Unless you live under a rock, you know that the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, died this week. I was surprised to find he was actually older (though not by much) than I am. Jackson had what seemed to be an ageless, perpetually juvenile persona – probably due to a combination of bad plastic surgery and media-induced mystique. I personally thought he was a man with incredible talent, unlimited potential, and a life filled with people who took unfair advantage of him.
There are many words that come to mind when I think of Michael Jackson. Strange, odd, eccentric, different, bizarre, weird, peculiar. But the word most prevalent in my mind is “pathetic”. In the dictionary, I find the definition of “pathetic” to be “causing or evoking pity, sympathetic sadness, sorrow, etc.; pitiful; pitiable.”
Yes, I know the stories and accusations as well as I know about the charitable foundations and donations. Believe me, I’m not making a judgment call on his character here. I have no interest in playing judge and jury to his complicated life. All I’m saying is that when I see the life of Michael Jackson, it evokes emotions of sadness and sympathy. This darling little boy with the voice of an angel and dancing skills meriting Fred Astaire’s assessment of him as the “greatest dancer of the century” seemed to never be allowed to be a real person. How sad.
The death of Michael Jackson has touched the entire world, and people are showing an amazing display of grief. I wonder if the level of sadness is elevated by the fact that the man never appeared to know real happiness in his life.
My memories of the King of Pop will continue as I happily clean my house to his hit tunes, dancing from room to room with my rags and furniture polish. My only hope is that my cleaning is not as pathetic as my moon walk.
Tami Cinquemani
Great writing once again Tami.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt in my mind that Michael Jackson had a very tragic life. It seemed as tho the people around him from the time he was very young were not interested in his well being, but rather what they themselves could gain from him. I would think he couldn't trust anyone's motives. And its sad that rx drugs were one of his only ways to escape the pain of his sad and tragic life. I would also think that children and his Neverland Ranch were escape attempts also. We can only speculate; and that really isn't fair to anyone. But I digress.
What is still so wonderful for me is his and The Jackson Five's music! Off the Wall and Thriller are timeless! I too still listen and dance to these fantastic albums..they make any task or trip easier and more fun! He truly was the King of Pop. And I will always hold dear the memories made to his music!
May Michael Jackson rest in Peace.
As many of us moarn the passing of the King of Pop, we are learning more and more about him and his sad and tragic life. Take a look at this:
ReplyDeleteIn an article from Beliefnet.com, released in December 2000, Michael Jackson writes:
"When people see the television appearances I made when I was a little boy--8 or 9 years old and just starting off my lifelong music career--they see a little boy with a big smile. They assume that this little boy is smiling because he is joyous, that he is singing his heart out because he is happy, and that he is dancing with an energy that never quits because he is carefree.
But while singing and dancing were, and undoubtedly remain, some of my greatest joys, at that time what I wanted more than anything else were the two things that make childhood the most wondrous years of life, namely, playtime and a feeling of freedom. The public at large has yet to really understand the pressures of childhood celebrity, which, while exciting, always exacts a very heavy price.
More than anything, I wished to be a normal little boy. I wanted to build tree houses and go to roller-skating parties. But very early on, this became impossible. I had to accept that my childhood would be different than most others. But that's what always made me wonder what an ordinary childhood would be like.
There was one day a week, however, that I was able to escape the stages of Hollywood and the crowds of the concert hall. That day was the Sabbath. In all religions, the Sabbath is a day that allows and requires the faithful to step away from the everyday and focus on the exceptional. I learned something about the Jewish Sabbath in particular early on from Rose, and my friend Shmuley further clarified for me how, on the Jewish Sabbath, the everyday life tasks of cooking dinner, grocery shopping, and mowing the lawn are forbidden so that humanity may make the ordinary extraordinary and the natural miraculous. Even things like shopping or turning on lights are forbidden. On this day, the Sabbath, everyone in the world gets to stop being ordinary.
But what I wanted more than anything was to be ordinary. So, in my world, the Sabbath was the day I was able to step away from my unique life and glimpse the everyday."
Thanks for sharing this. I went to the site, I cannot express the feeling of joy it brought to my heart... I have heard so many senseless words from fellow professed Christians about Michael Jackson that felt suffocated by such a bigotry and lack of compassion. This blog and your post a nice demonstration of what Jesus meant in his teachings. What a relief we have this kind of focus in our Hospital Church.
ReplyDeleteWe read this blog today as a family...then we pulled out a dvd we have of Michael Jackson's Number One hits and watched it together. We enjoyed the music and dancing...and even tried to do The Thriller dance ourselves, LOL. Then we spent quite a bit of time discussing why we thought MJ is dominating the news right now... with so many all around the world mourning the loss of The King of Pop. We discussed that yes, there was alot of controversy surrounding him in many parts of his life, and now even in his death. But he also did so much good, The Man in the Mirror video and We are the World video show his compassion for people and our planet. We were overcome with compassion for him and the sad life that consumed him. Tami, your blog facilitated a wonderful afternoon of time and conversation in our family.
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