What's all the fuss?

Okay, so I've been listening to 130 minutes of Michael Jackson and Jackson Five songs over Internet radio at morpher-radio.co.uk but I can't possibly understand all the grief over his death.

C'mon, folks, excitement's over. He WAS an excellent entertainer but this is not a personal loss to us. You want to remember him? Go buy his CD or DVD, and help his estate reduce his financial debts.

UPDATE: Anyway, I'd like to share a short text conversation with a friend just a short while ago. For obvious reasons, I'd like him to remain anonymous:

Him: Michael Jackson is god.

Me: God or devil? Black or white?

Him: He is human. He makes mistakes like everyone else. Nothing more, nothing less.

Me: Precisely, he was human. But now he's dead. Story ends here. Don't treat it like the end of the world. Don't treat him like god. He was just a good entertainer with good music.

Him: He is a proud african american. White or black is a representation of the kkk oppression.

Me: Proud african american? He was too shameful of his roots or otherwise, he wouldn't have changed his physical appearance beyond recognition.

Him: Who is? Continue to remember him. Just like the rest who left us.

Me: Yes, just appreciate his music for what it's worth. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm just being realistic, that's all.

Him: But he will get the recognition as man of the century. He is, to me.

Me: Good for him then. But it has to be of the last century, not this one. He didn't do anything significant.

Our conversation ended here. Maybe I should also add: life is transient. There is no permanence in this world. Everybody dies sooner or later. Seeing how he was beset with personal problems in the later part of his life, perhaps it was better that he should leave this way with his popularity still intact.

He may have left a hole in the entertainment industry but he also left a huge musical legacy that is impossible for almost anyone else (there will be exceptions, of course) to emulate, let alone overtake. This point, I have to agree with everybody. His musical legacy is rich and wide. Par excellence, in fact, and far richer than his lifestyle.

Let's remember him solely for his music and not anything else.