I remember seeing the video for Black and White for the first time in 1991 when I was in the Philippines and thought it was the coolest thing ever. It was such a big hit there that they replicated the last part of the video (one with different people) in a local snack commercial (snack was called Sweetcorn)

Truthfully I was never really a MJ fan, (well I'm not really a fan of many, I like music, and movies, but I never really payed much attention to actors or signers) not that I don't like his music, I just never really knew who he was when I was younger other then he was extremely famous, and when I was younger I would always get confused between Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan, since they where both famous in Taiwan and to me, their names where very similar, I thought they where the same person. The first time I saw a music video of Michael Jackson and knew It was Michael Jackson was at the end of the movie Free Willy it had a Michael Jackson music video. It's strange Michael Jackson (first signer I remembered) and Michael Jordan (first and only name of a basket ball player I know of off the top of my head) are the only celebrities I remember hearing about when I was a child. It's going to be strange living in a world without Michael Jackson.

btw I was at work in Calgary when I overheard a lady say he died, I was quite surprise, and didn't believe it at first, until i double checked it, and when I told my coworker (a Filipino lady) she didn't believe me, then a few minutes latter her brother who never calls her at work, called and told her the news. He really influenced so much of the world we live in today. And even someone like me who doesn't own any Michael Jackson CD's can feel the effect of him being gone. It's like losing a family member you never met, but always heard about, and has always been indirectly a part of ones life.

I have a question for you TCKs out there,

Where were you when you heard about Michael Jackson?

Michael Jackson is not only well-known in the States, he is known in the WORLD. I don't think I have met anyone from this world who doesn't who Michael Jackson is. Maybe in certain locations yes but even so I believe there are more who knows about Michael Jackson than those who don't.

I was in Thailand at the time and travelled to Taiwan for break. At both places many people knew about Michael Jackson and loved imitating him.

I was just watching CNN and they were talking about his kids. They were home-schooled and traveled around a lot w/ their father. They lived in Bahrain for a while too. The journalists were discussing that the children did not have many friends outside of the Jackson extended family and grew up "different" b/c they did not attend a "regular school" or grow up in the "same house".
Would you consider them cross-cultural kids with TCK tendencies?

Rest in Peace Michael Jackson.

I have a distinct memory of being the ultimate MJ fan growing up. All the pictures, posters, books, t-shirts, and my memory of calling up Raffles hotel everyday when he came to Singapore for his Dangerous Tour and he stayed there. As a 9 year old, I was hoping to get a chance to talk to the megastar. I've been mourning his loss. Its really hard to watch the news and read the news articles. His music is sooooo good. I haven't been able to stop listening to them nonstop.

We miss you Michael!

RIP King of Pop.

the fat lady, she's gone! Serves her right, she was a terrible singer.

Not focused on memories; thinking about who Michael was.

Michael could unite people of different cultures but could he find peace for himself? He knew what it was like to be different and he felt the pain of not belonging. I saw a phenomenal artist/engineer, a Michelangelo, a Beethoven, an Einstein; on the inside who was he to himself?

How does his life compare to Princess Diana's? They were good friends and they shared their unique culture: superstars, under a microscope; loved deeply or shunned.

Sociologically, how do the characteristics of TCKs compare to the characteristics of superstars? We must share some characteristics: feeling different, not belonging, attracting people because of our differences or shunned by people because of our differences.

My heart goes out to his family and I pray that the media gives them the respect and privacy they have requested.

It's so sad to hear about Michael Jackson. As a dancer, I'm performed almost every one of his hits in some form or another. A lot of celebrities have died recently, but he's the first one that had a big impact on my life personally. It's a really weird feeling. Anyway, nice post. ;)