Michael Jackson (From an Old Biddy's Perspective)

When Michael Jackson burst onto the pop musical scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, I could see he and I were not going to get along!

I was then in my late forties, and for me, he was way too far out. His music was something I would never listen to, his eccentricity was beyond belief, and his voice, the odd song here and there I heard by accident, was not particularly the kind of voice I appreciated. I didn’t see any of his videos and so was unaware of any other talents he had. In fact Michael Jackson was a vague, eccentric personality somewhere out there on the horizon in my life and I really had not formed any kind of opinion about him.

That being said, I didn’t approve of the way the press always had him ‘in our faces’ whether we liked it or not. The public was forced to swallow much more of Michael Jackson than perhaps they or he wanted. During his various lawsuits and trials, you were compelled to read at least one paragraph of the proceedings because it was all on the front page, and in most cases – filled the front page. In spite of my indifference towards him, I never believed for one moment that he was guilty of any of the charges brought against him. In my opinion, these legal sensations were the result of a couple of people who had known the star. They saw an opportunity to capitalize on a tenuous situation and blow it out of all proportion. For them, this was all in the name of money, money, money. How pathetic.

I could lapse into a complete tirade about how the press treats all these various celebrities. It is dreadful. The press can do a lot for us, but they can also quite calmly destroy people’s lives without any care in the world. When someone dies, the media goes on a feeding frenzy and pushes forward any material good or bad that cause people to buy the paper and therefore earn more money for the press.

We have seen this exact same media nonsense with Diana, Princess of Wales. The media went mad and have since gone to profound lengths to keep her memory in the news with whatever tidbit they can get hold of. Unfortunately, they are aided and abetted by a voracious component of the public who don’t seem to care what they read as long as it provides them with gossip and something to talk about. It now looks as though we are going down the same road with Michael Jackson. Everybody is suffering; most of all his three children, the rest of his family, his friends and his fans. Do they really want to see their idol smeared with put downs and any grotty innuendo the mass communications can find?

As mentioned before, the media does have its positive side and for me, that was taking whole television news hours to define what Michael Jackson had meant to his fans. At last I was able to see what everyone was raving about, because I watched his dancing, his singing and bits of clips of his private life and interviews.

I was truly amazed. Here was an extremely multi-talented, versatile person. His voice was excellent, his dancing fabulous and his charisma electric. Looking also at some of the interviews he tolerated about his personal life left me truly disgusted with the media. How rude could they get? In addition to all his talents, he was quite a handsome man despite his efforts to change his face.

It has been alleged that he died heavily in debt, and, if that is the case, I don’t think his estate will be debt-ridden for long. In fact, in death he will probably make more money than when he was alive and financially more than compensate for the come back we never saw.

I am sad that he has gone; sad because he was so young, sad because he left three charming children without a father and sad because his further contribution to his art will never be.

I finally have a new respect for Michael Jackson – he was superb in all that he did. I might buy his videos – if I can find them.

Rest in peace, Michael.