A little bit before 3 o'clock on June 25, 2009. I was sitting on the sofa, tying my shoes, preparing for an afternoon of running errands. I refreshed Twitter one more time, because it is physically impossible for me to leave the house without first checking Twitter and then checking it once more from the driveway.
From there, followed a flurry of updates as the internet exploded with a confusing mix of rumors, facts, and tasteless jokes. My first reaction was fairly blase. I've never been a rabid Michael Jackson fan. I like his music. I'm always up for a good MJ joke. He seemed like a pretty tragic figure. That was about it.
But still, I found myself glued to the computer, putting off my errands until we knew what was going on. He was dead. Then he was just in a coma. Then he was dead again. And that time it was real. I felt a little sad. The full impact of this huge moment in pop culture history was just beginning to dawn on me.
I left the house, and a few minutes later Man in the Mirror came on the radio. A few seconds after that, I started to cry.
The thing is, no matter what your personal opinions are on the King of Pop, his music touched quite literally generations of people. My parents' generation and their parents cooed over him on The Ed Sullivan Show. People a decade older than me loved him for the way he changed the pop genre forever with his music and groundbreaking moves. By the time I was old enough to understand his contribution to music, he was already beginning to unravel in frightening ways, and still his music was powerful enough to transcend the insanity.
The fact is, Michael Jackson was the product of an abusive family, he was given a level of fame he was clearly not equipped to deal with at an extremely young age, and I don't believe he ever emotionally stopped being a scared thirteen year old kid. Was the way that he related to children appropriate? Probably not. Does it matter anymore? No.
I can tell you what I think about when I think of Michael Jackson. I remember singing ABC in the car with my sister on family road trips. I remember sitting in a dark bedroom of my grandmother's house when I was about nine-years-old, simultaneously transfixed and terrified by the Thriller video. I remember learning Black & White in my fifth-grade music class, and begging my parents to change the radio back when they would flip past it in the car so that I could sing along. I remember trying to moonwalk in the gym of my church with my youth group friends, and listening to Billie Jean on repeat, trying to understand all of the lyrics.
I feel fairly confident in saying that Michael Jackson will be my generation's John Lennon or Elvis Presley. I think he was a person who wasn't fully able to deal with life in our world, and I think that wherever he is now, he's better off there than here. I'm sad for the way his life fell apart over the last two decades and that he was never able to stage that big comeback he was preparing for, but I'm grateful that he gave us his music and, perhaps in what was his ultimate undoing, his soul.
"There's a place in your heart and I know that it is love,
And this place could be much brighter than tomorrow.
And if you really try, you'll find there's no need to cry.
In this place you'll feel there's no hurt or sorrow.
"There are ways to get there if you care enough for the living.
Make a little space, make a better place...
"Heal The world, make It a better place.
For you and for me and the entire human race.
There are people dying, if you care enough for the living,
Make a better place for you and for me."
~Heal the World
But still, I found myself glued to the computer, putting off my errands until we knew what was going on. He was dead. Then he was just in a coma. Then he was dead again. And that time it was real. I felt a little sad. The full impact of this huge moment in pop culture history was just beginning to dawn on me.
I left the house, and a few minutes later Man in the Mirror came on the radio. A few seconds after that, I started to cry.
The thing is, no matter what your personal opinions are on the King of Pop, his music touched quite literally generations of people. My parents' generation and their parents cooed over him on The Ed Sullivan Show. People a decade older than me loved him for the way he changed the pop genre forever with his music and groundbreaking moves. By the time I was old enough to understand his contribution to music, he was already beginning to unravel in frightening ways, and still his music was powerful enough to transcend the insanity.
The fact is, Michael Jackson was the product of an abusive family, he was given a level of fame he was clearly not equipped to deal with at an extremely young age, and I don't believe he ever emotionally stopped being a scared thirteen year old kid. Was the way that he related to children appropriate? Probably not. Does it matter anymore? No.
I can tell you what I think about when I think of Michael Jackson. I remember singing ABC in the car with my sister on family road trips. I remember sitting in a dark bedroom of my grandmother's house when I was about nine-years-old, simultaneously transfixed and terrified by the Thriller video. I remember learning Black & White in my fifth-grade music class, and begging my parents to change the radio back when they would flip past it in the car so that I could sing along. I remember trying to moonwalk in the gym of my church with my youth group friends, and listening to Billie Jean on repeat, trying to understand all of the lyrics.
I feel fairly confident in saying that Michael Jackson will be my generation's John Lennon or Elvis Presley. I think he was a person who wasn't fully able to deal with life in our world, and I think that wherever he is now, he's better off there than here. I'm sad for the way his life fell apart over the last two decades and that he was never able to stage that big comeback he was preparing for, but I'm grateful that he gave us his music and, perhaps in what was his ultimate undoing, his soul.
"There's a place in your heart and I know that it is love,
And this place could be much brighter than tomorrow.
And if you really try, you'll find there's no need to cry.
In this place you'll feel there's no hurt or sorrow.
"There are ways to get there if you care enough for the living.
Make a little space, make a better place...
"Heal The world, make It a better place.
For you and for me and the entire human race.
There are people dying, if you care enough for the living,
Make a better place for you and for me."
~Heal the World
