Another Viewing of the King

I guess the title is a bit of a misnomer considering there was not an actual viewing of Michael Jackson in the first place. Sure, you're thinking, another Michael Jackson story. But I swear this is an angle that hasn't been widely reported since his death three weeks ago. Everyone was so quick to focus on his music and his career that the last 17 years have been swept under the rug. The music was strong but I think people are almost as quick to remember all of the bizarre offstage antics during his life. But even to the extent these have been reported, hardly any attention has been given to WHY Michael Jackson was the way he was. I claim to have no inside information, nor do I pretend to have any definitive answers; all I have is my common sense and what I have observed of his life being very far removed from his world. This is not an attempt to disparage, slander, or spread gossip, but rather just throwing out a few theories.

We tend to forget just how young Michael Jackson was when he was Michael Jackson. The family moved to southern California from Gary, Indiana when Michael was a very young boy to strike it rich in the music industry. Michael and his siblings were pushed to great extremes by his father Joseph. It is very likely that Joseph abused Michael and his siblings in many ways including physically, emotionally and psychologically. From years of listening to the radio show Loveline, you knew if a woman called in and had a little girl voice she had been abused earlier on in life. I think part of Michael's voice comes as a byproduct of this abuse. Victims of abuse often are not able to interact well with others and have many true, meaningful relationships. It doesn't seem that Michael had any true friends, but simply an endless line of people who wanted to be around him or get something from him.

Due to the young life which was so structured in music I believe this is why he ended up in a state of constant youth. Michael grew up doing nothing but pursuing a music career and being at the whims of fame and his father. When he wasn't performing he was rehearsing. When he wasn't rehearsing he was recording. When he wasn't recording he was promoting. When he wasn't promoting he was doing his requisite schoolwork. There was no space in his life to be a normal kid, so he tried to be a kid his whole adult life. This isn't news. I do believe however that Michael Jackson always believed that he was a kid. Obviously he knew that according to his birth certificate he was an adult but always believed that he was no different from the kids. I believe that he did molest children but in a weird way, I also believe that he felt their equal and never felt like the responsible adult who should be looking out for them. In his own way, he felt like he was one of them and just acting out with his peers.

Being childlike also led him to be so dependent on others. Combined with his ability to buy whatever and whomever he wanted, did he really know how to do anything you or I would do without thinking? Could he cook? Do laundry? Mow the lawn? Wash a car? I think this led to his constant posse. He had handlers who took care of every grown up aspect of his life. This led to money being spent and eventually do his drug habit. He never had anybody to step in and say no to him because everyone around him was making money off of him being the celebrity he was. When people are on the payroll they are unlikely to stand up to you. His handlers simply allowed him to drift deeper and deeper into his habit and provide him with drugs. It was a very symbiotic relationship; they keep him high, he keeps them paid. It worked very well until 3 weeks ago when it all ended. We are still seeing the fallout from his death as it is now being treated as a criminal matter. Will we find out that certain people had something to gain from his death and planned it out to look like an accident? Time will tell.

I think the best modern comparison we can make to Michael Jackson's life (to the extent which it is possible to compare anyone's life to his) is Howard Hughes. Both grew up with wealth and in families which did not nurture them in a healthy way. Both had great success early in life (Michael with music, Howard with business). Both had fortune beyond anyone's imagination and pursued their own whims and interests with child like zeal. Both felt very isolated and lonely due to their celebrity and financial status. Both fell into drug habits which were perpetuated by a small group of handlers who were on the dole and didn't want to shake up the situation even though it would have been in their benefactors' best interest. Both died shrouded in mystery and will live on somewhat infamously even though both were arguably the best contributors to their respective pursuits as any of their contemporaries. Perhaps this will be the subject of a more in-depth treatment later on. For an honest, complete look at the life of Howard Hughes I would recommend HUGHES, The Private Diaries, Memos and Letters by Richard Hack. The parallels are a bit eerie.

Unfortunately, I believe Michael Jackson didn't get to live the type of life I'll bet he wishes he could have led. He wasn't free to do whatever he wanted, be with whomever he wanted, or go wherever he wanted. He was crippled by such an unusual, chaotic and traumatic childhood which caused him to not develop much of the adult sensibilities that most enjoy. He was forced to live in his own private world and those that were let in weren't the best influence on him. Perhaps if he was Michael Jackson, kid from Gary, Indiana he would have gone to school, went to college, met someone, had a nice career in another industry and settled into a "normal" life. Michael Jackson should have had the type of life that was so good that almost everyone would have wanted to trade place with him. Instead, he had the type of life that nobody would trade for. Regardless of what one might think of him Michael Jackson was a human being and now is no more. That's what's saddest of all.

Thanks for reading and big balls.