Once, a long time ago, my boss told me I looked like Michael Jackson. He meant my hairdo and it wasn't a compliment. I took it for what it was worth(nothing) and gave the boss a hard time although I don't remember the details.
Michael Jackson was the cutest little kid. I remember when he first came out while I was in college (so I guess he could have been 50 although it was hard to believe) and I had a Jackson Five album that I used to play for my first graders. They loved Rockin' Robin.
Many years later we showed the video of Free to Be You and Me, a Marlo Thomas production to our class and MJ was in that. When we told the kids it was him someone said that it couldn't be him because the kid in the video was black and MJ is white!!
That's the sad story of Michael Jackson to me....that in spite of his talent and good looks, he was never satisfied with himself. He kept changing his appearance until he was a shadow of his former self.
I don't know if he was a child molester or not but I think I know why he surrounded himself with kids. Kids accept you. Kids aren't all judgemental and mean. I'm pretty sure they embraced him(no, not like that) as one of their own and his fragile ego needed that kind of acceptance. I think that's why he said it was ok and sweet to share your bed with a child.
I don't defend his actions. I can just sort of understand what he was thinking.
What a dancer he was and the songs he wrote! I wonder why that isn't enough to make someone happy or satisfied at least??
All kind of ugly stuff is probably going to come out about Michael Jackson in the near future. I'm just glad he isn't here to hear it. I choose to remember him as that cute little boy in the purple hat singing his heart out with his brothers.
2 comments:
Hey, thank you for sharing your perspective! You and I are from different generations and it's really enlightening to learn about how you view Michael Jackson. I first saw him during his 'Thriller' era on MTV when I was in kindergarten. My older teenage sisters watched MTV so that's how I gained my first exposure to him. It would be YEARS before I ever learned that he sang in Jackson 5 or any of that stuff...
Kind of weird what a span his career stretches through, isn't it?
Oh, and you make a very good point about the acceptance kids can offer. I bet that is a large part of what he looked for. People still willing to accept magic, as opposed to people so quick to criticize. His first fans grew up long before he was ready to call it a day!
Thanks, Wolfgang
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