This is the only thing I’ve read that really hit the mark. And we all stand to learn from the sick culture Andrew Sullivan is referring to. It marks us all.
The first paragraph:
There are two things to say about him. He was a musical genius; and he was an abused child. By abuse, I do not mean sexual abuse; I mean he was used brutally and callously for money, and clearly imprisoned by a tyrannical father. He had no real childhood and spent much of his later life struggling to get one. He was spiritually and psychologically raped at a very early age – and never recovered. Watching him change his race, his age, and almost his gender, you saw a tortured soul seeking what the rest of us take for granted: a normal life. (finish here)
Thanks Andrew.
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I agree with all the comments here, and I’m touched by Andrew Sullivan’s piece which I feel so aptly describes the life of Michael Jackson. He was an extremely talented, God-gifted soul but completely exploited from a young age. His eccentricities in later years were merely a reflection of his inner pain from the maltreatment he suffered. One can only understand Michael Jackson in context of the life he was forced to live and the things, small things that most people take for granted which he missed out on.
The most poignant of all his songs, “Childhood”, which he called “autobiographical” is absolutely heartbreaking to hear & read the lyrics to.
Very few people seemingly possess the empathy to understand MJ, to look beyond his seemingly “freakish” facade, to see what drove his “eccentric” behaviours. How refreshing to have found Sullivan’s piece & these comments on it here. I agree with all, wholeheartedly.
RIP Michael. GOD BLESS.
Gianna,
Thank you. I have been a follower of Andrew Sullivan since the mid 80s when he was first working in at The New Republic after expatriating to this country.
This is, like you said, spot on, and should be mandatory reading for adolescents. Thank you.
It is tragic. The media treatment of him has always disgusted me. They loved him in the 80’s, then they just treated him like a freak show. It was(is) disgusting, they should be ashamed of themselves. They created him, after all, and we only helped.
This article is so on the money, thank you, Gianna. So sad.
yeah, Michael and the spectacle they made of him has made me feel deeply troubled for many years and the coverage now continues it. I want to turn it off.
Yeah, that’s good. He was clearly a tortured soul. I really hope that things improve for him in his next incarnation (whatever that means)
We were listening to the media frenzy on the radio yesterday afternoon, as we struggled home through traffic…
This little essay is superb.
He looks like such a happy child too. It is a great tragedy what happened to him and I agree that Andrew Sullivan’s remarks are spot on. Thanks for posting that!
A story like MJ’s touches me to the core. Whenever a human being turns out wrong, we laugh at that individual and blame them for being that way. But we never reflect what factors worked together to cause the personality deformities and handicaps. What did this person go through during childhood? Was parenting to blame for that? And society? … Read MoreHonestly a boy who started performing at the age of four had no normal childhood but was a money minting machine! Is he to blame for the way he turned out? Who created the ‘bizarre’ MJ? R.I.P.
yeah, he’s been tragic for a long long time…I posted the picture of him before he started changing his beautiful self on purpose. He was a gorgeous child.
Thanks for posting this. Mr. Sullivan is spot on.
Gianna,
Thank you for sharing Andrew Sullivan’s perceptive comments on the sad story of Michael Jackson’s tortured life and his longer article. Although I was never one of Jackson’s disciples, I couldn’t ignore his prodigious talent and creativity. Who could?
I hope you’re taking care of yourself.
Hugs,
sln
Thanks for posting this. It had to happen eventually, and while listening to Off The Wall months ago I thought about this happening and what it would be like…people kissing up to his memory and all of that. It’s sad to have watch his life become what it became and then seeing how it ended. Not just a reminder of mortality, but a reminder of how the world can close in on a person and ruin them until the end, often not of their own doing.
It was a sad, sad day yesterday with all the publicized deaths going on. Not to diminish Ed MacMahon or Ms. Fawcett, but this was the one that hit home for me.
This is the best thing I”ve seen written so far. I can’t watch that video without crying. So very sad.