Jacko

I think I owe it to my kids to tell them all about Michael Jackson from my point of view. I've always wondered what the Beatles or Elvis was all about when my mom was growing up, so here goes.

Michael Jackson has been around forever and ever. The music I like of his was actually a bit before my time. I like the chubby, sweet-faced Michael Jackson. The little boy that sang love songs with his brothers. There was a time in high school that Jackson5 was always in my cd player. Always. I'll Be There is still one of my favorite songs ever.

Over the years, Michael Jackson turned more Whacko than Jacko. He started cutting off bits and pieces of his face for some unknown reason. I don't know if it's some disease or if he just likes the skeletal look. Weirder than his looks, he started having babies. He kept their faces covered. He dangled them over balconies. He didn't seem the type that should really be procreating to begin with. After finally seeing their faces uncovered since his death, it's even creepier. They have a children of the corn look and their hair is blonder, their eyes bluer than my own boys. Just in case it gets lost in history, this is creepy because Michael Jackson is actually black. Or was. I've seen other pictures of the kids with brown hair and brown eyes. I suppose he was bleaching their hair in the beginning?

MJ is being buried today. As if there hasn't been enough press coverage on every single television station this week, they are going nuts today. I heard an interview on the radio. "I've been obsessed with Michael since I was a fetus. When I heard the news, I felt as if someone very close to me had been taken. After three days of crying, I finally made the decision to come up here to be near him."

That was a man. A grown man saying that about a celebrity. First of all, he's not close to you. He didn't know your name. He was not your family. He never did anything for you but take your money for his records. Secondly, what self respecting grown man cries over a pop star for three solid days?

This bothers me for several reasons actually. A few people have actually spoken out about the press coverage being a little over the top and been lambasted for it. The fact of the matter is, these whacked out fans are taking away from his real family. They aren't giving them room to grieve. It's turned into an absolute circus that is costing tax payers millions of dollars. L.A. County has set up a site for donations on their main page. Someone has to pay the police officers overtime. They are shutting down main highways in L.A. because of the funeral.

It bothers me, too, because there are lots of people that die everyday. People who are actually doing something besides squealing into a microphone. People who get their heads blown off by terrorists. Police officers who get shot. Firemen who get lost in the flames. People who give their lives for us. Not pop stars. People who get paid a lot less and give a lot more. People who don't have $40 million to pay off little boys they've molested. The man was a pedophile who is being idolized b/c of the amount of records he sold. That bothers me.

So there ya go. I'm bothered. I feel sorry for his kids. I feel sorry for his family that they have to figure out his estate. I feel sorry that he's dead. At the same time, I think he was a sick man that got away with hurting children. One can argue the "he was never convicted line," but I don't know many innocent people that pay their victims $20 million each.

Just had to get that out.