New York City Councilwoman Letitia James has been campaigning to rename the subway station that Michael Jackson filmed the classic music video “Bad” to pay tribute to the deceased artist. Under her proposal, the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Subway Station in Brooklyn would be renamed.
“Having Michael Jackson visit and moonwalk at this station was a huge deal not only for Brooklyn, but all of New York in the ’80s. And renaming this station in his honor would put it on the map and help ensure that people don’t forget” stated James.
Unfortunate for MJ fans, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) did not think the same and turned down James’ proposal. I would have loved to see this happen just for all the marketing opportunities that would come out of it. Think of all the MJ impersonators and bootleg stuff they would sell at that station.
Good. This saves us from all the douchebags getting off and recreating the Bad video.
i second that – too many hipsters will be coming to the BK and reliving the video. let it alone.
We have to give the man his due: Michael Jackson was – beyond a shadow of a doubt – a great artist whose recorded legacy will endure for decades, maybe even a century or more. But an examination of his life is riddled with questions of all that might have been; all that should have been. It is more than likely that this was a severely mentally ill human being who never sought the treatment he so desperately needed; surrounded by fawning sycophants who enabled his sickness by constantly reassuring him that he could do no wrong. As John Lennon once said in the same context about Elvis Presley, another victim of the excesses of fame: “It’s always the courtiers that kill the king”.
The sad, inescapable truth is that for reasons we will probably never be able to fully understand, his talent and his career were ultimately wasted. Like Charlie Parker, Montgomery Clift, Judy Garland and Lenny Bruce before him, his brilliance as an artist would be overshadowed by severe, psychological torment and an unexplainable desire for self-destruction. Therein lies the real, unspeakable tragedy of Michael Jackson.
http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY