Washington Week: Student Voices (O)

Memories of Michael Jackson differ between Gen X and Y
By Amanda Hoffstrom and Jamie McMahon
UWIRE
June 27, 2009

As fans around the world remembered a unique man who revolutionized pop music, younger generations—those who grew up after Michael Jackson’s prime—said his eccentric behavior may cloud his legacy forever.

Amy Bree Becker, a University of Wisconsin graduate student who grew up in New Jersey, said she saw Jackson for her first concert in 1984 when she was just 6 years old. The star’s Victory tour had stopped in Philadelphia, and Becker went with her parents.

“I remember finding the Thriller video kind of scary and remember my younger brother and I trying to learn how to do the moonwalk,” Becker said. “I also remember when Michael Jackson lit his hair on fire accidentally while filming a video maybe. There were major concerns that he would be OK.”

By 1984, Jackson had released Thriller, which ultimately became the best-selling album of all time.

“He was a hugely important figure for a lot of musicians who started out around the time that he was really coming into his own,” said Allison Hantschel, a University of Wisconsin 1996 grad. “When I was in early high school he was really good, but by the time I was in college, he was kind of already past it.”

In the early 1990s, Jackson’s personal life began to take center stage with child sexual abuse charges, plastic surgery and a marriage to Lisa Marie Presley. Another marriage, three children and more scandals followed Jackson into the late 1990s and the 2000s.

Becker said she thought Jackson’s eccentric ways were similar to other child stars who developed problems later in life.

“In time he may be remembered more for his music than his personal life but, unfortunately, his personal affairs will always color the coverage of his achievements,” she said.

Andrew Goldberg, who was born in 1981 and grew up in a small New York town, said though he thought Jackson was always a bit strange, but it didn’t really impact his opinion of the music.

“I'll remember him mostly for his music, especially the older classics, though I doubt the controversy and rumors surrounding his later life will soon be forgotten,” Goldberg said.

For Tom Walz, a DePauw University ’09 grad, Jackson’s music was always overshadowed by his increasingly strange behavior during the past two decades.

“The first thing that I found out when I got home the other day was that both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson had died. And I said to myself, ‘Farrah Fawcett—this is a loss for the world. Michael Jackson—yes and no,’” Walz said. “He’s done some fantastic work—who doesn’t enjoy “Thriller”?—but I just feel like he peaked in the mid to late-80s and then got creepier and creepier.”

Bob Marshall, a University of Wisconsin senior, said Jackson was his definition of a rock star and celebrity growing up. However, Jackson’s change in appearance and personality changed his opinion of him.

“This was the first time I think any of us had a celebrity this big go through such a horrendous transformation, and instead of attempting to understand it, I think we all turned our backs on him. I think he knew this too, and that couldn't have helped much with anything. I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that though I didn't like who he had become, I somehow had a very big hope that one day he would be back to normal and being the biggest star in the world again.”

Marshall said Jackson’s fall from grace is almost as significant as his musical career.

“He was a genius who was lost a long time before he died, and he stands as a warning for what American culture can do when it gets out of hand. But like any great artist, his work will live on,” he said.

Mike Olecki, a Minnesota State Mankato ’09 grad, said despite Jackson’s scandals, he associated him more with the music than his behavior.

“I saw him as two different people: His music is great—every time you go to a bar you hear people singing it—and I just saw his music and private life as two different things. It was nothing that ever kept me from wanting to go to a Michael Jackson concert and seeing him live,” he said.

[ Back to Student Voices ]