Michael Jackson and the B.E.T. Awards: Why People are Hating on the Show

I hate going to funerals.

The last person close to me that died was my Granddad on my Mom’s side. I was living with my uncle in Pennsylvania at the time, and we drove aaaaall the way down to Alabama for the funeral (which was a LONG over-night drive). We got there early the next morning and went straight to the church, where the rest of our family was waiting.

Once inside the church, we all got a chance to walk up to my Granddad’s casket. I got to look at him one last time, and… well, I don’t really cry at these things anymore, but I looked at him and automatically thought to myself:

“Wow – they did a LOUSY job embalming him!”

Later on during the funeral, as people went up and started talking about my Granddad, I became more and more angry with how the service was going. Every time somebody would say something, I would analyze it, pick it apart, and find fault with what they were saying.

“Hey, they didn’t mention this thing about him!”

“Wait a minute – why are they only talking about his LAST job as a Wal-mart greeter?? Where is the personal stuff??”

Even the choir that sang at the thing was pissing me off – “Why did they pick THAT song?? Why is it so darn off-key??” The happiest part for me was when the funeral part was finally over, and we were allowed to eat in the church’s cafeteria.

—

In looking back on it now, there wasn’t anything particularly wrong with my Granddad’s funeral per se. Sure, there were things here and there that I wished would have happened, but ultimately, most people probably have similar feelings at funerals. Why?

BECAUSE WHEN YOU’VE KNOWN SOMEONE FOR THE MAJORITY OF YOUR LIFE, IT’S HARD TO SEE SOMEONE ELSE TAKE THAT PERSON AND TRY TO CELEBRATE THEIR LIFE WITHOUT HAVING SOME KIND OF OPINION ABOUT IT.

In looking at the B.E.T. awards yesterday, I actually ENJOYED the program. At the same time, though, I know there are many others that thought B.E.T. either (a) didn’t do enough to remember MJ, (b) didn’t remember him in the right way, or (c) felt it was too much of a rush job and not classy enough.

I understand where these feelings come from. The ENTIRE WORLD from the 1960s ’til now grew up on Michael Jackson. He was in the ENTIRE WORLD’S lives for 45 years. That’s BILLIONS of people.

What does that mean? It means that BILLIONS of people are going to have various opinions about how his life should be celebrated.

For the opinions of the (comparatively smaller) MILLIONS of people who watched the award show on Sunday, you have to take into account the fact that, when an event like this happens where many feeling of sadness abound, ANYTHING DONE WRONG AT THE SHOW COULD MAKE THEM AUTOMATICALLY HATE HOW THEY CHOSE TO HONOR HIM.

For example: you might have watched the show and loved every bit of it until near the end, when Lil’ Wayne and Drake got up on stage and dedicated “F–k Every Girl” to the Gloved one. That one act of so-called “disrespect” could automatically make you think they did a snow job on MJ’s memory, even if you liked the rest of the show up to that point.

Or, you have been jamming along to the Jackson songs, havin’ a good time… and became outraged when the censor guy started missing just about every dang curse word spoken in the last 2 hours.

Or, you might have even felt that the tributes were too hastily thrown together, and that it was wrong for B.E.T. to even try and attempt such a thing.

In any case, the point is that, even if B.E.T. had somehow managed to throw a “classier” show (which, in our society, means a dignified, i.e. WHITER tribute show – I have issues about that as well, but that’s a whole ‘nother note), the reality is they were gonna lose either way.

On the one hand, if, as a “Black” network, they didn’t overhaul their show, they would have been chastised the next day for “not doing more to honor Michael.” Heck, they’re already catching flack for not allowing Chris Brown to perform – u can imagine how much more they would have gotten if they hadn’t added the “Rock With You” light to Beyonce’s performance, or made alterations to some of the teleprompter skits!

On the other hand, they also knew that, by altering their show, they’d catch flack for not “waiting it out” or “spending time putting together a REAL concert tribute.” Either way, they were stuck, people – he died THREE DAYS before the show!

I was a theatre major in college, so I know how hard it is to put up a show in 3 months, let alone re-vamping it in 3 days! It’s similar to a woman moving into a 1-bedroom apartment… and having a baby the next day, not having known she was pregnant for 9 months (I’ve seen the TV specials, this DOES happen)! Sometimes you have to make last-minute changes when life throws you a curveball, even if the results aren’t always perfect or going to please everybody.

So I say, “KUDOS” to B.E.T. for putting on a damn good tribute. Sure, it wasn’t perfect, and I’m sure the Grammys will blow them out of the water, but at least they understood he’d be the reason people would be tuning into see the show and gave it to us. Everyone’s opinion about how it went may differ, but it’s still better than the backlash they would have gotten for doing NOTHING.

-Aaron P. Taylor

P.S. But really – Lil’ Wayne giving Mike a shout-out after “F–k Every Girl” was ri-dam-diculous.