We really have to do this again
This is a long one, I know, but it had to be said
Let's Talk About Some Issues Within the Michael Jackson Fandom
The Michael Jackson fandom has done incredible work carrying on Michael's legacy and defending him against misinformation over the years. But if we're being honest, there are habits within the fandom itself that deserve criticism of their own. Loving Michael doesn't mean we should be afraid to call out the unhealthy behavior within our own community.
1. The Infantilization of Michael
Let's talk about the infantilization of Michael in this fandom.
We're treating this man like he's a child.
Yes, Michael was a child at heart, and yes, he enjoyed childlike things. But he was also a grown man. He was capable of making his own decisions, making mistakes, learning from them, and living with the consequences of those decisions.
Sometimes people talk about Michael as if he had no agency at all, as if every single thing that happened in his life was because someone else made him do it. That's simply not true. You can acknowledge the trauma he went through without stripping him of his adulthood.
Treating him like he was permanently a child doesn't honor him. It erases part of who he was. Michael himself wanted to be respected as a man, an artist, and a businessman. We can recognize that he had an innocent spirit without pretending he wasn't capable of making his own choices.
2. Parasocial Relationships
Now, we're in a fandom where we write fanfiction about him. Yes, we imagine ourselves in a relationship with Michael at times. That's part of fandom.
But acting as if you personally knew him, and let me highlight this, speaking with certainty about what he would have wanted or what he would have thought, is where I draw the line.
The truth is, we did not know this man. We only saw so much of his life and his personality. We don't know him, and he isn't here to speak for himself. I think it's unfair to place our own opinions in his mouth and present them as facts.
It's like the whole Jermajesty situation all over again. People take fanfiction, where he's often written as toxic, and start acting as if that's his personality in real life, when it's literally been proven otherwise.
And I've noticed something else.
The pictures people use for those "toxic Jermajesty" fanfics are almost always the ones where he has the buzz cut.
How much of what we write and represent in this fandom is simply imagination, and how much of it comes from stereotypes that we're taking too seriously and using to represent real people?
3. Harassment Within the Fandom
This is probably going to be the longest section because I have a lot to say about this.
We all know the post I made where I said that Maddie Simpson supports Israel and Zionism, which has been proven, and that she supports the murder of civilians, especially children, in Gaza. She has shown no remorse for her actions or made a public statement denouncing Zionism like Paris Jackson has. Until she makes a public statement, I will continue to take that as her opinion.
I said I do not like that, and I do not agree with her opinion.
At the same time, I also defended her against the people attacking her looks and her body because I said that if you're attacking her appearance, it has nothing to do with her political opinion and more to do with the fact that she's engaged to Jaafar Jackson. I don't think that's fair. She's allowed to have her opinion, and I'm allowed to disagree with it. That doesn't mean I'm going to go out of my way to harass her.
Then there was another post where a fan sent her a message, and she responded harshly, even though the message itself was kind and wholesome. In my post, I said two things.
First, we don't know if that's the full story. We don't know if there were messages before that. We don't know if this person had messaged her before.
Second, I said this could have been an automatic response, and that alone doesn't automatically make her a bad person.
Based on the limited information we all had, I shared my opinion on the situation.
Now, weeks later, another account, who I'm not going to tag because I've already blocked her (her blog is f1stuffblog, if you want to look for it), came into my comments harassing both me and my mutuals. She called me a disgusting bitch and accused me of being parasocial for talking about the situation.
Meanwhile, she's the one in my comments calling me names over Maddie Simpson, a woman who doesn't even know she exists.
What the fuck is the problem?
If you disagree with someone's opinion, that's your right. But there is a difference between disagreement and harassment. Calling people names, insulting them, and repeatedly going after them over an opinion isn't healthy discussion. It's harassment.
4. Treating Fan Theories as Facts
As I talked about before with the Jermajesty fanfics, fanfiction is fanfiction. There's nothing wrong with enjoying fictional stories.
The problem starts when people take those fictional portrayals and begin treating them as if they're accurate representations of someone's real personality.
Jermajesty is often written as toxic in fanfiction. That's fine. It's fiction. But when people start presenting that version of him as if it's established fact, despite there being no evidence to support it, that's no longer fanfiction. That's stereotyping.
Presenting speculation as established history without evidence only spreads misinformation, and it creates unfair perceptions of real people who never asked to be fictionalized in the first place.
Let's talk about gatekeeping.
Saying newer or younger fans aren't "real fans" because they weren't around when Michael was alive, or because they discovered him through the Michael movie, is ridiculous.
Discovering Michael Jackson because of the movie is not a crime.
There are people who, twenty years from now, will have just been born. They'll discover Michael's music for the very first time, and they'll love him just as much as we do today.
You are not entitled to Michael Jackson simply because you've been listening to him since you were a child. There is room for everybody in this fandom.
Love and unity, above everything else, is what Michael stood for.
Now imagine knowing that people within his own fandom are arguing over who's a "real fan" and who's a "fake fan," when all Michael ever wanted was for people to enjoy the music.
I'm not saying there aren't newer fans who behave inappropriately. Every fandom has people like that.
But something I've noticed, especially with situations like the Bae Nation group chat, is that people are very quick to blame younger fans for everything.
And while I'm not presenting this as fact, I genuinely believe there have always been older fans who are genuine weirdos themselves, using newer fans as scapegoats to say and do the things they've wanted to say and do for a very long time.
I think that's unfair to newer fans, and it's one of the reasons so many of them end up leaving the fandom.
I don't even know if I have to elaborate on this one.
The Jackson family does not owe you access to every detail of their private lives.
Just because they're public figures doesn't mean they're required to share every relationship, every conversation, every family gathering, or every personal moment with us. Some things are meant to stay private, and that's okay.
Being a fan does not entitle you to someone's personal life.
Let's Talk About Incest Fanfiction
This is probably one of the strangest things I've seen within this fandom.
First, there was fanfiction about Jaafar and Jermajesty, who are biological brothers.
Then there was fanfiction about Michael and Jaafar, who are uncle and nephew.
And this is one I find strange.
Nobody was writing fanfiction about Jaafar Jackson and Nia Long.
Then they did an interview together at the BET Awards where Nia herself said that she sees Jaafar as a son and that she's become like a second mother to him.
After that interview established their relationship publicly as a mother-and-son dynamic, suddenly people wanted to start writing fanfiction about them.
So... you never wanted to write fanfiction about them before.
But now that they've publicly described their relationship as mother and son, that's when y'all decide to start shipping them?
I genuinely don't understand that.
Disagree with me if you want, but I find it disturbing.
7. Obsession with Appearance & AI/Misinformation
Let's talk about the constant obsession with Michael's appearance.
Instead of focusing on his artistry, his humanitarian work, or the impact he had on music, people spend their time debating his face, his skin, and his body.
"Oh, his nose looked so perfect during the Bad era."
"I wish he had never touched his face."
"I wish he hadn't gotten this done."
"I wish he hadn't changed that."
And while we're on the topic, can we finally put the "Michael wanted to be white" narrative to rest?
If there was anybody on the face of this planet who was proud of being a Black man, it was Michael Jackson.
Ironically, the more his vitiligo progressed and the lighter his skin became, the more Black-centered and politically outspoken his music became.
People don't like talking about that, but it's true.
Now let's talk about AI-generated content and misinformation.
The AI-generated pictures where Michael suddenly has abs.
It takes two seconds, or no more than five minutes, to verify your sources.
Why would you see something online, make absolutely no effort to fact-check it, and then share it as if it's true?
Aren't you scared of looking like an idiot if someone fact-checks you and proves you wrong?
Then again, a lot of people would rather double down than admit they were wrong, so I guess that answers my own question.
8. Talking Down on the Jackson Family
I've talked about this before.
Michael Jackson was Michael Jackson.
Nobody is disputing that.
Michael was elite. There will never be another Michael Jackson.
But what we're not going to do is pretend that the rest of his family are talentless, useless, or somehow irrelevant simply because Michael reached a level that no one else has.
The Jackson family is full of incredible singers, dancers, musicians, performers, writers, and entertainers.
Not just Michael's siblings, but the younger generation as well.
Appreciating Michael shouldn't require disrespecting the rest of his family.
9. Romanticizing Michael's Suffering
This is something that genuinely bothers me.
People romanticize Michael's trauma, his loneliness, and his pain as if they're poetic or aesthetic instead of recognizing them for what they really were.
None of those things are beautiful.
And if we're being honest, this is one of the same reasons people failed to take Michael's suffering seriously while he was alive.
People watched him struggle and turned that struggle into entertainment or mythology instead of recognizing that he was a human being who was hurting.
Now, decades later, some people are doing the exact same thing.
None of this is meant to attack the fandom.
I'm part of this fandom too.
But I think it's important that we're able to criticize unhealthy behavior within our own community instead of pretending it doesn't exist.
You can love Michael, defend his legacy, and still hold fellow fans accountable when they're spreading misinformation, harassing people, invading privacy, or treating real human beings like fictional characters.
Loving Michael Jackson should bring people together.
And if we want to honor the values he spent his entire life talking about, then maybe it's time we start showing each other a little more respect.
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