Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Michael Jackson in perspective

There has been too little talk of the problems Michael Jackson had. Even the President (through his spokespeople) has spoken well of Jackson's career, and glossed over his troubles. This is a person who was financially in distress, his personal life was totally undesirable, and he was charged with serious crimes against little boys. The evidence for the latter was so strong that he chose to pay a multimillion dollar settlement in one case, and seemingly "beat" the system in a criminal trial in another. Jackson gave a famous interview that provided a view into his world where he thought it was fine for him to sleep in a bed with little boys. Any reasonable person would conclude he abused children. He altered his appearance so much that he became unwatchable. Jackson was a man who had too many feminine traits from the voice to his thin and fraile appearance. He became a poster child for what happens when you don't have real problems to deal with because you've become so successful.

I will grant his great talent. I tribute that to his good upbringing from his dad. Michael Jackson like most children needed a stern parent to help guide them and motivate their ambitions. Contrary to what most think, the problem with Jackson wasn't his tough childhood, his being "onstage" and missing out, it was that Joe Jackson wasn't able to be an authority figure well into Michael's adulthood. Once Michael Jackson became an adult and had others impacting his decisions, he lost touch with reality. Can you imagine Michael Jackson standing in line at the DMV for 2 hours like the rest of us? Can you imagine him doing his own laundry?

Who was there to tell him no to buy an amusement park? Who was there to tell him no to changing his body?

It used to be Joe Jackson.
We all celebrate personal freedom. But it has a cost.
It needs to be tempered with moral values.
Michael Jackson was taught good values and ignored them.
It is a classic story.

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