Tuesday, September 15, 2009

What A Week...

Well this has been quite a week in the entertainment industry. The VMA awards returned to New York and I think everyone got quite a surprise as they watched the show. In complete respect and style, the show opened with a tribute to Michael Jackson. Madonna gave a speech that I thought really captured the true essence of Michael and also what it was like to be a friend of his. She started out talking about the similarities she shared with him: " Michael Jackson was born in August 1958. So was I. Michael Jackson grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest. So did I. Michael Jackson had eight brothers and sisters. So do I. When Michael Jackson was 6 he became a superstar and was perhaps the world's most beloved child. When I was 6 my mother died. I think he got the shorter end of the stick." WOW! I knew exactly what she was talking about when she said that. It hit me like a ton of bricks that someone as well known as Madonna was saying what I had been thinking.

She went on to talk about how Michael didn't really get a chance to have a childhood and "how do you recreate your childhood when you are under the magnifying glass of the world for your entire life?" She is absolutely correct in what she said. I remember when I was young, seeing The Jackson Five performing on our 13 inch tv and all I could think was that "the little one" was so cute and that he was going to blow his brothers away and become an icon when he got older. I was only five at the time but that is what I thought. Even my parents always remarked how talented he was and they couldn't believe his on stage presence. You couldn't tear yourself away from watching him even as a little boy. But being a little boy was a chronilogical thing. He was surrounded by so many adults with their contracts, concert dates, everything that I'm sure was quite overwhelming as a child. He never really got to be a child. My personal belief, and I'm finding others agree with this, is that since he really didn't get to have a childhood that when he was older he created Neverland Ranch to be a kid. That's why he loved having kids there. They are innocent and carefree and aren't jaded as adults can become. He could be himself with them and there were no hidden agendas, they just wanted to have fun. The accusations of Michael involving the two kids that came to light in the media I think were purely money driven. I personally don't think he did what they think he did. I didn't think at the time and I don't think it now. I'm not just saying that because he is dead, I'm saying that because I think Michael had an innocence about him and I think that usually if you are going to things to kids, it usually starts with your own which he never did. I think people were so quick to judge him because he was always in the public eye. I think the industry and the media made him appear to be eccentric.



For Madonna to say that he got the short end of the stick, I get that. My mother had died and although I was not a child when it happened, I understand her yearning for a mother figure. To lose your parent is quite a revelation to your life. I lost my father first when I was 16 and then my mom when I was turning 25. It was devastating to me in both scenarios and I can only imagine what it must have felt like to lose her mother when she was only 6. So to say that she thinks he got the short end of the stick, is to say that never having a childhood is worse than losing your parent. That is a very powerful statement and people that have lost a parent really know what a statement she was making.

She said that we failed him and we let him slip through our fingers. I can see that because he was trying to live his life as best as he could but sometimes you hope there is someone who is watching after you to point out your mistakes or to point out what you're doing and who was doing that for Michael? I loved how she described of when they were watching a movie together and his hand reached for hers, how he didn't seem like a superstar at that moment but like a human being. That's what he was, a human being. He had feelings and people seemed to have forgotten that. No matter how big you are, no matter how much money you have, we are all still simply human beings with feelings, with thoughts, with emotions. Michael was no different. I'm glad she said what she said. It was a great speech and you know it was from her heart and she meant everything she said.

As if the speech wasn't enough, a musical tribute was given with a large screen showing Michael's videos and dancers on the stage dancing the same steps as in the videos. I sat there watching this thinking, we are never going to get to see him perform live ever again. That's a shame. I always thought one day I would get to see that. I even thought maybe one day, somehow, I'd even get to meet him and what a great thing that would be. I always thought if I ever did get to meet him that I would say to him that he was one of the greatest talents of all time and that he shouldn't listen to what people say about him because in his heart he knows who he is. I'll never get to say that to him but I'm sure now he knows it.

The dancing and the songs were awesome! Then there was a toned down moment, sort of a space/fantasy moment, the glass breaks and there she is-sister Janet!






I didn't expect that. I sat up and was smiling and at the same time my eyes started to water (much as they are now as I'm writing this) because I started to think that she was really going to do it big for her brother. I was not wrong. Janet came out in full force, a force to be reckoned with, and she gave it her all. Then you could see the video of Michael in the background and Janet dancing solo with him. I had no words for that. All I could think of is that in that moment if we could see Michael now, we would see him there in spirit with her on stage. When it ended, Janet's face said it all. She brought on enough energy for both her and her brother. You could see the love and the pain at the same time on her face. It was like she was saying, that was for my brother, that was my love for him and I dare any one of you to say anything against that. When I saw her face, my eyes started to tear and I admit I did start to cry a little. I cried a little because it was sad that we'll never get to see him perform again and I was also happy that she put that whole thing together for him. They were very close and I cannot imagine what it feels like to lose a sibling. Thankfully mine are still here with me.


Madonna's heart felt speech and Janet's full on focused performance made for quite an appropriate opening tribute to the King of Pop. They even had dedicated the show to him. Michael deserved that respect and I'm so happy no one forgot him. I am still shocked from his death, almost like it's not real. I wish it was a fake. I wish we could do it over but death does not opt for a do over.

If you missed this part of the show, you can go to this link and see the written speech Madonna gave as well as the video.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1621390/20090913/jackson_michael.jhtml

If you didn't get to see Janet's tribute, here's the link for that.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4ZRFj4RgLk

This was a positive thing for the VMA's especially since it was something that had happened so recently. What wasn't so positive was Kanye's rude interruption when Taylor Swift was trying to give her acceptance speech. He ran up on stage, grabbed the mic and basically said that Beyonce should have won. The cameras were on Beyonce and you could see how embarrassed she was. Taylor was shocked and didn't have the chance to finish her speech. A happy moment ruined because someone reacted off of their emotions. The twitter updates and comments on Facebook started coming in quickly. Everyone was upset with Kanye. I was really wondering what was going through his head? Then later in the show, Beyonce won an award and she said she remembered when she received an award when she was 17 and was with Destiny's Child, what a great moment that was for her and she called for Taylor to come out and finish her speech. The crowd cheered, people stood up and Taylor took the stage and finished her speech. I was happy she got to have her moment even if it did come later in the show. And as for Beyonce, I think that was such a classy thing that she did. She didn't have to do it, but she did. It was a great thing she did. The next day on the Jay Leno show I had heard that Kanye made a public apology to Taylor. I had not yet seen the show and I thought, well too late. He should have thought of that first before doing what he did. I wasn't buying it and I didn't care. Tonight I got to watch the show since I had DVR'd it. After I watched Kanye and watched his face and his eyes, I have a few things to say. I do think his apology was sincere and I do think he was sorry. Jay had asked him what would his mom think of his behavior and he got all choked up about it. I was glad Jay asked him that question because I was thinking the same thing, what would his mom have said? Kanye had said that he knew it was wrong right after he gave her the mic back and she didn't finish, that's when it hit him that what he did was wrong and rude. He said if there was anything he could do to ever help Taylor, he would. He was saying that he had just gotten emotional on how he thinks the award show should've went and also that, if I understood him correctly, he really didn't have much time to grieve from his hurt from his mom's death that he just kept going, making music and all that. Ok I kind of get that. He said what he was going to do was to take some time off to figure things out and how to handle things. That's when I realized that I hope he meant what he said. If he didn't give himself enough time to grieve, I hope he would take time off to do just that and get his priorities in check so that something like that wouldn't happen again. I really hope that he did realize that he needs to think before speaking or before doing something so dumb. He said he was sorry to have hurt someone because of his hurt, I think again he was talking about his mom's death. So what he did was wrong and we all know that but if he meant what he said, then I'm glad he realized it and I'm glad he took the time to apologize publicly for it. Now I'm sure all can be forgiven but he needs to prove himself and only time will tell on that. I'm kind of on the fence about it but if I see that he has grown and doesn't do something rude like that again, fine. But if he turns around and does the same thing again, that's it, he's done in my eyes. I will not believe anything he says again. There are even some DJ's I've seen on Facebook that say that will not be playing any of his songs. That's just one of the results to his actions, I can only imagine others that are taking place. That was a wrong professional and personal move on Kanye's part so let's hope that he puts his money where his mouth is instead of his foot and gets his act together. Kanye, we'll be watching you so make good on your words.


Yesterday we got shocking news that Patrick Swayze had passed away from his fight with cancer. He was 57 years old. He was born in Houston, Texas and in his early years was a dancer due to his mom being a ballet dancer and the director of the Houston Ballet Dance Company. He met his wife when she was a student of his mothers. They got married in 1975 and then moved to New York to pursue their careers. One of his earliest roles was in the movie "The Outsiders" that he starred in with other actors who would become big stars like Rob Lowe, Emilio Estevez, Ralph Macchio, Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon and C. Thomas Howell.






I loved that movie because I had read the book and really enjoyed it plus can I say, how good looking Swayze was in his role? But the big hit came when he starred in "Dirty Dancing" with Jennifer Grey.



I remember that people were starting to ask him in interviews how did he learn to move so well and then that's when we learned of his dance background. I remember thinking that Swayze was a good looking man with that sort of cowboy/rustic look to him and at the same time sort of a bad boy, as the role had called for. But then seeing him dance in the movie, I thought the same thing that he moved like he had professional training and he was quite smooth. Well there you go, a role that showed us a man could be good looking and sexy when he danced. "Road House" came along and we got to see the rough side of him, still sexy as he kicked ass and tried to clean up the town. Did you notice his brother was in the movie as well?




Demi Moore got to star with him in "Ghost" and who can ever forget that movie? This is kind of eerie but at the part of the movie in the end when Molly can finally see Sam's spirit and he tells her how wonderful it is and that you take the love with you. I always thought that when the day came that Patrick would have to leave us, that they would play that clip of him in any tributes so I guess we will see if that happens.


A completely different role brought us "Point Break" where he was this surfer who was also involved in bank robberies and was befriended by Keanu Reeves. The look was a totally different one for Swayze but still he looked hot and pulled the crazy off that was needed for that role.





Could you ever picture him playing a drag queen? Well, "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" brought us a man in a dress who after awhile, you kind of forgot it was Swayze who was under all that make up which to me means he did a great job acting in that and I'm sure he had fun making that movie.



He was a man of many roles and he liked it that way. He never wanted to be known as just one type of guy/actor. That's why he decided to play so many different and varied parts and we were lucky that he did. We got to see many sides of his talent.

Although he was a good looking man and made many womens heads turn, looks could only get someone so far. He knew his affect on women but he was more than just a good looking face. He was a real person, someone you could just sit and have a normal conversation with. He was down to earth and a great soul. There are some lines from some of his movies that I think describe the kind of guy that he was.

From the movie "Point Break" when he said "If you want the ultimate, you gotta be willing to pay the ultimate price." I think that shows us his strength of his talent where he did give great performances in his roles. In "Dirty Dancing" when he says "I'm gonna do my kind of dancin' with a great partner...somebody who's taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people no matter what it costs them" shows us that I'm sure in his life he had met people that he admired for their convictions and also that he did things his way, like taking on different roles as to not be characterized as one type of character. In "Road House" when he says "Pain don't hurt" I think we saw that in him when he played his role in "The Beast" even though he was dealing with his cancer, he continued on with acting with long hours even though he had pain, he continued to do what he did best. And my favorite is in "Ghost" when he says to Molly "It's amazing, Molly, The love inside, you take with you". I'm sure he has taken all the love with him from his family, his friends and his wife and they'll always have his love with them in their memories and good times with them.

Patrick Swayze, shining soul, talented actor, dedicated husband, friend to many, missed by all...

3 comments:

  1. :D !!!

    "No se maravillen de esto, porque viene la hora en que todos los que están en las tumbas conmemorativas oirán su voz 29 y saldrán, los que hicieron cosas buenas a una resurrección de vida, los que practicaron cosas viles a una resurrección de juicio." (Juan 5:28,29)

    "Con eso, oí una voz fuerte desde el trono decir: “¡Mira! La tienda de Dios está con la humanidad, y él residirá con ellos, y ellos serán sus pueblos. Y Dios mismo estará con ellos. 4 Y limpiará toda lágrima de sus ojos, y la muerte no será más, ni existirá ya más lamento ni clamor ni dolor. Las cosas anteriores han pasado”.
    5 Y Aquel que estaba sentado en el trono dijo: “¡Mira!, voy a hacer nuevas todas las cosas”. También, dice: “Escribe, porque estas palabras son fieles y verdaderas”. (Revelación o Apocalipsis 21:3-6)

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  2. "Él realmente se tragará a la muerte para siempre, y el Señor Soberano Jehová ciertamente limpiará las lágrimas de todo rostro. Y el oprobio de su pueblo quitará de toda la tierra, porque Jehová mismo [lo] ha hablado." (Isaías 25:8)

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  3. :D !!! Ciertamente Jehová cumplirá su propósito.
    Antes de que ocurra él nos lo ha hecho saber:

    "Las primeras cosas... miren, han llegado, pero nuevas anuncio. Antes que empiecen a brotar, hago que ustedes las oigan" (Isaías 42:9)

    Y miren! su palabras siempre se cumple:

    "así resultará ser mi palabra que sale de mi boca. No volverá a mi sin resultados, sino que ciertamente hará aquello en que me he deleitado, y tendrá éxito seguro en aquello para lo cual la he enviado" (Isaías 55:11)

    "En verdad les digo que de ningún modo pasará esta generación hasta que sucedan todas estas cosas. 35 El cielo y la tierra pasarán, pero mis palabras de ningún modo pasarán." (Mateo 24:34-35)

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