The Strange Life and Death of Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson has died at age 50. Like many, I’ve watched him degenerate from an articulate, confident child star to a strange, reclusive adult. Four years ago, I wrote this piece inspired by Jackson on the effects of fame on the famous.
If Michael Jackson had not been introduced to the addictive power of fame, might he have lived an obscure and happy life? We’ll never know.
This video is of Jackson’s performance at the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary bash for Motown Records back in 1982 or 1983. It was the first time most of us had seen the Moonwalk.
The evening was mostly given over to performances of past Motown hits. Two of the label’s biggest stars, Jackson and Diana Ross, were no longer with the company. Each came back for performances that night. But Jackson insisted that in addition to performing Jackson Five hits with his brothers, the price for his participation would be allowing him to perform a tune from his newest LP, Thriller, which was on the Epic label.
This performance, probably more than anything else, was responsible for sending Jackson’s already-successful career into the stratosphere.
Jackson may have been an evil man. Whatever the truth about his relationships with children, he was undeniably a mess. And, like Judy Garland, the tragic arc of whose life most resembles his, he seems to have almost been destined for early death. But he was also a person of immense, jaw-dropping talent. It’s too bad that success is so often accompanied by fame and the license to excess that entails.
[This has been post at my personal blog.]
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13 Responses to “The Strange Life and Death of Michael Jackson”
“Jackson may have been an evil man. Whatever the truth about his relationships with children, he was undeniably a mess.”
So why should we idolize the perp.
Ask the parents or grandparents of those children.
This flake dies, yet how many have died in Iran? I see MJ's death in a similar light to Elvis. Both were talented, yet troubled souls. I'll weep for the Iranian woman before these nutcases. Neda Agha-Soltan died for freedom; Elvis and MJ died from drug abuse and a bad lifestyle…
Neda Agha-Soltan died for freedom; Elvis and MJ died from drug abuse and a bad lifestyle…
Neda Soltan died because she got out of her car in the wrong place at the wrong time. You have no idea what her lifestyle was, and you will never have to know.
You never walked one day in anyone's shoes but your own, so don't pretend you can judge someone's worth and value as a human being, or what they went through, just by what you read in the gossip columns. You cannot reduce an entire human life, lived over half a century or more, to the labels “drug abuse” or “bad lifestyle.” Human beings are not two-dimensional, flat, paper cut-out dolls.
KK I compared Elvis and MJ because both were great talents, yet troubled people. In both cases their life style choices led to health problems which causes an early death. My rant is just a reaction to the 24/7 news reports over MJ. I guess the news from Iran, Iraq or just about anywhere else is unimportant…
Sully puts this story into a real perspective.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily…
Kathy Sorry, but I'm just pissed about this obsession with MJ. The SCOTUS came to their senses and upheld some of our basic freedoms, yet no post here – just MJ and more MJ.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/?p=23167
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/26/us/politics/2…
http://www.examiner.com/x-4383-Portland-Progres…
This is an extremely self-rigtheous discourse… did you ever dance to his songs?…Seriously, what he did to raise funds around the world for children is suddenly forgotten? what he did to unite black and white Americans?
music unites
My rant is just a reaction to the 24/7 news reports over MJ.
Rudi, the man died YESTERDAY. And he was one of the 20th century's greatest musical, artistic, and performing talents.
Your statement is bizarre.
Kathy Sorry, but I'm just pissed about this obsession with MJ. The SCOTUS came to their senses and upheld some of our basic freedoms, yet no post here – just MJ and more MJ.
Rudi, if you are still seeing this level of coverage a week from now, then you might have a point. Till then, no.
I don't think that Michael was strange or bizzare. True he was different, he didn't do things like most of us would. He was abused by his father, thrust into fame at an early age, and was never able to enjoy the simple pleasures of childhood that most of us take for granted. He was abused by the media, who made so many FALSE claims about him, claims that hurt him deeply. All he wanted to do was bring people together and he did it through his music with songs like “We are the World”, “Heal the World” “Black or White”, and “All the Lost Children”. He donated millions to 39 charities and all the money he made from his Victory tour. All his songs contained a message, a thought provoking message. He was betrayed over and over again for money and for their spot in the spot light. Everywhere he went there were crowds all wanting a piece of him, fans, news media. Is it any wonder he retreated into a place that offered refuge from the crowds and the publicity that followed him where.ever he went. All this crap about him bleaching his skin is so untrue. Michael had vilitigo and that has been proven. He had a poor body image of himself, being referred to as ugly and big nose by his awful father. As a sensitive man, this destroyed his self image, With vilitigo a person really feels different and like an outcast, especially being a black man who is no longer black. This happened overtime of course and to even out the effects on this disorder, he lightened the remaining spots on his face, neck, chest and arms. If you notice, he NEVER showed his legs, they were still covered in spots of white and black. As for the plastic surgery, well why is that really such a big deal. Mentally he felt the need to not look like his father. Can one understand why? He was a tortured soul he wanted to erase all aspects of his father from his being. I can't blame him for that. Under the same circumstances and having the money Michael did, might we not do the same?
Michael loved people, even with all the stuff he had to endure he still loved. He mostly loved children in a pure and innocent way. He identified with them, understood their needs. He had been hurt so much by adults that children were the ones he trusted. At Neverland there were thousand that came to visit and spend time with him and many he helped.
As for the allegations, that is all they were was allegations. He was proven Not Guilty by the courts. If you read “Michael Jackson” Conspiracy” you will see that the accusers were out for financial gain. Michael had distanced himself from this family because he became aware that they were just using him for money. It was only after Michael distanced himself that the family accused him of child molestation. Incidentally the claims that there was child porn found in his home were also FALSE. It was Hustler and Playboy. The media didn't report that because that was normal. Dirt sells, normalcy unfortunately doesn't. This is the state of our corrupt world today.
Michael would never hurt a child. Does anyone remember Ryan White, the young man that Michael befriended who had aids. Michael was a valuable support system for him. Ryan had been a victim of prejudice because of his illness. He wrote the song “Gone to Soon” in reference to Ryan. They remained friends until Ryan's untimely death. We don't hear much about that, now do we? There was also a child named Dave whose father had set him on fire at the age of 6. This story was well documented, but the media didn't make much of the fact that Michael had befriended him and gave him unconditional support and caring.
If Michael had been such a monster, tell me why then were there no more victims? Why did the prosecution go in search to find others to colaberate the accusers story, only to find NOTHING. With all the thousands of kids who visited Neverland, why was there only 2 who accused him? These 2 were 10 years apart. Anyone that is a real pedophile has many many victims. The first accusers' father brought a civil suet against him. How many parents would be willing to exchange money for justice. This so-called father only wanted the money. He even admitted on tape that it didn't matter how it all affected his son. Good grief, some father.
As for the 2nd accuser's mother, like I said, her gravy train was no longer in sight. Also, Michael was not the first one that this family had tried to extort money from. She had pressed charged against JC Penny for assault. They settled out of court but it became clear that it was just another false claim. She had also committed welfare fraud, as well as trying to get money from other stars by using sympathy for her cancer victim son. For Michael, he was the real victim in all this. He was an easy target. The family knew that he had a soft spot for children, especially ones that were ill.
Michael's life was really a tragedy. His celebrity allowed him to help so many in the world with his humanitarian efforts. Unfortunately his kind and giving heart also allowed him to be taken advantage of time and time again.
So before we judge this wonderful person for being “weird or strange”, lets look at the “Man (or woman) in the Mirror” and ask ourselves how we would be if we had to walk a lifetime in his shoes.
Here is an awesome article that further explains the real Michael Jackson:
http://elitestv.com/pub/2009/07/celebrity-scale…
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