You shouldnt be jealous. Remember, this was prior to Michaels pain killer addiction and trials - so, other than the fact that people speculated about Michaels skin tone and maybe wrote some wierd stories here and there, there wasnt this overwhelming sense of compassion to have towards Michael - because of the Oprah interview, we do know that Joe beat Micheael, that he had vitiligo, that he was saying he was lonely - these are things we were hearing out of his mouth for the first time. So cut her a little slack....Im sure if Oprah knew what we know now and had a present day interview, things would go much different.
What? ...I think you misunderstood my post. Or didn't click on the link. I'm referring to her interview with Whitney Houston yesterday and the similarities between Whitney's story and Michael's. I'm not comparing her interview with Whitney to her interview with Michael. I'm comparing the compassion and forgiveness exhibited in the interview with her lack of such feelings towards Michael today. It comes across as hypocritical.
I was jealous of how she treated Whitney yesterday for three reasons. 1) She was fawning over, not just her talent, but the place she holds as an icon of American culture.
"Oprah: There's a wonderful quote by the L.A. Times. They said, "The pain, and frankly, disgust that so many pop fans felt during Houston's decline was caused not so much by her personal distress as by her seemingly careless treatment of the national treasure that happened to reside within her." ... You were not like any of the others. You really were given the voice. You were given that treasure. And people felt, how could you not know that that was to be treasured?"
You could say the exact same thing about Michael. He was part of the fabric of American culture. Yet, when he fell from society's good graces, it wasn't viewed as a sad disregard for the "treasure" he held inside or the plaque he had been given in the pages of history. The "disgust" was based solely on his "personal distress" and the rumors engulfing him.
2) Whitney: When I became "Whitney Houston" and all this other stuff that happened, my life became the world's. My privacy. My business. Who I was with. Who I married. And I was, like, that's not fair. I wanted to go to the park. I wanted to walk down the street with my husband, hand in hand, without somebody looking at us or having the media always in my business. ... I just wanted to be normal.
Whitney: Yes. ... I love to get dressed up and I love to do makeup and hair and stuff, but that was my performance. That was my entertainment.
Oprah: And then when you were expected to be that all the time?
Whitney: That was too much. ... Too much to try to live up to. Too much to try to be, you know? And I wanted out at some point.
No different than Michael and no one in history has ever felt it on as grand a scale as he did.
3) Oprah: It's so interesting that you would say that because for years I have thought that, in many ways, the Whitney Houston that we have seen has been a creation of the media. That obviously your voice and your talent is what it is. But the gowns, the hair, that first video, all of that stuff was a creation.
Was Michael's image (as "The King of Pop" or as "W**** J****") not also "a creation of the media"? C'mon now!
Oprah may recognize the immensity of his talent and the milestones he's laid in music history. She may feel badly for him and his family and regret the way he was treated [leaving the allegations out] by society. However, in the interviews given and statements released since his death, she has not been extending the same courtesy towards him that she has extended to Whitney. She has been careless in the picture she's painting of him, regarding his cause of death. Yet, she very carefully chose her words and stepped lightly, so as not to offend, when speaking on the subject of Whitney's drug addictions. This is what has spurred my jealousy. He deserves the same treatment, no less.
(But, as previously stated, I may be getting ahead of myself, we'll find out today.)
Maybe she'll throw us a bone and actual be nice and honor him.
