I've seen videos of Michael Jackson documenting his superstar career. Little more than a decade ago, the guy was a living legend! He was more mythic than a religious leader, what with his costumes, his dancing, his technologically amazing music videos. I remember watching his performance at the Superbowl in 1993 when I was 11 years old. I would never have been allowed to listen to his music at the time, and we didn't have MTV. So this was a unique opportunity to see what this guy was all about. I remember being enthralled by his special effects entrance. He appeared on a video display billboard. There was a flash of smoke and he was gone! Only to pop out of the ground across the stadium. And then I think he vanished once again to suddenly appear on stage at the center of the football field. It was like sheer magic, and I couldn't believe it.
He is still known worldwide. He used his unequaled fame and popularity to speak in favor of world peace. Stepping out of his limo, the cameras went before him, and he marched with confiedence and with gratitude toward the onlookers who loved him. Everywhere he went there were crowds of hypnotized followers on his right and left, people in tears, unable to believe they were laying their eyes on the real Michael Jackson. People must have stretched their arms across the security barriers, just hoping for the slightest touch at the hem of his garment.
The funny thing is that the world is still watching Michael Jackson. Worshippers continue to surround him every moment that he enters a public space. But he does not represent the same mythic figure. He is still a mystery, but no longer a world ambassador, no longer a musical messiah. His face is commonly hidden and perpetually changing, distorted to the point that he now only resembles a regular human being with understandable human behavior and human motivations. Today, looking back over the years, from his childhood onward, the mystery is like a gothic tale. What happened?
"NOT GUILTY"
Not guilty on all charges. I just saw it all reported on the television. It was something of a spectacle outside. People shouting and rejoicing at each and every hearing of the words "not guilty." People hugging and crying, individuals who probably have no real or tangible relationship to Michael Jackson, but people that he has obviously touched nevertheless. There was one woman dressed in pink who released a caged dove at the "not guilty" verdict of each charge. What a symbol of...of insanity! There is something disturbing in it all. Simple pop culture turned into something too sensational and serious. This is justice, one of the supposed core values of this nation, intertwined with the realm of the provocative, which I suppose, in the end, is nothing new to human history. Regardless of what has really happened in these court cases, something about this whole journey is disturbing. Somewhere along the way, Michael Jackson must have lost touch with reality. But we have joined in and participated. Maybe he was never really given a chance to understand life like an ordinary person. I don't know. I never will. It's really none of my business.
I have participated in the madness myself. I wanted to know if this astounding individual would really be convicted of molesting children, if this man who once stood on top of the world would be confined to a state penitentiary like a common criminal. And the answer is no.
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