I first became aware of The Jackson 5 after they had won a talent show at the world famous Apollo Theater in Harlem, New York. They were pointed out to me by a member of the group, The Spinners, playing just outside of a van a few yards away. They were little kids. A few months later, “I Want You Back” was # 1 everywhere. This brought on an appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and we all got a look at a very precocious 10 year old that performed like a seasoned veteran of the stage. The “ride” was on, and from 1969 until now, in some shape or form, Michael Jackson was an intricate part of “Americana”. A stark irony of the whole thing is that 10 years old, “little old man” never met up with that “old man” as he aged. The “little kid” seemed to stay in place as the “man” went through the natural process of growing into adulthood.
Perhaps it is justified to put a “higher beam” on the scandals in his life. The accusations of pedophilia, which, like it or not, agree with it or not, by “LAW”, he was acquitted. Public opinion not withstanding, he wasn’t found guilty. Was what he did wrong? At the very least it was improper. At the same time, “some” measure of blame needs to fall at the feet of the parents who were willing to put their children in an awkward position just for the sake of their children being in the company of a wealthy and highly regarded celebrity that was Michael Jackson. Should they have expected Michael to have such a close and physical connection? Probably not. Just the same, some guilt needs to fall on the kitchen table they intended to boast to their family, neighbors and friends of “their child’s” friendship with the great Michal Jackson.
Was the coverage of his death over the top? Absolutely! Even as a fan I reached for the remote after two days of repeated non news and speculations for reruns of “Law and Order” and even threw in a recently purchased DVD of “Burke’s Law”. South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford was the beneficiary of the spotlight falling off of him and his tryst in South America with his mistress, even though he didn’t take full advantage of it and kept talking. “Cape and Trade” went through in the House, cloaked by the over coverage and seemed to be treated as an, “Oh by the way…”. Certainly there were “questions” about his sudden death, but it seemed the media had to keep saying “something” even when there was nothing “new” to say. “What of the kids? What was Joe Jackson ‘up to’? How much debt was he in”? And so on…and so on, incensing leaders such as Peter King to open up Pandora’s Box of the opposition to the coverage. It “was some 7 or 8 days gone by of “wall to wall” coverage.
The media was behaving like a driver slowing down to watch a wreck and while it may appear to be exalting the “career” of Michael Jackson, the majority of the coverage held a high beam on the negatives and oddities of this “character” that spanned for 40 years. That’s 2 generations. It is fair game to include the negatives of his character. They are, at the very least, peculiar with the surgeries, eating and living habits, the animals, relationships and conduct with children and of course, the skin color changes. But should all of these things offset the entire picture and his body of work? Who is to judge?
Congressman King reduced him to a “singer and dancer”. So many others came to the surface after his comments to affirm this conviction. That the death of soldiers went unnoticed by the media. This should have been taken up with the media and not demonize a person who “has” done so much more in the way of peace than any of these detractors are aware of. The mere efforts as a performer with his brothers and later on his own captured the spirits and souls of people world wide for decades. His skills were innovative in the way he put on a total presentation that other performers “tried” to emulate. But his contributions go deeper.
With the advent of MTV as a budding medium, The Jacksons put together a video that changed the way video music would be presented. “Can You Feel It” was the most innovative project of its time. When he came out with his project “Off The Wall”, the music industry was suffering a serious reversal of appeal. They looked to MTV as a means of digging themselves out. Not only did Michael “force” MTV to show videos of Black Artists, something they avoided, he continued to produce videos that were unlike any others being done. “Thriller” totally reset the intents of video music. It actually qualified as a “Short Film” and should have gotten Oscar considerations. But at the same time, the controversies began to mount of Michael’s off stage conditions and behavior. They “were” extreme and unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. It was at this point that the media, ad nauseum, spent some 10 days, along with the emerging mysteries of the case, over extended the coverage. It is “here” that the genius of Michael Jackson was buried and probably will be sealed for quite some time.
This is the media that has manipulated the society towards celebrity that politicians have participated in and used to advance themselves. One might even consider that they themselves have some measure of envy at the amount of attention the passing of Michael Jackson got. King, a Republican, probably should put up this much opposition to what is being run through his own department of legislation. Might be nice to see him put up a You Tube clip of opposition to what the present administration is doing in way of policies and appointments of Czars that even he and the House nor the Senate have no authority over or oversight over. It’s like, “How dare a ‘real’ entertainer and celebrity steal our spotlight”!
Politicians have to accept their part in shaping the direction of attention they have played a part in creating. They wanted to be celebrities and go “Hollywood”. Well it puts them in a much bigger and deeper “pool” to swim in. There are times when they just can’t contain the sharks in those waters. They swarmed around Michael Jackson “this time” in his death. Maybe Republicans like King should have relished in the reprieve from swarming around them. But I digress.
The media isn’t done with Michael Jackson. There’s much more to come. Maybe he actually was that big. Maybe they’ll get around to some of the positives in his career that made the media think that he warranted all of this coverage. We’ll see.
R.I.P, Michael Jackson. There was a lot of joy in the ride you took us on for 40 years.