Well, I don't, but I think it's because he was a larger than life character when he died prematurely in 1977. He was a lot like MJ in a way. He rose to fame based on talent (he had a remarkable singing voice) and broke ground with a new type of music. As the years passed he became somewhat of a freak with numerous idiosyncrasies. When he died, it was a shock to the general public and the ensuing publicity just made his legend grow. He definitely couldn't act a lick though.
They idolize him as the musician that changed popular music fundamentally and permanently. But he isn't a "MLK-like icon" for Confederate-Americans. :grin: His lechery was limited to 16-year-old girls, though. Who among us can say . . . His rustic charm came through on occasion. You can't make 33 money-making films without having something together besides the music. World-class babes like Ann Margret, Ursula Andress, and Stella Stevens were always a nice touch. Not bad at all, but definitely not Oscar material either. He mostly played himself. And that always worked for the Reverend Doctor John Wayne.
I love Al Sharpton sitting next to Joe Jackson at the BET Music Awards show last Sunday. Very fitting that scumbag Sharpton would associate himself with the man responsible for making his son Michael into the freakshow that he was.
I really do not like al sharpton, i think the whole Don Imus thing is what did me in for al sharpton, but i thought what he said to MJ's children was very nice. Those kids don't deserve this crap, and all the negative press about their dad.
Sharpton serves a purpose from time to time but his pompous grandstanding in forcing the issue on Jackson's legacy misses the mark. You cant dictate someones legacy. Jackson's recent album sales and the general public snatching up every tidbit of info say enough without Sharpton having to tell us how we should feel.
