Michael Jackson
So a week ago, the news breaks that Michael Jackson, the King of Pop, has died. The entire world goes all a-twitter (sometimes on Twitter), whether people liked him or hated him. Nobody can deny that MJ had an impact on the world, for good or bad.
Now, how do I feel? Well, it's too bad. I'm not going to burst into tears over his passing, but it really is too bad. He was incredibly talented, a brilliant musician and phenomenal dancer, and from what I've seen on TV, a great live entertainer. Nobody's going to dispute that, I think. Personal life - yeah, he really seemed to be more on the insane side of genius, but when you look at his life, can you really blame him for going so deep into the crazy? He was an amazingly talented kid who started performing at, what, age 8(?), and never stopped. He didn't have a normal childhood by any stretch of the imagination, and somehow didn't burn out by the time he hit 18. If anything, since that's when he really started his solo career, that's really when he hit his stride. Even his first plastic surgery, rhinoplasty to fix the damage from a broken nose, was not unheard of or all that weird. And he seemed to stay relatively normal for the first half of the 80s, by Hollywood standards. That, to me, was also when his music was at its best.
I didn't really care much about Michael Jackson into the 1990s. I didn't really have an opinion one way or another about his music, and anytime something came on the news about him, it was like, "Oh, geez, again? What weirdness be this?" So just as his personal life became weirder and crazier, my general attention just turned farther the other way. Now I just really hope that he can finally be at peace because he never seemed to be in life. And I really pray that his children get to fade into relative Hollywood obscurity, because they deserve to have the childhood MJ never got to have.
Fact is that the choices he made in his life were bizarre at the least, criminal at worst. I don't think anybody's ever really going to get the full story about Michael Jackson. I'm not going to deny that he did some weird stuff, went nuts, and probably broke a few laws. But I'm not going to remember that Michael Jackson.
I'm going to remember the Michael Jackson at the peak of his awesomeness. I'm going to remember the handsome young black guy who scared the shit out of me at age 4 with the "Thriller" video. I'm going to remember "Beat It" and "Billie Jean." I'm even going to remember "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal." And yes, I'm going to fondly remember the Moonwalker "movie" and watching "Captain EO" at Disney World. 1980s Michael Jackson at his best.
So while I may have purchased and will listen to the Essential Michael Jackson 2-cd compilation (which is great because it includes stuff from the Jackson 5), that's the extent of my homage. There will be no MJ tribute at my wedding (though dancing the Thriller like they did in "13 Going on 30" could potentially be fun). This is it.
Now, how do I feel? Well, it's too bad. I'm not going to burst into tears over his passing, but it really is too bad. He was incredibly talented, a brilliant musician and phenomenal dancer, and from what I've seen on TV, a great live entertainer. Nobody's going to dispute that, I think. Personal life - yeah, he really seemed to be more on the insane side of genius, but when you look at his life, can you really blame him for going so deep into the crazy? He was an amazingly talented kid who started performing at, what, age 8(?), and never stopped. He didn't have a normal childhood by any stretch of the imagination, and somehow didn't burn out by the time he hit 18. If anything, since that's when he really started his solo career, that's really when he hit his stride. Even his first plastic surgery, rhinoplasty to fix the damage from a broken nose, was not unheard of or all that weird. And he seemed to stay relatively normal for the first half of the 80s, by Hollywood standards. That, to me, was also when his music was at its best.
I didn't really care much about Michael Jackson into the 1990s. I didn't really have an opinion one way or another about his music, and anytime something came on the news about him, it was like, "Oh, geez, again? What weirdness be this?" So just as his personal life became weirder and crazier, my general attention just turned farther the other way. Now I just really hope that he can finally be at peace because he never seemed to be in life. And I really pray that his children get to fade into relative Hollywood obscurity, because they deserve to have the childhood MJ never got to have.
Fact is that the choices he made in his life were bizarre at the least, criminal at worst. I don't think anybody's ever really going to get the full story about Michael Jackson. I'm not going to deny that he did some weird stuff, went nuts, and probably broke a few laws. But I'm not going to remember that Michael Jackson.
I'm going to remember the Michael Jackson at the peak of his awesomeness. I'm going to remember the handsome young black guy who scared the shit out of me at age 4 with the "Thriller" video. I'm going to remember "Beat It" and "Billie Jean." I'm even going to remember "Bad" and "Smooth Criminal." And yes, I'm going to fondly remember the Moonwalker "movie" and watching "Captain EO" at Disney World. 1980s Michael Jackson at his best.
So while I may have purchased and will listen to the Essential Michael Jackson 2-cd compilation (which is great because it includes stuff from the Jackson 5), that's the extent of my homage. There will be no MJ tribute at my wedding (though dancing the Thriller like they did in "13 Going on 30" could potentially be fun). This is it.