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Michael Jackson's Afterlife
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Celebrating the King of Pop’s many gifts is fair enough. Making him into a saint, not so much.
Today we witnessed the apotheosis of Michael Jackson.
To hear Berry Gordy tell it, Jackson was “the greatest entertainer that ever lived.” According to the seemingly ubiquitous Al Sharpton, Michael Jackson deserves as much or more credit than Martin Luther King for the success of black achievers from Tiger Woods to Barack Obama.
Yes, this is a sad day but not because we are mourning the passage of the King of Pop. He’s been long gone, really. The real pity is that today’s spectacle demonstrates that a big segment of our society remains fully capable of deliberate blindness. That was obvious when Sharpton declared in defiant tones that there was “nothing wrong with Michael Jackson” and was answered by thunderous applause. Even Martin Luther King’s children helped with the ritual, as his daughter edged “accusations” against him into “persecutions.”
Even Martin Luther King’s children helped with the ritual, as his daughter edged “accusations” against him into “persecutions.”
Celebrating Jackson’s gifts is fair enough. Making him into a saint, not so much. If romance is the willing suspension of disbelief, turning Michael Jackson into a deity is a willing suspension of belief in what we know to be true. And as a country, we can’t afford to live in Neverland any more.
Despite Sharpton’s assertion that nothing was wrong with Jackson, everything about him had become a mess: his physical and mental condition, his finances, his medical records, and now his estate. The music and the dancing were unforgettable but what I can’t forget is the appalling degree to which Jackson was both victim and victimizer.
When the old photos of that wide-eyed little boy were on the monitor, it reminded me that Jackson was another abused child star whose torment became manifest in every imaginable way. When Berry Gordy said that Jackson, as a 10-year-old, sang with “the sadness and passion of a man who had been living the blues and heartbreak his whole life,” it struck me that very possibly the 10-year-old Jackson had done exactly that.
And what about the other little boys? If Jackson dodged the bullet on child-molestation charges, does he seem like an innocent man? Who hands over a settlement worth more than $20 million if there was no crime? Something indeed was wrong with Michael Jackson. He stood repeatedly accused of a crime so heinous that most people would not want anyone facing those allegations living on their block. Unless, of course, that individual was a celebrity.
As St. Michael rose into the clouds this afternoon, other reality-based thoughts persistently intruded into my reality-addicted mind. At this time of crisis on many fronts, I couldn’t help thinking about the media’s prolonged prostitution of itself to this event. At a time of financial ruin, the city of Los Angeles has been asking citizens to donate money to help pay for the management of this spectacle.
As we have already learned, Jackson’s death may produce more profit than the improbable comeback tour that those around Jackson persisted in believing was possible for the frail, skeletal individual who they supposedly so loved. No doubt Jackson will be as ruthlessly exploited in death as he was in life.
And there was one big bonus winner at the Jackson service. Can you guess? When Magic Johnson described his delight at learning that Jackson loved Kentucky Fried Chicken, it’s easy to imagine that there was celebrating at the Colonel’s headquarters. A double celebrity endorsement, seemingly a spontaneous gift from the celebrity gods! I can’t imagine that the KFC people—still getting over that little dustup over the Oprah giveaway—aren’t even now figuring out how to make the most of that.
Kim Masters covers the entertainment business for The Daily Beast. She is also the host of The Business, public radio's weekly program about the business of show business. She is also the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else.
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Kim Masters covers the entertainment business for The Daily Beast. She is also the host of The Business, public radio's weekly program about the business of show business. She is also the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else.
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Kim Masters covers the entertainment business for The Daily Beast. She is also the host of The Business, public radio's weekly program about the business of show business. She is also the author of The Keys to the Kingdom: The Rise of Michael Eisner and the Fall of Everybody Else.
AmyLEn
Well written indeed.
LisaDee
Chandler's Dad tried to get MJ to invest in some sort of deal, like a movie, or something that costs around 20 million. When MJ refused then thats when the false accusations started. MJ never agreed to give the Chandlers that money. MJ's insurance company paid that liar off. Read the facts, not the tabloid trash. Diane was fired from Court TV because of her unethical, manipulating reporting and hiding behind her "confidential sources". The so called "love letters" Diane kept talking about has never been seen and MJ filed a multi million dollar lawsuit against Diane BUT her buddy Sneddon all of a sudden wrote a letter saying he had seen those letters, the letter didnt surface until after MJ filed the lawsuit. Yep, Diane is very articulate and it's a shame that she's wasting it away.
jdhall1011
Michael Jackson never paid the 20 million dollars -- it was paid by his insurance company who didn't want to take the case to a civil court. Do a little research -- thisi nformation is easy to find.
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n--Y--alcamadusChicago48
I agree with Kim and Alcamadus. It was a great show that we saw today and his history is being rewritten; but the books haven't come out yet. The books will tell the real story, if the authors are allowed to write them. One of them has to publish his book overseas not in the U.S.
Chicago48
Where's Grace the nanny?
revcat
MJ visited wounded troops at Walter Reed Hospital and did many other similar things without benefit of cameras. He was a very complex person with both virtues and vices, but the fact that he was generous cannot be disputed. He donated millions of dollars and would have liked to have saved the world. However, he never declared himself a saviour and in the end, sadly, he couldn't even save himself.
StrangerinMoscow
AMEN! Absolutely beautiful words!!! I totally agree - thanks for your great posting. Miss MJ very much.
maropete
I think that his tribute is fitting. I have always listened to many of MJ's songs for inspiration:when my baby sister died, when my mom died, grad school, and many of life's milestones. On the the other hand, anyone is entitled to dismiss him but I don't think anyone has the right to tell people who their heros should and should not be.
dixie-chik
The word was not "wrong," but "strange." Sharpton said: "To the children: There was nothing strange about your daddy. It was strange what your daddy had to deal with."
I thought it was a wonderful thing to say to young children who are orphaned. Gracious and kind.
Would that you were the same.
Chicago48
Dixie-chick -- until Michael's death a WHOLE LOT OF PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WAS STRANGE, INCLUDING ME. Michael Jackson went off the rails about 10 years ago. and let's face it, he hadn't performed in a concert or cut a record in about 10-15 years. We don't know what this comeback would have been. It might have been a freak show, it would have been lucrative for sure.
But for me, he did just at the right time. He was sick, he was addicted, he wasn't the "old" Michael, he had become the old Elvis. I wouldn't want to hear or see that Michael. And the only reason he was going to do the concert was for the money. No one talks about that. No one talks about his being fooled into 50 concerts when he though it would be 10 concerts. He wasn't up to 50 concerts every other night.
So yeh, for me MJ was "strange" and regardless of what the family wants to rewrite history, MJ wanted to be strange.
baptox
Why tell the kids he wasn't "strange" when they obviously know or will know otherwise? Kids aren't stupid. All one had to do was look at this pitiful, childlike man and realize that he had willed himself into looking (and behaving)like "a brother from another planet" long ago.
Jackson's preference for social, emotional and possibly sexual contact with young boys was a sign of his deep mental illness. Most mental health professionals would classify him as a sexual predator. He would probably have been in prison had his wealth not bought off his accusers.
I feel sorry for the young Michael Jackson who was exploited by his parents and others and abused by his father. Later,he had every opportunity to heal those wounds and yet he never did. He irresponsibly brought three children into the world and then increased his drug habit as he parented those kids. His poor drug-addled parenting was evident when he dangled one of his kids over a hotel balcony.
Now his poor kids and mother will suffer for years trying to resolve custodial and monetary issues. What a sad legacy to leave those he supposedly loved.
kellabeck
I agree, baptox, and in fact, I've written similar thoughts in my blog www.manhattanbutterfly.blogspot.com. He WAS strange. He made himself that way. And he acted strangely. And he left those poor children in the wreckage he left behind, along with the potential of riches which will guarantee the presence of vultures forever.
chicago48, Michael Jackson went off the rails much earlier than 10 years ago! The first molestation investigation was in 1993 and that boy was not the first one to become his "special friend." That had been going on in the Hayvenhurst bedroom in Encino, long before he bought Neverland.
Michael Jackson told us he was "Bad" and "Dangerous" and thought he was "Invincible." "HIStory" ultimately was not a pretty one.
spindip32
You're right. At the memorial for the father of three innocent children, who obviously adored that father and KNEW a very different man than we did, they should have been reminded over and over how strange the guy was.
This was a memorial. The family was kind enough to let the world in because the guy had fans (including me). Like the far less public memorials of other musicians that have gone before, this was filled with musicians paying musical tribute. I have a feeling that, had the public not been invited, much of the same would have occurred.
The people who spoke were the people who knew the man. I saw real emotions. I didn't see anyone pretending to love Michael Jackson. Rev. Al did what reverends do: he gave an uplifting eulogy.
You know, though nothing has ever been proven, MJ may very well have molested some boys. But even the worst in our society are often sent away graciously by the ones who love them. We had an open window to a very personal mourning.
And I'd like to address Ms. Master's question with one of my own. Who hands over $20 mil if there is no crime? Who accepts $20 mil from someone who they think molested their child and then lets the guy walk away? Most parents would want to see the guy locked up. There's a very real possibility that these people noticed an odd, but not sexually inappropriate relationship between MJ and their child and saw dollar signs, never planning to go to trial in the first place. If we find later that the accusations were indeed false, then perhaps 'persecutions' is an appropriate word. Finally, unless you have some solid proof, your use of the word 'victimizer' with absolutely no modifier in describing him is inappropriate. In the end, maybe you'll be right. But right now, it's all empty accusations.
Still, if he was guilty of molesting children, it's fair to be hard on him. I don't think we've heard the last either way. But, it's totally unfair to bring up his financial troubles, physical or mental state, posthumous estate issues as premises to the argument of Jackson's strangeness (or wrongness, as Ms. Masters would put it) that deserve to be presented at his memorial.
Also, the last time I checked, inheriting half a billion dollars in assets and untold amounts of after-death profits is not such a bad financial position to be in.
anaelena
So only your opinion counts, Hey Kim why don't you try and give the $300 million to charity and have MJ returned to the state, why don't you do the same with the 60 million generated by We Are The World, why don't you file a court case objecting 20% of the MJ state be donated to charity, oh and tell me the right thing to think is the way Kim thinks. So easy to sit down and write bla bla bla bla bla bla just try just try to go on stage and be liked by the crowds. So the perfect perfect perfect Kim is her way or no way. Take a look at yourself before you get so opinionated. Oh, just forget about me reading you again, opinion dictator.
dkbrown
Cold.
baptox
The cold hard facts usually are...
lhops1
When you die everything that was good about your life is exaggerated a million-fold, how are you surprised by this?
GMoney2
I'm typically at least somewhat well-spoken in my criticism, but all I can muster for your speculative and unread backside is a monumental: Fuck off.
I'm all for perspective, but what kind of garbage is this? "Who hands over a settlement worth more than $20 million if there was no crime?" Thanks for the insightful innuendo, hack.
YeahISaidIt
seriously. total hack. sensationalist hag.
tim484848
Thank you for reading my invisible thoughts, with those of your own.
xfool92
Another blogger called this a "canonization" the other day and that person was right on the money.
The media is making him into a saint. Jackson was talented but he seemed to have serious problems with inferiority, with all the surgeries. Now it comes out that he was having problems so much to the point that he needed strong drugs in order to sleep. Where was his doting family then? Of course, they, and Michael, can do no wrong. But just wait, the media will be tearing him down the first chance they get. I don't think Michael was the greatest entertainer of all time as Gordy said, I think he was a talented musician with mental issues and he needed help. But he did not warrant all this TV coverage.
Chicago48
Where's Grace, the nanny?
spindip32
I think my comment was rejected. Darn, I think it was pretty good.
exploora
No, it is there, and it was good. I agree.
dollenmaier
You just don't get it. His music transcended race, age and culture. It became part of the fabric of people's lives. If you did not have that experience, then you need to be open to others.
There is not another human being in the world that will have such an outpouring of sentiment at their death...no one. I would think that the poem from Maya Angelou and the letter from Nelson Mandela would have gotten your attention. Yes, he was addicted. He can join the club of millions of addicts in this country alone! Long after we are gone, people will be dancing to his music. Now that is a legacy.
pclayton
Best article I have read about this spectacle. The man was a man; a very sick, strange man who denied everything black while he lived (even his kids are white for goodness sake). Why the black community would band together to "celebrate" a strange example of a member of the black race in denial and rejection of his own color is baffling, especially when it includes people such as Al Sharpton (reverend? after what he has said and done himself?), Magic Johnson, etc. I wonder if the black community has as much esteem for a prime great example of a modern black man as President Obama? Dying does not wipe out a lifetime of eccentric privileged behavior. I can't wait to hear the truth come out now that the whitewash is over.
Thank you.
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