As his many fans memorialize him today, and others tempt us to remember the scandals and the oddities of the man, I am at peace with the fact that the Michael Jackson whom I remember and admire most is worthy of only praise.
His "Thriller" album was a history-making achievement, with so many sales and so many hit singles, and the title video he created set the gold standard for MTV and music videos in general... The "moonwalk" he first performed on the "Motown 25" television special reportedly prompted a call from Fred Astaire in admiration... Among his charity efforts, he co-wrote the infamous "We Are the World" single... He was honored at the White House by President Reagan... His music truly crossed over boundaries of race, culture, politics and nations...
Yes, there were many faces to Michael Jackson... literally. There's nothing wrong with plastic surgery, and many entertainers, especially rock stars, do like to experiment with their appearance, but such drastic changes prompt questions. Was he not happy with himself? What was he looking to be or to become? Did he even know? Or was he consciously making breaks with the past? Was he making it easy for us to make a distinction between his brief childhood as a poor black kid in Gary, Indiana and the superstar he was forced to become. Falling down on stage, breaking his nose, then later being injured by a freak fire on the set of that Pepsi commercial all, no doubt, played a part in the beginning of medical alterations, but was he also rebelling? Was he not unlike any other young adult, except he was not held back by a lack of resources? Did he desire to escape? Did he want to backpack through Europe or some other foreign land, but couldn't because there was no where he could go without being recognized? Did all of the clamoring public attention force him within and to rebel against himself?
Whatever the reason, Michael Jackson made it easy for us to separate his success from his oddity. Sadly, the more unusual he began to look, the more unusual his life became too... The creation of the fanciful "Neverland" ranch, the friendships and sleepovers with young boys, the courtroom allegations of child abuse, the oxygen chamber story in the National Enquirer, the publicized plea to purchase the bones of the Elephant Man, his unsuccessful marriages, and then his odd behavior with his own children... So many images, PR or not, overtook his talent, popularity and fame to became a part of his infamy.
I prefer to ignore the later, unusal sci-fi images. I prefer, instead, to look back at the beginning and the initial, amazing talent of a boy whose face was just three years away from mine, not light years away from reality... There he was, the tiny lead singer of The Jackson 5, appearing on "The Ed Sullivan Show," then his voice booming from AM radios throughout the early '70s in a string of early hits, and finally, the epitome of success, being immortalized in a Saturday morning cartoon. In 1972, I was 10 years old, and one of the first records I ever bought (yes, a 45 back then) was The Jackson 5's "Rockin' Robin."
It was the boy who looked like me that I admire and remember best. Since his death nearly two weeks ago, the tune "I Want You Back" has been running through my head. As I kept hearing the endless news reports and news magazines discussing his many solo successes, I thought I was the only one who remembered and cared about the early Michael - the little black boy with the amazing talent, launched too early into a world of hype and all that comes with it. Then, walking through Roland Park of all places, I heard "I Want You Back" coming from someone's basement. Some small amateur group was playing the tune's instrumentals, the sound drifting through the tree-lined streets of this upper class, still mostly white suburban neighborhood of Baltimore, as the late afternoon sun eased its way through the leaves. There were no lyrics sung, but the words were speaking to me, to the world, and to Michael.Somewhere, I hope you're finally back, Michael – back to 1972, and I hope you've found yourself and peace.
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