By this time, it's going to be pretty hard to blog about Michael Jackson's passing without saying
something that hasn't been said umpteen times in the past 24hrs, but I'll try.
WTF celebrity deaths are nothing new...(I think the first one I can clearly recall was Marvin Gaye's death. I remember thinking that my best friend at the time was clowning around with me, because it was April Fool's Day. I went from anger, to disbelief, to shock and finally to sadness. )
I got home yesterday around 6. I had it on channel 9. Apparently, someone must have got their information wrong, because once on TV, I heard the reporter on TV say that Michael Jackson was in a coma (at that point I think he was already gone, they just didn't know it for sure yet.). I was already on an emotional roller coaster, because of stuff going on with me, that's a little too personal to blog about. Yesterday's news did/does not help my ride any. First, I feel really bad for Michael Jackson's family (especially Janet and Katherine). Secondly, I feel bad because he passed away without finishing everything he set out to do (I'm terrified of that right now. That I'll pass away without finishing all the stuff I'm trying to do...and it goes beyond a bucket list. I'm talking about getting my financial affairs in order too. That is first and foremost in my mind.) .
Then, Michael Jackson's death was confirmed (This is the latest death in a string where I wish this was a nightmare that I could wake up from.). At first, I felt fine...Maybe, because it hadn't sunk in yet. Then, they started reminiscing, and playing his videos (different channels, but mostly Vh-1 and MTV. They're supposed to be making a whole weekend of it.).
They were showing stuff that I hadn't thought about in a long time. The long version of "Black or White" (I remember the fun they made of that on In Living Color too.).
Someone one station's news broadcast referred to Michael Jackson as a musical genius...I can't remember if he played any instruments. I'm pretty sure that Stevie Wonder was/is the one that's always referred to as a "musical genius" though. Funny how a lot of people that weren't kissing his can before are now. This is why I don't want a funeral.
I will say that Michael Jackson was multitalented (I loved that he drew those pictures on the Thriller album sleeve. That tickled me so much as a kid. I was like Wow! He draws too!). He was a performer that captured your attention and held it. He always figured out new ways to amaze (and shock?) us, whether it was in a video or on stage (I want someone to play Ghosts. My mouth still hangs open the few times I see that one. He pulled an Eddie Murphy here and did multiple roles as well. I also went to wikipedia and found out Stephen King wrote the story for it with Michael Jackson. If that's true, that's something in itself.) Michael Jackson is also responsible for me finding out who Rick Baker was (Those dudes in the movie Summer School crack me up talking about him.) Stan Winston worked on Ghosts as well.
You know what else I'd love to see? That episode of The Simpsons where Michael Jackson did the voice (or one of the voices) of that dude that was in the insane asylum with Homer.
For the most part, I loved Michael Jackson's music from about the time I was old enough to understand who he was until the end of elementary school. Off and on, he would do songs that would get my attention, like "Give in to Me". Slash aka Saul Hudson (who've I posted about in my blog before.) played on the song and was in the video as well. I loved that.
What stuff did we (my sister and I) have...We had the badges (of course). We had T-shirts. We even bought the gum (Man was it lousy!) that had the trading cards and stickers inside. We had posters ( I think the first ones we got, were the one where he was all in white, with the yellow vest and the one with the purple background where he had the brown leather jacket on and he was smiling.).
We had some books, a few Right On! poster magazines (That Michael Jackson vs. Prince thing they had going seems so silly to me now. Apples and oranges. I can appreciate both.). Oh yeah! We had the dolls too! I think we had the American Music awards version. My doll had the Thriller outfit and I can't remember what the other outfit was for my sister's doll. Or maybe I have them backward...I have no clue. We had Thriller ViewMaster discs. I remember the Jackson Five cartoon...This still just doesn't feel quite real to me.
My sister and I never got to go to a concert, because our parents couldn't afford it. If there were such a thing as time travel...I guess I'd have liked to see the Jackson 5 in their heyday. I have mixed feelings about the Victory tour. Seeing one of Michael's solo concerts...like I said, I wasn't really into him as much when I was a teenager and a younger adult, as I was when I was a kid. I figured I'd let a diehard fan have tickets, because they wanted the experience more. (I won't go to Paul McCartney's concert now for that same reason. Although I do like some of his songs.). Unless I'm a diehard fan for somebody, I don't usually move heaven and earth...Would I have felt differently, if I'd known what was coming?...Maybe, but I don't want to dwell on that. What's done is done....
Painkillers and anti-anxiety medication...I think I've talked about this combo before and how easy it is once the prescribed dose has quit working to keep taking more, despite people's warnings, concern, and advice...Michael Jackson was a human being with feelings, I think sometimes people would forget that.
There's three things about Michael Jackson, that I always thought remained constant, those great big brown eyes, his smile (I always thought he had a beautiful smile.) , and the faces he made when he was performing (I know y'all know what I'm talking about). No matter what color his skin was, what he did to his hair or the rest of his face, I'd see one or all of the three constants and go "Yup, you're still you."
I was watching the "Remember the Time" video and last night they showed...I can't remember which awards show it was. The one where he kissed Lisa Marie Presley...Michael Jackson's onscreen kisses always looked so awkward though, I can't figure out if it's because he just didn't like women or if he was just that shy about doing certain things in front of a camera (I saw some concert footage on YouTube that leads me to believe that it's more likely option 2. The video made me laugh, at least until it was over and I remembered all over again that he was gone.)
The accusations against him...doubt is an ugly thing...I want to believe he was as innocent as he seemed. I want to believe that with all my heart. I always try to give people the benefit of the doubt, because that's what I would want done for me...
Isolation and painful shyness is hard enough to deal with when you're a regular person. To have to deal with that in combination with living inside the fishbowl of celebrity, I can't imagine.
Looking at this, I'm surprised at myself, because at first I thought I wouldn't have much to say. I guess Michael Jackson made more of an impact on me than I thought. One thing's for sure, he will definitely be missed.
Fave album cover: Off the Wall (for sentimental reasons, ie. it was my first look at him "grown" and I still thought he was cute, my aunt played the album at of our family get togethers, wish I could remember which one/what we were celebrating...I know it wasn't Christmas...), Dangerous-because if you look really closely at that album artwork, there's a lot going on there, and lastly Blood on the Dance Floor-I can't really say why, just something about it...like he's going all out...
Fave collab: with Janet for "Scream"
Least fave collab: with Mick Jagger for "State of Shock"
Fave Michael Jackson song: Probably too many to list here, "Can't Help It", "Scream" (The uncensored version in particular tickles me. I didn't even know he knew that word. lol Poor baby.), "Will You Be There?", "Give In to Me", "Liberian Girl", "I Wanna Be Where You Are", ...)
Least fave Michael Jackson song: I would have to listen to every album, every song, there's so much I haven't heard...and so much I haven't heard in a long time.
Fave Michael Jackson cover: "Butterflies" (I'm correcting a previous error here, I recently found out this was not covered by Floetry, one of the women from Floetry Marsha Ambrosius wrote it. This was actually covered by Michael. I apologize for my error and my hat is definitely off to Floetry.)
Fave cover of a Michael Jackson song: Miles Davis's version of "Human Nature" (I loved that when I heard it.) I think John Mayer did an excellent job with it too.
Fave Michael Jackson videos / short films: Again, let me get back to you. "Scream", "Ghosts", "Thriller", "Who Is It?", "Remember the Time" (I just wish that kiss hadn't been so awkward. It's like he was nervous on top of having trouble holding her up.), "Give In to Me", "Stranger in Moscow", "Earth Song",...The odd ending to "Black or White"...I actually liked it, I just don't think the end of "Black or White was the place for it...I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out if I was an advisor or something like that where I would have put it...Maybe if I listen to more of Michael's music from Dangerous, it'll come to me.
Least Fave Michael Jackson video: "The way you make me feel" (I'm sorry, but I could have done without the humping the ground. I'm a fan, but I'm one of those strange creatures known as a candid fan. I try to be objective too, but it's not always easy...)...and that weird interlude in the middle of the "Smooth Criminal" (or as my father likes to call it, "the Slick Hoodlum video".) video...Maybe I'm being dense, but I can't figure out just what Michael Jackson was trying to do or say with that.
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