I've been thinking a lot about Michael Jackson's last day.
From all reports, he did what he loved - performing and getting involved with all aspects for his upcoming tour. His children and friends watched him... and it's hard to avoid the 24 hour a day media blitz about every detail.
My niece doesn't understand his relevance, and wonders when MTV will get back to broadcasting her regular shows. That floored me. Michael Jackson, winner of the MTV Video Vanguard Award is the man who gave relevance to MTV with 1983's "Thriller". Michael Jackson, the man who organized "USA for Africa" and called in favors after 9/11 to organize the "United We Stand" concert in RFK stadium. How many people remember that Michael was in Madison Square Garden on September 10, 2001? In the late 90's he had done fund raisers for refugees in Kosovo and Nelson Mandela. He gave whenever he was called.
I've been listening to his discography and sadly realized that his music has always been there in the soundtrack of my life. I was startled to hear over and over the words "dead at age 50". I think I had him frozen in time... in the mid 80's.
Michael Jackson was 2 years younger than me and as a kid, I identified with him. Not only was he "cute", but he could sing and dance. I didn't realize for a very long time that he had an adult voice in a child's body - he sang with the attitude of someone much older.
As he grew older, he seemed to be a child, caught in an adult body. The world was pretty cruel to Michael Jackson after his record sales dropped to 2 million units. The tabloids were all over him - and no detail was spared. From his marriages to his plastic surgeries to the messy rumors about his court trial - we saw it all splashed across the pages.
Part of the initial tabloid coverage was a sign of the times. To keep his name in the press, a photo of him in the hyperbaric chamber was released without commentary. The way it was worked, was that a statement was released and debated, effectively keeping his name on the front cover.
Until it went wrong and he was accused of child abuse. He was already taking pain killers for joint inflammation due to Lupus and added anti-anxiety drugs to deal with the stress.
I think he married Lisa Marie Presley because they actually had something in common, and it seems so cynical to think it was a sham to prop up his image. What they shared was his dependence on her as he drifted off more and more into the painkillers. She tried to save him, as her Mother tried had tried to save Elvis.
He paid off a family - to try and spare himself the ordeal of a trial. It just made the public more suspicious and he became reclusive. Then the second accusation surfaced and he spent millions trying to clear his name... he was acquitted because the accusations were disjointed.
I think it hurt him a lot - he gave us so much musical genius and the public turned on him. I read that he once remarked that he preferred the company of children because they were innocent. Maybe he was happier these past days because his own children were growing up and he was surrounded by the innocence that he wanted.
I am sad for the loss of Michael Jackson. The world has so many problems and yet... I am reflecting on what his loss means to my life. It is a reminder that none of us knows when the hourglass runs out of sand. And it's such a tragedy to lose him.
Here's my favorite video... "Rock With You". After disco, there was punk and music diverged from R&B and Rock. He got us dancing again.
