[Hildy]

I wouldn't go idolizing just any entertainer from any generation. That generation had its share of crooks and adulterers and people who didn't take care of their children. The bad stuff was just hidden better, that's all.

[cloud8]

You left out Howard Stern :-)

[Skooz]

[SF Republican]

What is wrong with Elton John? He is a great talent, one of the greatest concerts/shows I have ever attended; he has helped in numerous world causes.

[pissant]

I'll stack Maureen O'Hara, Audrey Hepburn, Donna Reed, and Lauren Bacall up against any of the Hollywood bimbos today in terms of sheer beauty!!

[funkywbr]

I'll pray for you!~}

[Revolting cat!]

I'm not sure these clowns represent anything any more than Bob Hope represented bad standup comedy!

[rdb3]

Eminem is right.

[advance_copy]

Our generation is represented by this:

[Revolting cat!]

[dfwgator]

What generation are you. These guys are sooo twenty years ago.

[NRA1995]

"My generation, sadly, is represented by this."

You have illustrated two good reasons why I dislike pop and will stay with jazz and Tower Of Power.

[SteveMcKing]

Neither of them are role models, but Michael Jackson's behavior is far more degenerate and criminal than anything Elton John ever did.

[rcocean]

I think the difference is that in past there would entertainers, actors, singers, etc. who were actually normal, admirable people.

For example, Bing Crosby, Heston, James Stewart, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelley, Bob Hope, etc. The number who fit that description seems to declined
dramatically.

Also, a lot of people in Hollywood in the 40's and 50's were communists and/or had weird private lives. We just didn't know about it or they and the studio's kept in hidden.

JFK was sleeping with Gangster Molls in the white house. But we didn't hear about till 15 years after his death. Compare that with Clinton.

[Porterville]

Your parent's generation also had Stalin, Castro, and De Gaulle.....

[IronJack]

A princess and a queen. Decay's new royalty.

[Clemenza]

Much as I love him as a performer, the late Frank Sinatra was not what I would consider a good role model for his time. Same goes for Sammy Davis (orgy devotee and erstwhile occultist), Eddie Fisher (the Clinton of performers as far as his treatment of women was concerned), to the world of sports where you had Mickey Mantle (drunken gambler) and going back all the way to Babe Ruth (whore-mongerer, glutton for booze and food, etc.).

This GenXer had Michael Jackson, Madonna, Darryl Strawberry, and countless others as potential role models. My parents raised me right and I learned early on that such people were mere entertainers, nothing more.

[qam1]

This may cheer you up about your generation

It’s Morning After in America

[TChris]

If you look to a different genre, we're also represented by:

[missyme]

THE NEW 45 TO 50 YEAR OLDS! THE SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER GENERATION!