Andy's close-ups in recent videos

[Pam Travers]

Marie-Thérèse

 

 

whatever Mika does, at least 90 % of his fans find it adorable.

For instance I scanned responses to the Welcome to Syria blog and nobody told him there that asking his big sister –who incidentally was trying to have a peaceful telephone conversation- to get the f… out of the front seat (he was much more polite but that was the gist of it) didn't befit a 25-year-old man.

Still his teenage fans were obviously delighted to witness something that happens all the time in their parents’ car. If they are the audience (in the largest sense of the word) he was targeting, brilliant move. But if he was showing and maybe directing a scene that takes place repeatedly in his everyday life, then seeing that people eight or ten years younger than he is identify with him might be a tiny little bit worrying.

 

Marie-Thérèse de Rougemont....

 

i cant wait to see your posts on his blog, the anticipation is huge, they will probably be very instructive, constructive and amazingly brilliant, not like our ridiculous full of love little comments, love is SO NOT up to date, right? go, go and spread your truth!!!

please, we need someone to protect us from unconditional love.

[Soaring Simpson]

Jack's reply is too long to quote but, while MIka's childhood stories seem exaggerated (as Jack says, and as I was already aware, exaggeration is an excellent way of covering awkward truths) the way he surrounds himself with his family is odd, and difficult to explain without some trauma past or present, such as the rejection described, or the nebulous OCD. And in Marie Andree's excellent Beirut interview he talks a lot about finding inspiration from magazines and the TV. For which there could be many reasons- but he rarely mentions people outside the family, even without naming them.

[marie-andrée de rougemont]

Ok, full reply now. :-)

 

 

 

To be honest I'm partially inclined to think here that he was being cheeky in that segment: he knew how childish and petty that looked, and he was doing it on purpose, kind of jokingly. Then again, I do think he is kind of a spoilt favorite among his family. So I guess I'm not sure.

 

 

 

I have to say, having followed Mika for a while, I give a lot less weight to this story than new fans do. I don't think Mika lied about it exactly, but I really think it wasn't such a huge deal as fans make it out to be.

 

It was a great publicity angle, and Mika worked it for all it was worth, but I really don't think his family was all that traumatized by it.

 

Christine once pointed out that while Mika talks an awful lot about how his family "kept moving around" and he was like a "gypsy without roots" and how at one point they were "so poor," and he had such a hard time making friends, really... that's not how his life was.

 

He only made a major move ONCE: from Paris to London. (He was too young to be aware of the move from Beirut to Paris.)

 

There may have been a year when finances were tough, but in London he was immediately enrolled in an extremely prestigious private school and we all know he lives in a very, very well-off neighborhood--and has lived there for quite a while.

 

He says that no one accepted him at that first private school (and he had that breakdown) and I'm not doubting the breakdown--but I also know for a fact that he had at least one very good friend from that school, and he's still friends with this person now. He quickly got very popular and very well accepted at his next school, so really the breakdown was a blip on the radar.

 

Moreover, I have my own similar story! I moved to the US from another country too, and I had a Teacher From Hell--I was just about the same age as Mika was. Thanks to her I had stress-related stomachaches so bad that I would have to be taken out of school. By the next semester, my anxiety had increased to the point that, after a period where I stayed home for a week due to illness, I was so terrified of returning to school that I went into hysterics before walking into the gate on the day I was supposed to go back, and my mom ended up taking me home. After that, I couldn't bear to go back and so I faked an illness for 3 months to stay out of school. Whenever my parents thought I was getting better and suggested I should maybe return to school, I'd start getting so nervous that I would start blacking out, and then I'd be allowed to stay home again.

 

Anyway, was it a worrying time for my family? Sure, since I never told them what was wrong with me, and they thought I had a Mystery Illness and spent lots of money on taking me to doctors to figure out what was going on.

 

But are my parents still concerned about it now? Nope, they've mostly forgotten it, and don't really think about it much. It was a transitional period in general for us (I bet I can outdo Mika on poverty there--we lived on welfare, a 4-person family in a rat-infested 1-bedroom apartment, depending entirely on hand-me-downs), but overall, it was brief. A year later we were renting a house in the suburbs, and two years later we had moved into a nice place in a fairly upscale neighborhood. The one year tends to not matter much, life goes on.

 

So honestly I think that's rather how it was/is for Mika.

 

 

 

I also don't really think this meant as much to outsiders as it did to Mika fans. I'm not sure people who weren't fas of Mika thought of it as very symbolic...

 

 

 

I agree with this though.

 

And... I kind of lost the point here. What was this all about again?

 

 

 

 

Aha, but you underestimate people. Sometimes people say things like that as a joke but they may still be true for all that! I've known plenty of people who say, "jokingly," "oh, I'm such a bitch! I'm such a drama queen!" You know what? They very often are. Joking in this case is a way of diffusing responsibility.

 

Not that I think that Mika's particularly bitchy. But I believe (and he has shown) that he is certainly capable of moments of bitchyness.

 

 

 

Well there are always limits. That was really absolutely none of our business. I never for a moment expected him to tell us. The only way he could deal with that was sweep it under the table. He's never going to tell us his favorite sexual technique either, for instance, no matter how much we may ask. (Actually I think he'd be more likely to talk to us about his sexual preferences--possibly, eventually--than his private business decisions.)

 

 

 

I really believe that it's the second. The boy can't stand the idea of people being upset at him, or disliking him. When it's the "general public" he doesn't care, but when it gets more personal--and in this case, the MFC is personal enough--then it bothers him. It's hard to explain the breakdown--I'm sure he handles executives or the press or individual bloggers "not liking him" pretty well, for instance--but it's different with people from whom he actively wants approval but can't be entirely guaranteed it. As long as he has his fans, he doesn't care what NME says, for instance. But he certainly cares what we say.

 

--Jack

Marie-Thérèse

 

About the concert in Beirut I think that to some extent, for the Lebanese audience anyway, being a fan of Mika's was rather irrelevant. But a famous singer born in Lebanon coming back to his native land to give the first show on Martyrs' Square in years, that was a powerful symbol of hope and peace. Or hope of peace.

Remember, I was there, not only on the night of the gig but a couple of days before and I truly think that they would have greeted with the same fervour a half Lebanese Céline Dion, for instance.

 

 

About his breakdown, age 10, I don't remember Mika ever saying that it was connected with the financial difficulties his family went through after his father was held hostage. Actually, when they went off to London those difficult times were over. But he always talked about the bullying (from kids and teachers alike).

 

When I mentioned 'unspeakable things' I meant that some experiences are so traumatic and shameful that you feel that you can't put them into words and tell anybody else about them because, even though you survived them, the shame of them, describing them might do the trick and effectively destroy you. It is especially true of sexual abuse but isn't there a strong flavour of sex in bullying, whether it is explicit or not ?

You didn't tell your parents about your teacher from hell although from what you wrote in your thread we can guess they were good parents, genuinely concerned about their children. But you got rid of that secret later on and now you can live, not only survive.

I don't believe that Mika ever put into words what really happened in London when he first went to school there, except in a very general way : bullying, name calling, rejection... I believe that the only people that know are the bullies and himself. Not enough to move on. I don't think the bullying story is part of a manipulation, that he plays on it, while he often harks on the 'we lost everything' story.

 

If you can find it or downloaded it, do watch the Sept à huit interview and tell us what you think.

 

How on earth do you manage to quote only parts of a thread to answer them ? Thanks !

 

M.-Th.

[marie-andrée de rougemont]

Marie-Thérèse de Rougemont....

 

i cant wait to see your posts on his blog, the anticipation is huge, they will probably be very instructive, constructive and amazingly brilliant, not like our ridiculous full of love little comments, love is SO NOT up to date, right? go, go and spread your truth!!!

please, we need someone to protect us from unconditional love.

Marie-Thérèse

 

There are many kinds of love (fortunately, life would be so boring !) : unconditional love (usually the love parents give their children and which doesn't necessarily prevent them from seing their flaws), open-eyed love, blind love... If you can't find genuine affection for Mr Penniman in my threads then you are even more blinded than you think you are. And if you can't stand people who love differently than you do... ouch ! I can see intolerance rising its ugly head !

 

Love (no pun intended),

 

M.-Th.

[Soaring Simpson]

I've just had another look at the sept a huit interview and must admit I don't think you can tell anything about Mika from it- except that he's perfected the art of talking at length about sensitive subjects without really saying anything. Which is a straw in the wind suggesting he's experienced difficulties, in my opinion.

[Pam Travers]

Marie-Thérèse

 

There are many kinds of love (fortunately, life would be so boring !) : unconditional love (usually the love parents give their children and which doesn't necessarily prevent them from seing their flaws), open-eyed love, blind love... If you can't find genuine affection for Mr Penniman in my threads then you are even more blinded than you think you are. And if you can't stand people who love differently than you do... ouch ! I can see intolerance rising its ugly head !

 

Love (no pun intended),

 

M.-Th.

 

oh really? thanx for the info. before you i was blind and had no culture.

 

can you remember me who came here first and started to comment the comments on his blog in a very very bad way? who is intolerant?who is the one who seems to face difficulties to accept little unoffensive love comments of very young fans? you or me? BUT... your right somehow, i become very intolerant with people like you who criticize everything and anything as soon as it different from what you like or would like to see...

 

again we expect your comments with a huge anticipation

[Niki27]

Relax, take it easy, please.

[JackViolet]

Jack's reply is too long to quote but, while MIka's childhood stories seem exaggerated (as Jack says, and as I was already aware, exaggeration is an excellent way of covering awkward truths)

 

Less "covering awkward truths" and more marketing, imo. :-) Although your next sentence raises an interesting point.

 

About the concert in Beirut I think that to some extent, for the Lebanese audience anyway, being a fan of Mika's was rather irrelevant. But a famous singer born in Lebanon coming back to his native land to give the first show on Martyrs' Square in years, that was a powerful symbol of hope and peace. Or hope of peace.

Remember, I was there, not only on the night of the gig but a couple of days before and I truly think that they would have greeted with the same fervour a half Lebanese Céline Dion, for instance.

 

Ah, I stand corrected then.

 

About his breakdown, age 10, I don't remember Mika ever saying that it was connected with the financial difficulties his family went through after his father was held hostage.

 

No no, not connected, I just meant that that the financial difficulties was another aspect of his history that he used to play up for sympathy in his initial interviews. He talked about it almost as often as the bullying.

 

But you got rid of that secret later on and now you can live, not only survive.

 

I'm not sure that's true--I talk about it now because it just happened so long ago it doesn't really matter anymore. Getting over it came first, talking came second.

 

I don't believe that Mika ever put into words what really happened in London when he first went to school there, except in a very general way : bullying, name calling, rejection... I believe that the only people that know are the bullies and himself. Not enough to move on.

 

But is that because what happened was really so "unspeakable," or because nothing much happened? Kids are easily hurt by things that as adults we might consider negligible. From what I know, he has told us what happened:

 

1. People called him "fag," "sissy," and teased him about his "child-bearing hips" and his clothes.

2. His teacher thought he was lazy because of his difficulties in reading and would yell at him/be abrupt with him/mock him in class.

3. One time he brought a Christmas tree to class and got made fun of and sent to the principal's office.

 

Why do we need to think there was anything else? As far as I'm concerned, that pretty much covers it. How much more detail does he need to go into?

How on earth do you manage to quote only parts of a thread to answer them ? Thanks !

 

That's what the MQ button next to the QUOTE button at the bottom of each post is for. There are more details in the FAQ!

 

I quote the whole post and then delete the parts I don't want to respond to!

 

--Jack

[marie-andrée de rougemont]

oh really? thanx for the info. before you i was blind and had no culture.

 

can you remember me who came here first and started to comment the comments on his blog in a very very bad way? who is intolerant?who is the one who seems to face difficulties to accept little unoffensive love comments of very young fans? you or me? BUT... your right somehow, i become very intolerant with people like you who criticize everything and anything as soon as it different from what you like or would like to see...

 

again we expect your comments with a huge anticipation

If you read again the part of my lengthy thread about Mika's behaviour in Welcome to Syria, without prejudice -but maybe that's asking a lot- you will realize that I don't criticize Mika's teenage fans for acting their age (rather healthy, actually) but Mika's behaviour as he is a man, not an adolescent.

 

Oh dear ! Now you are going to reproach me with criticizing your icon... Be my guest, indignation feels good, doesn't it ? I am not too old to remember that sweet and self-righteous feeling.

 

Incidentally I know from personal experience that Mika is much much more than the cute guy with the curly hair and the amazing vocal range... he is an incredibly generous and genuinely kind man (and very modest about it). So if you really need a cause to fight for, I suggest the ban of fur clothes or, if you would much rather defend Mika, try and find on the Internet people who hate his guts and are quite candid about it, sometimes insulting.

Have you read the review about LICM where the guy cursed those who were going to buy the album ? It was appalling, pure venom... Believe me, I felt indignant when I read it.

 

Love,

 

M.-Th.

[marie-andrée de rougemont]

Less "covering awkward truths" and more marketing, imo. :-) Although your next sentence raises an interesting point.

 

 

 

Ah, I stand corrected then.

 

 

 

No no, not connected, I just meant that that the financial difficulties was another aspect of his history that he used to play up for sympathy in his initial interviews. He talked about it almost as often as the bullying.

 

 

 

I'm not sure that's true--I talk about it now because it just happened so long ago it doesn't really matter anymore. Getting over it came first, talking came second.

 

 

 

But is that because what happened was really so "unspeakable," or because nothing much happened? Kids are easily hurt by things that as adults we might consider negligible. From what I know, he has told us what happened:

 

1. People called him "fag," "sissy," and teased him about his "child-bearing hips" and his clothes.

2. His teacher thought he was lazy because of his difficulties in reading and would yell at him/be abrupt with him/mock him in class.

3. One time he brought a Christmas tree to class and got made fun of and sent to the principal's office.

 

Why do we need to think there was anything else? As far as I'm concerned, that pretty much covers it. How much more detail does he need to go into?

 

 

That's what the MQ button next to the QUOTE button at the bottom of each post is for. There are more details in the FAQ!

 

I quote the whole post and then delete the parts I don't want to respond to!

 

--Jack

Thanks for the tip but I am not sure I can handle it (really illiterate, I am not boasting).

 

Of course we don't need to imagine more than what Mika has told us and he certainly doesn't have to tell us more than what he wants to.

It is just a feeling I have and you may well be right : ordinary bullying of a child perceived as different by his school mates, kid over sensitive, over reacted... end of story.

But isn't the pain in the sufferer's mind or body, can it really be judged and measured from the outside ?

 

To end on a lighter note it reminds me of a brilliant cartoon I saw in Playboy a few years back. A young man and a young woman are sitting on a kind of bed in a laboratory. He looks very proud, she looks furious and frustrated. They are surrounded by doctors and one of them is telling the girl : "Machines can't be wrong, Ms So and so, you have just had a twenty-minute climax...". I think the girl knows better (and I am not being a female chauvinist).

 

So long,

 

M.-Th.

[chickadee]

Somehow I'd missed this thread. Fascinating discussion. I've heard a lot of it before (I suppose the longer you are here, the more the conversations seem to be recycled), but I love to hear it all being thrashed out again. And no, I'm not being sarcastic. It's like finding a steak, when all you'd been seeing was fairyfloss. Since it's the middle of the night and my brain's a little addled, I won't attempt to add anything of substance to the discussion right now....

[sariflor]

I've just had another look at the sept a huit interview and must admit I don't think you can tell anything about Mika from it- except that he's perfected the art of talking at length about sensitive subjects without really saying anything. Which is a straw in the wind suggesting he's experienced difficulties, in my opinion.

 

 

Yep, that pretty much sums him up imo when it comes to interviews. He's like a politician .

 

He's so charismatic that he pulls it off.

[violet_sky]

Yep, that pretty much sums him up imo when it comes to interviews. He's like a politician .

 

He's so charismatic that he pulls it off.

 

One move of his wand and you're flashy-thinged

[Mika4Life13]

Everywhere, I don't give a shizzle what people think and I always feel pretty comfortable with myself:blink:

I'm always adjusting myself, and trying not to get the double chin effect when i laugh Im not goona lie..

[racinghorse83]

i think mikas filming those. not andy.