, and nuanced, while still maintaining the force-fed beat that 90% of the people seem to be addicted to.

He (and Madonna) really played around in the pop genre and pushed its boundaries around and dug around and found ways to make it enjoyable and worth listening to.

Brittney (and every other pop star) just bellers out whatever the engineering and accounting department's computers come up for her, and wears whatever and dances however the marketing department's surveys show will sell more albums.