Due to his career, Michael Jackson missed out on the most important years of his life, his childhood. This is one of the reasons why I feel like he was so misunderstood. People have a way of taking what the media puts out there and turning it into a negative situation. For example, with his Neverland Ranch in his backyard and always inviting children over to play, people took this as if he was a predator or molester, when in fact all he was trying to do was fulfill his childhood dreams that he was never able to have. Some of these children were also sink, and Michael was just trying to give them a day of excitement and joy in order to forget about their illnesses for a little. He also never really had friends as a kid due to his busy schedule and always having to rehearse with his brothers, and when that group ended, he immediately went on to be a solo artist, giving him even less time to have a life. His actions were never malicious or perverted, he just wanted to have the fun that he was ripped away from. Michael Jackson was always a kid at heart, even after he grew up and had kids of his own; it is very clear and apparent during some of his interviews. Being denied of your childhood is a very painful experience, and couple that with being beaten by your father, it is not hard to see why when he got the chance to be a kid, he took it and ran with it. Of course it is strange to see a grown man playing with younger kids, and that is something that made many people uncomfortable. However, just because a person is uncomfortable by someone else's actions, doesn't mean that that person's actions are necessarily wrong -- just look at homophobia and transphobia today.
The way Michael Jackson looked also made him become attacked by the general public. Over the years, just after he became a teenager, Michael Jackson developed a condition called vitiligo, which is a pigment disorder that cause your skin to loose its pigment in various places. With the help of nurses and doctors, all Michael did was even out the patches, which is something many people with vitiligo do. People didn't understand this condition, and the only way they could really process this was to come up with rumors that he was bleaching his skin. They also made fun of the way his nose looked and how his faced changed over the years. I feel like this is a form of bullying, yet because he was a celebrity, no one really took it as that, which is really unfortunate. Despite all of the negativity surrounding his life, including his trial, he still was able to smile and try to enjoy his life the best he can. Towards the end of his life, he was even about to go on his last tour called "This Is It", at 50 years old. His lively spirit and young-at-heart attitude is what made him one of my ultimate favorite artists, not even mentioning his brilliant music and works of art.I feel like this is important for other people to view his interviews and listen to his music because of the impact he had on people's lives and this culture. His music was not only rhythmic and great to listen to, it also had meaning and a story behind it. Take his song The Man in the Mirror, for example. This song talks about change in the world and how before you can make a change in the world, you have to start with the man in the mirror and make a change in yourself first. This song is powerful and goes deeper than just being a catchy tune or a song that talks about drugs, guns, or sex, which is one of the reasons why I think people should really listen to his music if they haven't, or continue to listen to his music if they have and let his legacy continue on. I believe he was a pure soul and an amazing entertainer who's life got turned upside down because of the media, which is becoming a much bigger deal these days.
Here is a link to one of his interviews with Oprah Winfrey:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbItFJJPPmA
No comments:
Post a Comment