Michael Jackson - My Final Stance

I just got finished watching the controversial documentary, "Living With Michael Jackson" by the reporter Bashir. In it Jackson talks about his admiration for the Elephant Man (not the reggae singer) and how he can relate to him. Michael Jackson was our generations Elephant Man. A freak show, a walking car accident that the world could not look away from. And as recluse as he was, Jackson needed the admiration to make up for the lack of love from his father. He played into the role of sideshow with outrageous behavior and a carefully created "Peter Pan" character. (The voice, the costumes, Neverland Ranch... all in "character") For a while this character was beloved and raised by the Hollywood system to the highest levels. Then, as with most stars, the system crumbles you down after you have "peeked" and destroys you. The Jackson character went from "cute" to "creepy" and Jackson's behavior became more erratic and bizarre to try and gain back the adoration. He surrounded himself with enablers and leeches who encouraged this behavior and allowed him to spend in excess, get his hands on numerous drugs, and continue massive plastic surgery. It was also at this time money hungry parents realized they could use their sons to milk the fallen star of all he was worth with lawsuits. The same parents who allowed their children to sleep in bed with him when he was successful quickly changed their tune when the fame started to decrease. Rats are the first to abandon a sinking ship.

Michael Jackson represents the American Dream and the American Tragedy. He is probably one of the most unique and interesting human beings to have ever walked the earth. No one can deny his level talent, but many of his off stage antics took away from it. With Jackson it was very hard to separate the man from the artist, but the artist is undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time. It is hard to not feel bad for this man, a man robbed of his childhood. As soon as he died I thought of a quote from Hunter S. Thompson; "Too Weird to Live, Too Rare to Die."