Michael Jackson.
The name, since I was young enough to appreciate music to the point where I was memorizing names, stuck in my head throughout the Jackson 5; and I was one of the first in line to get my Thriller album, which is still in vinyl, sitting in my closet, where it is a tribute to 27 years of history. I can think of very few who did not attempt to do the Moon Walk as I grew up - hell, I can recall a few weeks before hearing about his death, someone at work tried to do it here and we all laughed as his sneakers got caught on the carpet. A bunch of 30 and 40-somethings all laughing and remembering the childhood awe that we felt about him, his music, his glittered glove!
Regardless of news reports his sex life, or his growing eccentric behavior...his ruining his relationship with Paul McCartney by trying to buy the Beatles songs... I think most people, although they would joke about him and his possible sexual desires for pre-teen boys, all felt in their hearts that it was more about a man who was torn from his childhood and wanted playmates...and could only relate to children; and who had major mental problems. There are priests and such who have raped boys, but I don't think that Michael Jackson ever raped anyone - and I have rarely, despite jokes - met anyone who really thinks he did either.
On the day of his recent death, and the day after, an ex-boyfriend began texting me all of these jokes about MJ and his penchant for young boys; then the texts escalated into making fun of his face and his surgeries. I had to write him back and tell him to please STOP - it wasn't funny. The man was DEAD. Three children are without a father, and a world who grew up with him as the center of their musical universe as a child had that man taken away...a man who had become a shell of what he once was. My ex's curt response was "I love the way he was hated by Paul McCartney who issued a press release he loved him and for a decade he was called a child molester but now he's a saint...No one I know is upset (that he is dead) at all."
Well, for starters, this explains why this person and I are no longer dating...but what really gets me is that although some might call him a child molester, I would have to say: look at his interviews. When asked if kids were sleeping in his bed with him and having sleep-overs, he would reply enthusiastically, "Yes!" and talk about all the fun they had. He went to bed watching cartoons. A person I know, who worked in shwanky hotel that MJ stayed at one night said that he called room service. When she asked what he wanted, thinking he wanted food, he asked her to tell him a bedtime story because he couldn't sleep.
I ask you: who can't look at the man and see that he was just trying to re-live his childhood, one that he never was allowed to really have? He was troubled, yes; had mental problems, yes; but although some of us had a good laugh at some of the issues that were going on and his odd behavior, we need to look at the brilliant boy, the brilliant young man, who did indeed become the King of Pop and created a legacy that will go into history for all the good he did.
And what my darling, empathy-filled (I hope the sarcasm is dripping as I type) ex seems to forget is that even people who are seen as twisted at times, and even when there is anger in relationships involved, people will still mourn the untimely death of such a brilliant star who was so troubled that he only weighed 112 at his death. I mean, hell - I will actually mourn when Robert dies...which, I cannot say he would do for me, or anyone for that matter. But that is a whole other post.
Michael - thank you for the good times. I'm so sorry that you were so unhappy. I wish you could have been happier...and hopefully the Neverland you were seeking is now in your hands and around you. Rest peacefully.
