People always told me, be careful what you do
I usually don't post about topical matters, but: Michael Jackson. I was never really a fan of his, and couldn't understand those people who stood outside of his courthouse with signs and tears during his trial a few years ago. I'm still happy that Jarvis Cocker crashed his riduclous and pompous performance at the Brit Awards in 1996. He made some very stupid decisions and had gotten into a very crazy life. He was, as far as everyone could tell, a mess.
But when when I came home from work tonight and my brother told me Michael Jackson was dead, this mess of a person we're all familiar with wasn't the only image of Jackson that came to mind. It was mixed in with the young Jackson who had made some really great music, and who was, at one point in time, the world's performer. It's weird: I know what it's like to find out old famous people have died (sad but expected), and I know what it's like to find out seemingly random famous people have died (surprising and unsettling), but Jackson didn't really fit into a category like that. I didn't love him, yet he was so iconic that I appreciated him just for that untouchable place he held. He didn't exist in my world beyond a peripheral level, but at the same time I know he did exist in everyone's world at some level. His death carries the feeling of some sad creature being put out of its misery, yet it feels not right, like he still could have had a comeback in him.
I imagined what it must have been like for Jackson to die today (sorry, I am quite morbid), and I had to force myself to realize that the person who died wasn't the young guy from the 80s, but the man with the poor, plastic face and suspicious reputation. I realized that upon finding out he died, I kept remembering him as that young singer with the soft voice and killer moves and iconic music videos, who must have been a part of so many people's childhoods if not mine. I think that this is how most people are remembering him today. For all the jokes and the judgments, I really believe that most just felt sorry for this man with a lot of talent and unfortunately a lot of issues, whose life was handed to him a bit damaged and who didn't know how to deal with it. Jackson had become a bizarre figure, and now it's bizarre to think that he's gone.
But when when I came home from work tonight and my brother told me Michael Jackson was dead, this mess of a person we're all familiar with wasn't the only image of Jackson that came to mind. It was mixed in with the young Jackson who had made some really great music, and who was, at one point in time, the world's performer. It's weird: I know what it's like to find out old famous people have died (sad but expected), and I know what it's like to find out seemingly random famous people have died (surprising and unsettling), but Jackson didn't really fit into a category like that. I didn't love him, yet he was so iconic that I appreciated him just for that untouchable place he held. He didn't exist in my world beyond a peripheral level, but at the same time I know he did exist in everyone's world at some level. His death carries the feeling of some sad creature being put out of its misery, yet it feels not right, like he still could have had a comeback in him.
I imagined what it must have been like for Jackson to die today (sorry, I am quite morbid), and I had to force myself to realize that the person who died wasn't the young guy from the 80s, but the man with the poor, plastic face and suspicious reputation. I realized that upon finding out he died, I kept remembering him as that young singer with the soft voice and killer moves and iconic music videos, who must have been a part of so many people's childhoods if not mine. I think that this is how most people are remembering him today. For all the jokes and the judgments, I really believe that most just felt sorry for this man with a lot of talent and unfortunately a lot of issues, whose life was handed to him a bit damaged and who didn't know how to deal with it. Jackson had become a bizarre figure, and now it's bizarre to think that he's gone.