Everyone and their dog has their two cents on the death of Michael Jackson, so here are mine. When word got out of his death, people fell into two primary camps in terms of reaction. Most people have mourned his death, lamenting the fact that a true music icon has died. Other people initially reacted by making as many bad jokes as possible. I'll admit that I have mostly fallen into the latter group, mainly because I feel everything is open for humour. Humour, especially of the dark or sarcastic variety, is the easiest tool to cope with the fucked up world we live in. But I digress.
So let's consider the first reaction to Michael Jackson's death. After talking to lots of people, reading peoples' Facebook/Twitter status updates, watching the news, reading articles in music mags/websites etc, the vast majority of people are expressing sadness, grief, and condolences and honouring MJ's undeniable musical legacy. There is no disputing that MJ was talented. The words "genius" and "innovator" get thrown around far too liberally these days, but I believe MJ falls into a very short list of true musical geniuses along the lines of Brian Wilson, Bob Dylan and the like.
The other reaction has been a slew of dark jokes about his death. These jokes obviously stem from a litany of eccentricities in MJ's personal life, from Bubbles the chimp to the Elephant Man's bones to his friendships with Liz Taylor and Diana Ross to his accusations of child molestation. MJ has been a living and breathing punchline for the better part of two decades and most of it has been self-inflicted. It's not a huge stretch to say that MJ was not a normal person.
So here's my dilemma. Me, like 99% of people my age, grew up with the music of MJ. Michael Jackson's
Thriller was the first rock/pop album I bought. I went from listening to Raffi to MJ. I remember being in Grade 2 or 3 and thinking the videos for "Thriller," "Beat It" and "Billie Jean" were the coolest thing I had ever seen. A kid in my class even had the red jacket MJ wore in the "Beat It" video.
Of course, over time, I became too cool to admit to liking his music. Part of it was that I went to highschool at a time when alternative rock and grunge music was just starting to break so it suddenly become unfathomable to admit to liking pop music or hair metal etc. My inner music snob was taking over. Thankfully, the older I get the less concerned I am with having "guilty pleasures" when it comes to music. (I like the Pixies and Radiohead, but I'm no longer afraid to admit that I like a good bubblegum pop song from Roxette. Shit, I even like a Metro Station song. So shoot me.) So the older I get, the more I've come to appreciate MJ's catalogue of tunes.
However, the main reason I wrote off his music was for the obvious reason: He was accused on a handful of occasions of molesting young boys. Not exactly something you want to be associated with! It's easy to forgive some weird things that some famous people do. A lot of artist/musicians/actors/writers are eccentric people. It pretty much goes with the territory. If they weren't eccentric they'd be plumbers, engineers or accountants. Or Chad Kroeger.
I've been trying to understand the whole molestation scandal. I've looked at it from both sides. Each side stems from the fact that MJ had a fucked up life. He never had a sense of what a normal life is. He was thrown into show business pretty much straight from the womb. His dad beat the shit out of him and his brothers. So from day one he never had a chance to be normal. He was shot in the foot from birth.
The general consensus is that, despite being acquitted or settling out of court, he was guilty. The sad thing is that when anyone gets accused of child molestation, whether it be a pop star or a teacher or a GM of a professional sports team, they are pretty much seen in that light forever after. Did he do it? I sure as hell don't know. I would like to hope not, but no one will ever know now except for the kids involved. If he did indeed do these acts, then he should not have been allowed within a 20 foot radius of anyone younger than 18 and should have been locked up. No matter how fucked up an individual is, there is no excusing a child molester.
The other side is that maybe he was genuinely innocent. MJ never had a sense of reality, so being the most famous person on the planet removed any lingering remains of human reality for him. So maybe in his mind he thought having sleepovers with kids as being normal. And hopefully he kept his hands to himself. Would I trust my kids spending time with a grown man for a sleepover? Hell no. You'd have better luck getting me to a Celine DIon concert than putting my children in that sort of scenario.
So now that he's dead, the public are re-evaluating his life and his career. And there is a bit of revisionism going on, where his molestation accusations are getting glossed over. True or not, I think MJ's death is tragic because it just shows the down side of fame. Most artists aren't the most well-adjusted people, and fame can intensify the equation. MJ was the most famous person on the planet and could not even walk to the grocery store himself without getting mobbed. In turn, he was forced to live in his own alternate universe, furthering his complete detachment from reality. As famous as Bono is, he can still go to a pub in Ireland and drink his Guinness in relative peace. MJ had no such "luxury."
A lot of people are choosing to only focus on his music but I find it impossible to ignore his life. For me, it has afforded me an opportunity to go back and actually listen to his old songs with fresh ears and I forgot how many truly great songs he had. However, I am still left with a feeling that his life has left a reminder or warning of the dangers that can be attached to fame. It's sad that our culture elevates celebrities to deity status and that paparazzi exist. In a way, I think it's good that the music industry is going down the shitter because artists may not be able to make as many millions as they could have 10 years ago, but maybe this will prevent people from getting too famous for their own good.
