5.13.2005

MJ Part 2

As Michael Jackson's trial continues, I feel I should follow up on a blog entry I started waaay back on April 6, 2005 called, "MJ Part 1."

To recap:




Here's my take on the Michael Jackson case.

Whatever Michael is, whatever he has become, whatever he has done or did not do -- It is because of us. We are all guilty of Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson was not meant for this earth. If you ever listen to old Jackson 5 recordings, you'll hear it in his voice. There is something transcendent and pure about MJ's voice. Something irreplicable and perfect.

From what seems like his birth, he has been the world's performing monkey. Get up and dance, Michael. Sing us a song, Michael. Entertain us. Be everything we want. Be what we need, what we want, what we desire.

He's never known reality as we do. He has never existed in the realm of "normalcy" that most of us purportedly know. If he has done anything inappropriate or illegal, it is because we have always put him above the laws of reality and society. And suddenly, we have all turned on him. He stopped producing hits years ago. We have found other monkeys that we love more than him. And now, we want him to suffer.



Yesterday, the Associated Press released an article about the day's events in the State vs. Michael Jackson. Looking beyond the fascinating testimony of one Macaulay Culkin flatly denying any inappropriate behavior, there was also a very telling video that the prosecution fought to exclude as admissible to the jury. In it, Martin Bashir, the interviewer who released the controversial documentary sparking this case is shown saying to MJ, "Your relationship to your children is spectacular. It almost makes me weep."

However, what fascinated me most about this tape is that Michael is seen speaking in such candid and lucid manner. He is quoted as saying:

* Regarding his children's surrogate mother, he said he only wanted to know that "she's healthy and her vision is good and her intellect. I wanted to make sure her intellect was good."

* When Bashir praised his relationship with his children, Jackson said, "I'm crazy about them. I look in their eyes and I say I love you every day."

* He also said it was difficult for a celebrity to maintain a marriage. "One day I'll be married again. I'm married to my fans, to God, to my children. I'm married to life," he said.

* Finally, Michael is shown saying, "I haven't been betrayed or deceived by children. Adults have let me down."

* "I'm not a nut," Jackson continued "I'm very smart. You can't come this far and be a nut."

This, I think, is very important to note. Consider the possibility -- the man is a genius in the manner of our most successful creatives. And, while it's true that Michael Jackson is a unique individual, evidenced by his singularly sublime singing voice and ability to connect with so many fans worldwide; it is also a fact that most people find it impossible to imagine him as remotely sane.

We "know" all these tidbits about him buying the elephant man's bones and sleeping in sealed glass chambers. We see his grossly altered appearance and amusement park digs and think, "He must be crazy and that's just a blink away from child molester." We can't imagine that a normal adult would sleep with children not his own -- but perhaps it would make sense if they are, in fact, the only ones on this planet who do not judge him or demand that he fit a mold which he was born to break.