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"Remembering Michael Jackson"

After the well-publicized death of Michael Jackson, I just couldn’t pass up a chance to write about him.  The problem was that I didn’t who I should write.

I watched hours of coverage of Michael’s death, but the situation seems so crazy that I couldn’t pick out an honest spokesman for the family.  Was I going to write Al Sharpton?  I don’t think so.

As I watched the Memorial Service and scoped out the family, I thought about which one I would write.  At first I thought I might write the kids.  But they seemed too young to understand my memories of their father. 

Then I thought maybe one of his siblings.  But part of me thinks that they could have less-than-legitimate motivations for putting themselves in the limelight – namely, bettering their personal careers and financial situations through Michael’s death.

Certainly Michael’s father Joe was out of the question.

Finally, I settled on Michael’s mother, Katherine.  Katherine was named in Michael’s will as the custodian of his children.  Surely, he would’ve left them in the most capable hands he thought possible.  Katherine wants to see her son buried in a proper funeral whereas a number of other family members wish to keep his body at the Neverland Ranch as a tourist attraction (Michael had once been quoted as saying he never wanted to go back there).  Whereas every Jackson seems to be parading around the talk show circuit and giving interviews, Katherine has seemed to lay low.  Katherine seems to be acting like an honest grieving mother.  Thus, I am writing to her to share my feelings on the loss of her son, Michael.

-----------------------

Katherine Jackson, mother of Michael Jackson
c/o Neverland Ranch
5225 Figueroa Mountain Rd
Los Olivos, CA 93441

Katherine,

It was one of those moments that I will never forget where I was when it happened.  I was in my car just beginning the return leg of my 90-minute drive home from work.  My wife called me and said, "You're not going to believe what they're reporting... Michael Jackson may have died."

For the moment I shrugged it off as temporary hearsay.  In my mind, Michael never seemed as old as he really was.  I was shocked to learn later that he was in his 50th year.

As I drove, I flipped through the radio shows, foregoing some of my favorite tunes in search of a news report that might confirm the truth one way or another.  Soon after I heard the same rumor my wife had heard - that only TMZ was reporting Michael's death and that not of the more 'reputable" news sources were willing to confirm the horrible news.  Perhaps, like me, they just couldn't fathom that it were true.  For in our minds Michael has always been such a great memory of our younger years that we couldn't believe he might be gone.

I must have been just shy of 10 years old when the Thriller album came out.  As a young boy it was much cooler to say that you liked Van Halen or Def Leppard.  The girls loved Michael and us boys were too cool to admit that we liked him too - even though we knew the lyrics to all his songs.

Around that time, my parents would only allow me to watch 30 minutes of MTV each day.  I loved watching music videos - some of the ones I vividly remember from the time include: "Down Under" by Men At Work, "Whip It" by Devo, "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran, "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes, and "Dancin' With Myself" by Billy Idol amongst many others.

But nothing... nothing compared to the video for Thriller.  Being as the extended version took about a third of my daily allowable MTV-watching time, it was a big investment for me to watch it as many times as I did.  But I found it captivating - the music was great, the storyline was original and the special effects were ahead of their time.  I never passed up a chance to watch it.

Another memory I have from the time involved Michael's infamous performance of Billie Jean at the Motown Awards.  Of course, my strict parents had me in bed long before he went on stage.  But the next day my friends at school were all walking backwards - "The Moonwalk" they called it.  I think we spent the next few weeks of school walking backwards, sliding our feet over the tile floor trying to be like Michael.

Shortly thereafter, it was the "We Are The World" production that alerted everyone to the mass hunger problem in Africa and took in nearly $50 million in donations.  For me, it was the video itself that made the biggest impact - star after star singing their part for a cause other than lining their own pockets.  These days that thought seems especially refreshing. 

Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, Tina Turner, Billy Joel, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jarreau, Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Ray Charles, Cindy Lauper, Huey Luis, Kenny Loggins - all united together.  There isn't enough star power in existence in today's music to even come close to the artists that collaborated on that project.  As I watched the video I would always try to name each star do their part (I was always stumped by Kim Carnes, and couldn't figure out who the guy in the back that looked like Dan Aykroyd was until I learned it was actually Dan Aykroyd).  This was very much Michael's project and it changed lives and made things better for many people.

In the 90's things started to change - namely Michael's image.  Admittedly, I began to think of him as "a little weird" and didn't think he could possibly make an impact on the music scene anymore – at least not anything I’d be interested in.  I wasn't going to be the one to take the plunge, but one day my college roommate came home with the  “Bad” and “Dangerous” CDs.  I think I laughed at him.

But as the weeks and months unfolded and my roommate kept playing his new Michael CDs, I found myself once again enthralled with Michael's music.  For me, the songs "Black or White" and "Man in the Mirror" carried profound messages, had videos that were very meaningful, and were downright catchy tunes to boot.  In particular, "Man in the Mirror" is probably my favorite video of all time - and I humbly admit that a tear welled in my eye as I watched it again last week.

After the mid-90’s, Michael’s image began to change even more.  The strange marriage to Lisa Marie Pressley, the relationship with Debbie Rowe, the excess crotch-grabbing, the masked kids, the baby over the balcony, the Martin Bashir interviews, the abuse charges – all caused me to question Michael’s lifestyle and reputation.

Looking back, I can’t say that I fully bought into all the allegations levied against Michael.  There was no smoking gun, no “bloody glove”, and it seemed as though there was a significant possibility of extortion involved.  On a personal level, I could never conclude his guilt or innocence – I just knew that this person who once had the world in his hands had somehow dropped it.

As the press seemed to close in on him as “the villain”, his physical image became almost unrecognizable, and his musical output decreased.  Michael may have just passed recently, but the Michael Jackson that had touched my life and the lives of so many in my generation had been gone long before.

As I finished my drive home, I remembered all of the good things Michael did – entertaining things, charitable things, things that made you think critically on important issues, things that got a little white kid to try to dance when it wasn’t cool to do so.  This is the Michael I remember and in my mind, is the legacy that he has left behind.  This is the Michael that I will miss.

A mother should never have to endure the loss of their child within their own lifetime.  Though I have never met you, nor do I have the naïve inclination that this letter would even find your hands, I do grieve for the loss of your son and wish you the best in raising his children.  Thank you for gifting him to this world.

Sincerely,

Scott Riecke

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