If it's a standard "new words to an old tune" and the tune just happens to be a Michael Jackson tune then I see no problem. In filk circles it's generally considered to partly be a tribute to the original.
If it's going to make fun of MJ (or the original song itself) in any way, however, it's too soon.
Unfortunately, I have heard people telling MJ jokes (since his death) that were poking fun at him (and not in a nice way). While his celebrity status and unusual lifestyle made him fair game for that when he was alive, there should be a period after a death where we set such things aside out of respect for his passing.
Spamalot was cracking the random MJ reference joke when we went on Sunday. I thought it was in poor form. Just out of respect for the dead. He was a very tragic individual in life, and now in death.
If I were to write one, it would be ttto "man in the mirror" because it's the only MJ song I've heard (drove me nuts) and would revolve around Batman, with MJ appropriately cast as the Joker.
I'm sayin, he just looks like The Joker. I'm sayin, he looks so like The Joker.
It has the right beat. Yeah. Now, how does the rest of the song go...
The nature of my parody isn't vicious. I could have made fun of his plastic surgeries in it or the child molestation stuff, but neither fit the nature of what actually inspired it.
I'll post the lyrics when I sort them all out. Right now it's 90% complete.
I've heard people cracking MJ jokes since a few hours after it was announced (on TV as well).
I don't believe in "respect for the dead" in the sense many people seem to be using it. If they deserved respect when they were alive, they still deserve it, if not then not. Being dead doesn't make them 'untouchable'.
Consideration for the living who are mourning their dead is another matter. I wouldn't crack jokes about a dead person to or in front of their relatives (and therefore not on public media) out of consideration for those who might find it upsetting (on the other hand I know some families where that would be welcomed, like at an Irish style wake). But then that could be extended to "don't even mention the dead person" or play their songs bcause it might upset someone, it's a very fuzzy line.
Humour is a very common way of dealing with sadness (indeed, it has been argued that all humour is a way of dealing with 'wrongness').
(I remember hearing the joke "What's dead and sounds like a bell?" within a few days of the announcement of Bing Crosby's death. Even those who considered it tasteless still laughed...)
I believe the "polite" thing to do is to wait until he's been buried or has been turned into ash. Problem is, his family is going to farm him out for viewing in Neverland, then in Gary, Indiana. He might not hit the ground/get to ashes for another month or so.
Normally the wait time is a week. In his case, try 2 weeks from his death.
However, that's the "polite" thing. With the way the media is handling all this, and since his family is treating him like a god re the funeral arrangements, that time is growing shorter and shorter exponentially.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
ETA: Then again, I never did like his stuff.
no subject
MJ parody
If it's going to make fun of MJ (or the original song itself) in any way, however, it's too soon.
Unfortunately, I have heard people telling MJ jokes (since his death) that were poking fun at him (and not in a nice way). While his celebrity status and unusual lifestyle made him fair game for that when he was alive, there should be a period after a death where we set such things aside out of respect for his passing.
no subject
Nothing wrong with a little dark humor, in my opinion.
no subject
And yes, I too never liked him much.
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
I'm sayin, he just looks like The Joker.
I'm sayin, he looks so like The Joker.
It has the right beat. Yeah. Now, how does the rest of the song go...
no subject
It's amazing how uninteresting his lyrics are.
no subject
no subject
no subject
...but you could always parody that instead.
Re: MJ parody
I'll post the lyrics when I sort them all out. Right now it's 90% complete.
no subject
I don't believe in "respect for the dead" in the sense many people seem to be using it. If they deserved respect when they were alive, they still deserve it, if not then not. Being dead doesn't make them 'untouchable'.
Consideration for the living who are mourning their dead is another matter. I wouldn't crack jokes about a dead person to or in front of their relatives (and therefore not on public media) out of consideration for those who might find it upsetting (on the other hand I know some families where that would be welcomed, like at an Irish style wake). But then that could be extended to "don't even mention the dead person" or play their songs bcause it might upset someone, it's a very fuzzy line.
Humour is a very common way of dealing with sadness (indeed, it has been argued that all humour is a way of dealing with 'wrongness').
(I remember hearing the joke "What's dead and sounds like a bell?" within a few days of the announcement of Bing Crosby's death. Even those who considered it tasteless still laughed...)
no subject
Normally the wait time is a week. In his case, try 2 weeks from his death.
However, that's the "polite" thing. With the way the media is handling all this, and since his family is treating him like a god re the funeral arrangements, that time is growing shorter and shorter exponentially.
Did something change?
no subject
no subject
Did you hear something acutely composed?
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject