u/FunUniversity6245

Malinda Jackson (previously Malinda Williams) appears to have been incorporating Michael Jackson into Baldwin Hills' dance education for well over a decade.

Passion into action: How this elementary school teacher turned her grief into a viral Black History production

Full petformance of Jam from the rehearsal

Moral panics about child sexual abuse, leading to multiple false allegations, are well-documented.

The McMartin Preschool case is only the most well known of many similar incidents.

This video explains the psychology of how this happens, including the role of the media.

Why are small children so affected by Michael? It doesn't sound like their parents are super-fans.

The artist was so concerned about playing Dirty Diana in front of Princess Diana of Wales at Wembley Stadium in London that he planned to take it out of the lineup. When Jackson explained this to Princess Diana in a meet-and-greet before the show, however, she revealed that it was her favorite song on the album and insisted that he keep it in.

From Man in the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson (2nd ed.) by Joseph Vogel (p. 195)

Losing Princess Diana was one of many moments of grief in Michael's life, I think.

Ben is one of my favourite child-Michael songs; it really shows off his voice and his talent for passionate performance.

Happy to find the movie on YouTube! I'm off to watch it for the first time ...

In 1982 Michael Jackson dropped the best selling album of all time by far. That record still holds today. In 2026 a biopic about his life and career made a billion dollars, and became the highest grossing biopic of all time. Gen Z brought the most tickets to this movie, he gets a great number of streams, youtube views, kids are dressing like him etc…. artists from his era that were huge and are still dropping albums, doing shows, collaberating with other artists etc… and still aren’t anywhere near as currently popular as a man who’s been 17 years. How is this possible that he’s still inescapable and successful one way or another this many years after his prime/life?

Quoted from p. 101

After giving me a bedroom tour La Toya walked me into the dining room, where Michael was seated at the table, which was completely covered with black-and-white portraits. They had just returned from a concert tour in Jamaica, and Michael had taken hundreds of photographs of children while they were there.

“D, most of these children don’t even own shoes.” His voice was soft. “They live in mud shacks and rummage through the garbage for food.”

He explained that the country’s recent political unrest and independence had created more poverty and homelessness than ever, with children being the most affected. He focused on an image of a little boy beaming with pride as he held his baby sister. The boy was barefoot and had on a ragged, ripped skirt hiked up under his arms.

“He’s ten years old,” Michael said, pointing to his photo. “His name is Jahvonee.”

“That’s a pretty name,” I said. “I wonder if it’s somehow related to Jehovah.”

Michael nodded. “I wondered the same thing.”

As I continued poring over the photos, Michael provided a narrative for many of the kids. He knew their names and ages, and details about their living situation. His eyes brimmed with tears as he spoke.

After he was done telling me the children’s stories, we walked the length of the table and circled a few times, viewing each picture in meditative silence. I was drawn to his compassion and interest in things other boys his age simply overlooked. Later, La Toya told me that Michael had spent every free moment he had while they were in Jamaica with the children in those photos, playing a street game with them and giving them money and candy.

Some of the other iconic visual symbols:

The military jackets and other military motifs. (Possibly a trigger for subconscious racism.)

The armbands.

The tape on three fingers.

From what I've read it looks to me like trauma - PTSD or cPTSD after some kind of severe undisclosed assault.

I know about the LSD problem, but the syndrome he developed is more common to trauma sufferers than it is in LSD users. LSD use would certainly make him vulnerable to assault of some sort though.

I have a couple of probably outlandish theories.

1. He had an "experience" with Jimmy Savile at the BBC (this is the least likely, given his age at the time, and Savile generally didn't target the artists on TOTP).

2. He had an "experience" with Roger Waters ...

3. I remember pinpointing the "change" to roughly the day of the video shoot where he's wandering on somebody's property ... but that's a vague memory.

Thanks for any helpful comments.

As a video director, Guns 'N' Roses, Wham, Elton John, Pet Shop Boys, Bananarama, and dozens of other bands are in Andy's history.

The interview is about his career in general - it's a film makers podcast.

Asked what was the most memorable moment, out of the blue he talks Michael Jackson for several minutes, and it's a pretty memorable description! Enjoy! (37:30)

(Andy directed the "Give In to Me" short film.)