I was waiting for the worshiping fans argument... It's much more prosaic though: some people simply like something you don't. Personally I can't stand YANA, but won't go on declaring my (IMO quite established
) opinion as the only option and suggest that those who like it are just blinded fans who can't see what I do.
It's okay to like something that others criticize. It won't make you any more fanatic then them.
The purpose of listing other similar performances is not to make you like it of course, just to give a wider context as it was made out to be something never-heard-of-before outrageous thing done by arrogant, messianic MJ. It's not.
And actually you can read quite a lot of criticism in this thread with others being fine with it. The more heated reaction was to the categorical (and quite harshly worded) claims about the Brit Award ES in particular.
And some remarks: I have nothing against threads like this, but let's face it: these titles/focuses are quite leading. Maybe some small changes like "things that added/did not add value" could make them more balanced.
It's perfectly fine to criticize MJ's
work, but it often turns into some strange psychoanalyzing of MJ's character, intentions, life choices, mental state etc. on MJ boards. I think it's intrusion of his private sphere and dignity that we should avoid, as I'm sure no one would like to be treated in similar manner (and yes, I know he's dead). I've honestly never seen this in any other community, fans criticize the
work of their fave artists but not the person, and certainly won't make diagnosis about them because of some performance they didn't like.
Let's just not forget MJ was a human and as such he had every right to be occasionally contradictory, tired, uninspired, arrogant, even to make some less than successful song/performance (and we have the right to criticize the latter, of course). Respecting this and acknowledging his faults without constantly criticizing it isn't worshiping him, on the contrary: it's accepting he was a human too.
