My Thoughts on Michael Jackson

The news came recently: Michael Jackson, aged 50, deceased. I will admit that, having been born in 1988, my knowledge on the history of Michael Jackson is sparse. Only recently have I seen and heard many of his performances and songs. What I remembered Michael Jackson for was primarily the controversies of recent years, but the juxtaposition of the man portrayed in the media versus the man that touched and changed the lives of millions and millions of people was for me disquieting. The two didn't quite match up; something here seemed to be missing.

Michael Jackson didn't become the Michael Jackson we know today in a vacuum. He was, in part, what we made him. With each performance, each hug, each smile, and each scandal we were taking a part of him for ourselves. He was a man with an extraordinary gift, and he was, I think most would agree, the superlative musical performer of our era. In many ways he seemed to become his gift with time. The more he was denied a "normal" existence the more he turned to his monumental talent to sustain him.

From the few videos I have seen of him, the way he would light up when he saw a fan was remarkable, and he always seemed to be very considerate and very generous with his time and person. He was a man that understood he had the power to change lives and he desired to
share this otherworldly gift with as many people as possible. While this is often what we expect of those who are inordinately talented, many musicians and famous individuals of various stripes fall prey to the narcissism that comes with such fame and adulation. While some of this was inevitable with Michael Jackson as well, he still continued seeking to share himself and his gift with the world in a very selfless manner. He perceived the magnitude of the affect he had on those around him and instead of keeping that for himself he chose to give it to all of us. He always came off as spectacularly kind hearted and generous, going out of his way to be courteous to his fans, often talking with them or giving them hugs when most people in his position would have had them whisked away. While we often admire those financially successful individuals who give away vast sums of wealth (although it is often to these few, paltry sums) for the benefit of others, we somehow see fit to ridicule this man who wanted to do nothing more than to give us each a little part of himself. He wanted to move us and inspire us even though it cost him his life, figuratively and now literally, to do so. Michael Jackson was the ultimate philanthropist.

I am not exonerating his personal behavior. He may have harmed a number of children, which, if it is true, is absolutely inexcusable. But we have to recognize that we all share some responsibility for each of those acts. While he may have also had an abusive father and childhood, we all denied him the opportunity for human growth in a way that would skew even the most balanced or healthiest of individuals. Michael Jackson was clearly a man in pain, and we all share a responsibility for much of that pain. While the adulation of his millions of fans may have in some way sustained him, this dynamic was only symptomatic of the loneliness and isolation he was forced into. Michael Jackson lived for the adulation of his fans because we denied him the hope of anything else. We almost categorically denied him the possibility of real and meaningful human connection. To everyone but a few he would never be a human being, he would always be Michael Jackson: dancer, singer, icon. He became an image, he became an idea, he became his gift and his genius because we wouldn't allow him to be anything else. We all wanted and demanded more Michael Jackson and he gave us more Michael Jackson.

But beneath this image was a human being, and human beings are finite. In giving us what we all desired, he was taking away from himself, something all us followers of the American fame machine seem unwilling or unable to recognize. And when we finally saw the man beneath the image, the mask, it alarmed us that this man was a very lonely and distorted human being, as if he could have become anything else under the circumstances. We wanted more Michael Jackson, but what we got was Michael Joseph Jackson. And it scared us. We were once again unwilling or unable to see this man, however exceptional, for what he was--a man--and to take responsibility for what he had become. Instead we ridiculed him, put him in tabloids, and forced him to become even more reclusive than before.

In an interview Michael Jackson once said that he wanted to live forever, but this [in my opinion] was because we wanted him to live forever. He lived for us, and once we discarded him for what we had made him, he was understandably broken, distraught, lonely, and lost. While he may or may not have engaged in inappropriate behavior with children, in some ways it is understandable that he turned to the friendly company of children because they were likely the only people he could turn to who wouldn't be trying to glean some benefit from their relationship, to use his extraordinary talent for their personal gain. Children were the only ones that could enjoy Michael Joseph Jackson for Michael Joseph Jackson, whereas we were always asking for more and were only asking for or willing to see Michael Jackson the
performer.

We forced Michael Jackson to become a perpetual child, always seeking the approval of the media, of his fans, of us--his collective surrogate parent. He worked tirelessly for our approval and we gave it to him, and when we finally withheld it, he was understandably surprised, alarmed and hurt. He had become what we had asked and when he finally shared this with the world, the world rejected him for what he had become.

As his physical ailments robbed him of his performance abilities, he became, by all accounts, a man who regularly endured an extraordinary amount of physical, emotional and mental anguish. I would wager that any one not named Michael Joseph Jackson would have long ago perished under the circumstances. Stripped of the gift that had long sustained him, he turned to prescription drugs and painkillers, and to what little sanctuary he found in the privacy of his own home.

The demise of Michael Jackson seems to have been, in some ways, inevitable. He is now lost to us like many other great artists have been in recent years. He was, to borrow the description of another brilliant, and unfortunately recently departed, artist, David Foster Wallace, a "comet flying by at ground level." The candle that burns brightest also burns fastest, and Michael Jackson's light was blindingly bright, much to the benefit of us all. But as we stoked the flames and the light burned brighter it would inevitably burn out, and when the flame was finally extinguished, when the candle ran out, we have no one else to blame but ourselves.

Michael Joseph Jackson was not only a singular, once-in-a-century musical artist and performer, but he was also a genuine and kindhearted human being. His greatest flaw was only that he expected of us what he gave in return. He was in many ways greater than any of us, and when we asked, he asked in return for something we were all unable or unwilling to give. We forced him to create and live in a pseudo-reality that facilitated the offering of his amazing talent and gifts to us, and when he tried to extend what he had been asked to do all along, share himself with us, he was laughed at and mercilessly mocked and ridiculed. We asked him to live in the funhouse, and when he asked us to join him we scoffed and threw stones through the windows. To paraphrase the aforementioned late artist, David Foster Wallace:

For lovers, the Funhouse is fun. For phonies, the Funhouse is love. But for whom is the Funhouse a house?

Michael Jackson should be remembered first and foremost for the way he changed the lives of millions of people. It will likely be a long time, if ever, before we see another musical performer with the incredible gifts and generosity that he possessed. We asked him to be super-human, and in many ways he was, but ultimately he was just as human and just as frail as we all are. We were given the gift of this extraordinary man, and thus began the rise and fall, the slow and inevitable erosion, of Michael Jackson. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, and so it goes.

Rest in Peace, Michael Joseph Jackson.

Comments

[AnaisKarim]

The character assassination of MJ began when he outsmarted Paul McCartney in 1985 and acquired the ATV music catalog that contained most of the Beatles songs. This was 3 years before the author was born so you may want to research a little further back.

[nisha]

The matter of the ATV portfolio really should be getting more play, more coverage. I wonder how long it will take for this to come to the forefront of the heated discussion about Michael Jackson's character.

I am touched by this article, most particularly by this much needed statement:

"the juxtaposition of the man portrayed in the media versus the man that touched and changed the lives of millions and millions of people was for me disquieting. The two didn't quite match up; something here seemed to be missing."

[Sweetie808]

Mr. Johnson,
It is with great relief and happiness that I have FINALLY read an opinion about Michael Jackson that identically mirrors my own.
I have been a great fan of Michael's (we are the same age), I knew then that he was destined for great things. God had his hand on him but as we humans most often do, we mess with his best work and turn it upside down. I remember being ashamed for ceasing to defend him when he needed us to believe in him the most because almost everyone was ready to crucify him for what he eventually was acquitted of. I am not one to have blind faith in those that I love but what they accused him of and what I knew of him to be just did not jive.
I have been reading anything/everything about MJ since his untimely death. I found that with all that has been said there was always another report to contradict it, but one thing that was never disputed was the fact that he was a great Father to his 3 children. Looking at the photos and video clips of these children only reinforces that fact, you see how they care for each other, how they reach out to each other, that he brought them up with love. Among all his stellar achievements, his children will be his greatest legacy.
Thank you, Mr. Johnson, for writing so eloquently what I felt but could not put into words.

[blaqntelligence]

Agreed.

[PinkMartini]

Sweetie808, you really summed up my feelings as well.

If anyone doubts the character of Michael, all you have to do is look at his three children. That sums it up. Jackie Kennedy once said that if you mess up raising your kids, nothing else you do in life really matters. I think that the poise and demeanor of his children should show the world that despite his challenges and personal struggles, he was really a kind, loving person...b­esides being an extraordinary artist.

Nick, you said that your knowledge on the history of Michael Jackson was sparse, but you wrote one of the best pieces that I have read. Thank you for your thoughtful insights.

[Anne Duchard]

This is the most comprehensive analysis of the dynamics surrounding MJ drama and death. Thank you for sharing your thoughts that seem very objective at the same time compassionate. You wrote for what many of us feel but are unable to articulate so eloquently. I think we will get a full understanding of Micheal through his music. Listening to his songs, really listening to them brought tears in my eyes. Songs such as " Will you be there", "Stranger in Moscow" as examples. It is like rediscovering his music all over again.

[blaqntelligence]

Agreed.