Volume I No. 52
 02-06-03
 The Not-So-Subtle Message Behind 
 Michael Jackson's Wacko Lifestyle
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2003

 We've all heard them. -- The Michael Jackson jokes. They are out
 there like a plague of their own. Because so much of Michael's life
 is decidedly bizarro and strange to the average everyday Joe. He
 takes weirdness to a new level. So much so, that there is more than
 enough fodder available for any water-cooler comedian with even
 the least evolved sense of humor to utilize to keep his fellow office
 pals endlessly amused and titilated.

 Is Michael gay? And even "worse" a pedophile? Or is he sexual
 at all in the usual way? Did his children come out of a test tude?
 -- What's up with that pasty alien skin? And what is the deal with
 that nose of his that seems to be melting away - as if it were
 composed of wax - a millimeter at a time.

 You get the idea.

 Some of the jokes are cute. Others barely conceal a strong sense
 of personal revulsion and contempt. And the worse are downright
 graphic, vulgar, and obscene. And definitely not for those with
 sensitive ears. But really, what can't anyone make light of as it
 concerns Michael Jackson?

 Now in the few weeks after the infamous baby dangling incident
 in Germany, there is a bit of damage control going on. Michael's
 brother Jermaine has been making the rounds of several prominent
 talk shows in an apparent attempt to humanize Michael and speak
 up in his defense. On the Larry King show recently, Jermaine was
 eloquent, patient, and composed, as he answered some tough,
 and frankly embarassing -- if not insulting, questions.

Jermaine should be commended for his display of brotherly love
 and compassion. But it's tough going. Because the best spokesperson
 for Michael Jackson, can only be Michael Jackson.

 That brings us to the present. It's sweeps month. And ABC just aired
 a two-hour Michael Jackson special where he revealed, perhaps a bit
 too much about his personal life.

 He sleeps in bed with children. Or at least, with children in his
 bedroom. { and in fairness, according to some reports his bedroom
 is expansive and not some small closed intimate place }

 Is this 44 year-old man-child actually that naive, or is his sense of
 reality really so far off the boat that he does not realize that he has
 become a danger to himself? And to those around him?

 The question of pedophilia is best answered by state investigators,
 or in a court of law. Or even upon a psychiatrist's couch. And just
 because something smells wrong, or is distasteful at first glance,
 doesn't prove that something wicked is going on. Or that criminal
 acts have been committed.

 Jackson's personality may really be so damaged that he doesn't
 grasp how different he is from the rest of society. Even the most
 fringe elements of society.

 Michael has wandered off by himself into some isolated zone that
 extends far beyond mere eccentricity, into an area that people just
 don't trust him anymore. For in this world of ours, those who are
 deemed different are quickly judged as a threat. Thus there are the
 endless whispers and vulgar accusations against his character, that
 until his dying days will label him as an evil influence. -- His career
 is in ruins. And will never be resuscitated.

 What a waste of his prodigious musical talent.

 Michael Jackson is his own worse enemy. And he just doesn't seem
 to get it. Or to understand it. Long has passed the point where
 one could innocently wonder if the genesis of Michael's strange
 persona was that it was a publicity stunt - and not reality. All done
 up for public consumption, and to take advantage of his - at the
 time - broad appeal.

 Controvery sells. Edge sells. Even to a certain extent, strange-ness
 sells. Young people in particular have always gravitated towards
 those public figures that allow them to reject authority and to
 rebel.

 This is the method Madonna used to become a mega-superstar.
 As did R&B talent Prince. And in earlier times, Elvis, the Rolling
 Stones, and Kiss. And there are many more musical talents who
 sacrificed a bit of personal dignity, and created a false public 
 face so that they could succeed.

 It was to be expected of them.

 There is no calculation in the Michael Jackson of today. He appears
 a lost and deeply troubled soul. And the piranha-like talking heads
 on the cable networks smell blood. They indignantly toss around
 suggestions of immoral conduct as if those accusations are already
 proven. So many are there - these talkin heads. An over-abundance
 of self-righteous trial lawyers and former prosecutors, eager it seems,
 to make a name for themselves against a despised and emotionally
 crippled soul.

 Former Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson has been a frequent
 victim of this kind of public hazing. These lawyer-sharks, as if
 in a feeding frenzy, circle around him everytime he attempts to
 schedule a fight in the U.S and earn a living for his family.

 As is his right.

 Michael Jackson has, in a sense, become a man the world loves to hate.
 He is subject to endless ridicule. But before we toss him into the fires
 of hell like some discarded useless thing. Who among us cannot sincerely
 recognize an individual who's entire adult life has been one long endless
 cry for help?

 Where is our sense of proportionality? Our sense of compassion?

 It is time to stop. And to take a breath. And for at least one moment,
 to cease mocking this guy. And to start hoping that someday he can
 miraculously regain a sense of the eager little lead singer of the Jackson
 Five he once was. -- Of himself. And to disavow this tortured, terrible
 existence that is his current life.

 Surely this man is not in any way, a happy well-adjusted individual.
 Past experience suggests that if he cannot change -- his story will
 have a mercilessly sad ending.
 

 ReadingPost.Com
 © Copyright 2003

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