Bandwagoners
As of late.. I’ve heard so many people say the word “bandwagon”. Why is that? It is because, Michael Jackson has died, and now anytime someone mentions his name or says anything good about him, the other person in the conversation goes “way to jump on the bandwagon.”
What is a bandwagon(er)? Urbandictionary.com describes it as
A fan of a particular sports team who had no previous interest in the team until they began winning. They often will claim that they have been "a fan forever." AND/ORI believe that:
In sports, someone who shamelessly cheers for a particular team not because he likes them or follows them faithfully, but only because that particular team is the "popular" choice or has been or is the top team in their specific sport recently. When that team which bandwagoners follow falls from grace, they gleefully jump on the next teams bandwagon and cheer for that team.
just because you HAPPEN to like something that everyone else likes.. it doesn't mean you're a bandwagoner just because it happens to be a convenient time to start liking something.. HOWEVER .. if you're liking something JUST because other people are liking it and you don't actually fully like it yourself and would never have liked it if other people didn't like it only then are you a bandwagoner.
In the case of Michael Jackson. It is completely plausible and highly likely that people were a fan of Michael Jackson before his death,(in fact I don’t think I know a single person who would be immune to his music or talent) and after he died, they realized once again how amazing he was and and kind of renewed that interest in him. It’s completely natural, and a common product of mourning, to reminisce about a person and to remember all the good things that came out of that person’s life. I think it’s an insult to just continue on as if nothing had ever happened. Are people supposed to shout from the rooftops randomly that you’re a fan of someone? I’ve never been that type of person where I shout things from rooftops lol (figuratively) because I just don’t feel that I need to prove anything to anyone. I’m a quiet kind of fan. Of course, when people are alive yea you could be a fan and have all the cds or love the songs and think he’s awesome, but if he never really came up in conversation with someone or made news it’s not likely that many people will know, especially because he was around for so long it’s kind of generally accepted that everyone loves him. It’s like.. when people ask me who my favourite actors are.. I usually say the younger, generally popular talented actors and bypass someone like Amitabh Bachchan because that’s just kind of a known fact. Of course I don’t think anyone matches up to him.. he’s not even in the running he’s just permanently up there and not in the same league. If that makes sense.
But you know what? Even if someone was not ever a fan of Michael Jackson and just started listening to his music after his death and now realized that they liked it… SO WHAT? I’m HAPPY! Why would any fan of his NOT be happy that more people are appreciating his music? As a fan, why would I say to someone “oh whatever you’re just into him now that he died”?. That doesn’t make any sense. I hate people and fans who look down on others.. “you can’t be as big of a fan as I am because I’ve watched every single Canucks hockey game since I was five”, “If you were a real fan you would have _____” Fill in the blank. Being a fan, means that you care/love something. There is no measure for how much someone loves something. Sure, there are other people who know more about Italian football than I do, but that doesn’t mean I’m not as happy as those people when they win the World Cup, or as sad as them when they lose! (I don’t actually watch club soccer but I watch the cups). As for Michael, I mean, he lived a pretty rough life, and he WAS one of the most talented entertainers there ever was (WHILE he was alive and will continue to be the most talented for a long time I think) so of course I think he deserves it. He deserves to have his songs played on the radio for weeks, he deserves to have people fall in love with his music, he deserves all the CNN and worldwide coverage, he deserves to have Billie Jean pumping from every car on the road. It would be a disservice to him not to remember him. And like I said before, of course people that you might not have known were fans before are going to be talking about him now. It’s natural. Someone DIED.. what are people supposed to just ignore that? Does it really matter if you liked his music before or not? What matters is if you like it NOW. You’re alive NOW. You either like something, or you don’t, and if you appreciate his music now that he’s dead, than all I can say to you is I’m glad you finally saw the light. Yes of course, it kills me to see how the media and normal people everywhere bullied the sh*t out of him when he was alive but it would kill me even more if people didn’t at the very least appreciate him now that he’s gone.
It just amazes me how human’s put so many restrictions on themselves. Like, you should be able to feel whatever you want to feel and not restrict yourself from those feelings. Just because you might seem like you’re jumping on a bandwagon, doesn’t mean that you should suppress your emotions!
