A-B-C, easy as Rac-is-m

The Jackson Five

I was perusing the internet (something alleged that it’s all I do at work, but, if it was  I feel like I’d have more ideas to post and, therefore, would be able to post more often) and I came across a story about the late  Michael Jackson.

No, it wasn’t another conspiracy website about where his body is, an ambulance license plate, or why his doctor wasn’t administering appropriate care. No Joe Jackson promoting his record label or the ”mother of his children” indirectly demanding money from him; just Michael…and Tito…and Jermaine.

Apparently, there is an Australian version of “America’s Got Talent” where Harry Connick, Jr. replaces the Hoff as the bad ass judge. Well, apparently Mr. Connick was offended when a group of five Australians, donning 1960s garb, black faces, and Afros, re-enacted a Jackson 5 skit from the same time period. This skit was, to Connick, racist, offensive, disgusting, and, most importantly, un-American.

While I do agree that Harry Connick Jr. is the Australian equivalent of the Hoff (see below), I felt that his reaction to it was, well, a bit much.

While I do understand the racist implications of white men painting themselves black and imitating the Jackson 5, I don’t remember Mr. Connick saying anything about Tropic Thunder  (irony or coincidence that Downey’s character playing a character was also Australian?) or the Wayans Brothers.

However, I do believe that he did have a point in being offended by the white man painting his face white in order to imitate the King of Pop; if they wanted to be realistic, that person would have been under five feet tall and darker, just like Michael was back then. While it is unfortunate that Michael Jackson did lose his pigment, Harry Connick Jr. might have had a better argument to complain and be offended by that.

And, if this doesn’t offend you in any way, there’s always Mel Gibson.