Singer has already served 100 hours of community service.
From King of Pop to Wacko Jacko: A Tragedy in Black & White
Michael Jackson’s life is a modern day tragedy.
A star at 11, a teen idol as an adolescent and the King of Pop before he hit 30, Jackson spent what should have been the best years of his life confused, hounded and haunted, an Alice in Wonderland creature in a world of pop culture that he helped to create.
We all must mourn twice today. First, the loss of a great musical and stage talent. But that person disappeared long ago.
Second, we mourn the arc of a life that should have been filled with the blessings of success as defined in our world: money, talent, fame and celebrity. But instead it descended into a hellish purgatory on earth -- damned by public opinion and tortured by demons only he understood.
It was a life left in ruins. His death is a shock, and we can only expect the unexpected in the coroner’s report.
But it is not nearly as shocking as the events that led to an untimely demise we might have expected even sooner.
A child prodigy. An adored adolescent. Then -- pop star bizarre. Accusations of pedophilia. Million-dollar shopping sprees. A hyperbaric chamber. Evian water piped into the tap on tour. A fake marriage (to Lisa Marie Presley) and sad surrogate parenting (with Debbie Rowe). Caucasian children who wore veils when in public, and two of whom were named -- who would do this to a child? -- Prince Michael.
The world will have a hard time writing Michael Jackson’s epitaph. We see him, frozen forever in time, electric on stage, sliding his inimitable way through "Thriller," a defining image in our collective memory.
We see him singing about black and white. We see him pleading for world peace. Making "We Are the World" a reality. Singing of brotherly love with his friend Diana Ross. Begging for a cure for AIDS with his pal Liz Taylor. Influencing music and fashion and dance for three generations of fans.
We made names for him: The Gloved One. He called himself the King of Pop. Or he was just plain Michael.
And we see him creating the fantasy childhood world at Neverland, where he entertained children dying of cancer.
Then we see him accused of molesting children -- children he abused, or so it certainly seemed. But it got complicated; some were children who may well have used him for fame and fortune, for headlines and a book deal.
It was ugly. It felt dirty. We were learning, along the way, about the treacherous nature of celebrity in our modern age. He embodied the vice and helped it morph into an epidemic.
We found new names for him: Wacko Jacko. My kids would ask: Mom, is Michael Jackson black or white? In "Three Kings," an Iraqi torturer asks U.S. soldier Mark Wahlberg: "Hey man, what happened to Michael Jackson's face?"
And yet his fans stuck by him. There were always those waiting outside the courtroom who screamed his name like a prayer, a mantra. Who would never believe the worst.
Because, even with all the charges of molestation, Michael Jackson always somehow seemed harmless. He seemed like someone who needed our protection. And this much was true: He needed our love and approval. He lived for it, and the only place he ever got it was on stage.
That’s where he was preparing to return, to the one place he could find the love and adulation that never seemed to register anywhere else.
It seemed an impossible dream. And it was. A lost cause. We reported weeks ago that the Michael Jackson 50-city tour was an impossibility, a dream destination where the singer might once again find what always eluded him in the world.
He never found it. That is a tragedy.
Comments
Avery Brown Says
Sharon is it a protection of your desired story for history / black and white thing .. your comments or is that just the role you have to take for your job? You continue to come down on MJ on TV and now in print I see. Mr. MJ will live on is name music the good he has done and his trust fund will be large and do more good long after you are silent... However, for now your bad little and big things after amost ever comment at this point of the game it looks and sounds silly. The love and greatness MJ stood for lives now and forever. YOU remind us of the good he stood for the millions of downloads, etc shall live... it is too late for your kind just a reminder that we needed MJ powerful kind soul to voice over your type of negativity. Yes tragedy indeed. Hey ... take a minute and just feel the guy MJ in his music and you will see...
Opal Says
I haven't cried yet. But I will soon, MJ was a wonderful performer and had a harsh life after all the tragic allegations. People forgot what he did and focused on the worst which destroyed him in ways. The fans he still had were always there and I find it saddening that other people only care now that he's dead. But still is the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. An angel taken too soon.
Femi Says
Dear Sharon, I hope you find it in your heart to forgive the dead in anyways he might have wronged you. That said, I like to look back on the brighter sides of Michael's life: his unmatched achievements in the entertainment world and socially profound impact across the globe, rather than exploit controversies that plagued his "personal" life.
Sharon, I can only imagine that you like every one else have your own personal ordeals. Let me suggest than you redirect your enviable intellect into more productive interests.
Melissa roy-edwards Says
It is sad that MJ passed. whats even sadder is that there will be rumors and hurtfull things said and done.. is that what everyone thinks he wants for his children.. let the man rest in peace...what was, what could have been, what will be, let it be! My prayers go out to his children and all the folks that love MJ. May you all find peace. it will never stop hurting, but it will get easier... GOD BLESS YOU ALL!!!!
A Fan from the past..
savvydude Says
"Bizarre" doesn't even cover it. Michael said repeatedly that his father, Joe, physically and emotionally abused him and his brothers. Does anybody actually believe that Michael would want his abuser to have influence over his own children? There is a will somewhere and, when it is eventually revealed, MIchael will no doubt surprise everybody with his directives.
And then the lawsuits will start. 'Oh what a circus, oh what a show . . .'
Emmories Says
Joe Jackson at the BET Awards was terrible!! Then he tells the reporter twice about his new business; something to do with blue-ray.
Read the article about those that filmed Michael's last performance and how it'll be sold blue-ray, etc. Any "red flags" go up for anyone. His family will ride his coat tails even in death.
If that family was honest and Michael trusted them...why did he die weighing 112 pounds? Why didn't they seem to know or care as much as his friends?
Follow the money folks and you'll see the Jackson's pick the bones clean & then make soup. This will all be done in so-called love.
Everything Michael owned will be divided up, some sold, and what will be left for the children he loved?
lori Says
I just watched a snipet of the B.E.T. networks
award show with Joe Jackson speaking on
camera and greeting the crowds ! OMG ! He
was smiling such a big smile he seemed happy and
he even said the family was " fine " and the kids ( Michaels kids )
were " fantastic" !!! What the H.E.L.L. ???????
Can anyone explain that one ?
lori Says
I just watched a snipet of the B.E.T. networks
award show with Joe Jackson speaking on
camera and greeting the crowds ! OMG ! He
was smiling such a big smile he seemed happy and
he even said the family was " fine " and the kids ( Michaels kids )
were " fantastic" !!! What the H.E.L.L. ???????
Can anyone explain that one ?
dcgal Says
...the young man who accused him can't even show his face.
dcgal Says
Wrong waterwoman. It was Michael Jackson who sang w/ Paul McCartney. What really killed him were over the top fans who would not allow him to be a normal human being, with all of the hollering and screaming. They denied his opportunity for a real life, and the young man. Not to mention my dog could have crafted a more thoughtful article in than this. I hope they aren't paying this woman to write this garbage.
Scoobydood Says
I'm not a MJ fan, but a big part of the tragedy is that media serpents like you--who speak out of both sides of their mouth--are still hurling around nasty epithets like Wacko Jacko. Let him rest in peace a day or two before you crank the invective back up, please.
Marc Flanagan Says
Sharon,
Well done. I saw Michael Jackson once, from 10 feet away, getting out of his 45 foot limo, holding a wrapped present for the young man who lived next door to me. Jackson popped out of the limo, wearing a bandana like an Old West bank robber, saw me and my son, gave a little wave and swiftly went to the front door. The young man was the child who's parents filed charges for abuse and then withdrew them after a hefty hush settlement was made in their bank account.
Sad.
anonymous Says
The story does not say that Michael Jackson sang Ebony and Ivory. It mentions Black and White.
Sharon Waxman Says
thanks, of course; we fixed.
waterwoman Says
The inimitable Stevie Wonder sang Ebony and Ivory w/ Sir Paul McCartney, NOT Michael Jackson.
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