Unfortunately, Michael Jackson, or "Wacko Jacko" will be remembered by many as that super weird, talented guy rather than for his artistic work and charitability. He reportedly gave to more charities than (39) than any other performer.
His repressive childhood was not due so much to his Jehovah Witness upbringing - which probably gave him more "grounding," than an Ozzy Osbourne, but to his super rigorous recording and concert schedule as a kid. Jackson reported, later in life, that he was not able to have a childhood, and this, perhaps, is the foremost reason why he never wanted to grow up, like Peter Pan.
I never did believe the scam artists who falsely accused MJ of child molestation (a favorite pastime of scheming mothers, female prosecutors and social workers, although there are real pedos out there who need to be punished, even though he paid them off. I remember the one goonish prosecutor, Sneddon, who got so into whacking Jacko that he used the term "Wacko Jacko." It was stupid for him to think he could relive his boyhood by having, usually poor or disabled, boys sleep over, although it may have been no different than when I was a kid and did the same, and we were never accused of being "gaybos." People ask "why would a grown man invite boys into his bed unless he was a pedophile?" Thank God, I have not had to walk a mile in Jackos Moonwalking slippers. Why does Ted Turner or David Letterman do and say the things they do? Money, power, and fame. One comedian said that Michael Jackson had "Giraffe" money. That's more than I've got. The love of money is the root . . .
Jackson's possibly bleached face, marrying his nurse, marrying Elvis Presley's daughter, Bubbles his chimp companion, dangling the baby,more and worse plastic surgeries than Nancy Pelosi, using the "Kike" word in one of his hits, buying the Elephant Man's bones,"saving" Rock and Roll with Thriller,are just a few of his super idiosyncracies that MJ could never be relieved of.
He did surrounded himself with mainly "nice" people in his home as well as professional life. As I watch his buds being interviewed, post mortem, I see nurses, musicians, dancers, guitar players like his angelic Aussie guitarist Orianthi, doctors, producers, etc., I see folks that one may not normally see in the Ozzy Osbourne household, my apologies to Sharon.
Why didn't these so-called close friends stop Jacko from taking every sort of prescribed dope from anesthesia to Oxycontin? They could have reported him and lost their jobs and friendship with Michael, but he would have found other ways of getting all the drugs he would ever need to kill the pain and beat the insomnia.
No one could stop Elvis from doing drugs, except God Himself. And, eventually, I guess, He did.
Which brings me to Jackson's eulogy which could be contained in his last Dress Rehearsal which is being played non-stop on cable, even as I write. The song Jackson is rehearsing on Youtube, here, Is "They Don't Care About Us." This song was written, I believe, in the early Nineties after Jackson was first accused (falsely, I believe, of child molestation). I must say that after working in the Prison Ministry for many years, I have seen many an innocent man accused by vengeful wives, daughters and girlfriends of sexual child abuse.
Michael used the words "Kike" and "Jew" in this song in a way that brought about the wrath of the Anti defamation League. You can see MJ in this last video doing some Zig Heiling and Goose Stepping - which was his expression of how he felt he was treated by the LA Prosecutors who went after him, unsuccessfully, twice in two decades. All of Michael's pent up frustration from his early boyhood to his late boyhood was summed up in the following,as heard in the video that is constantly being shown on TV. He may have taken the words "Jew" and "Kike" out of the final song. His last rehearsal, and very apropos:
Lyrics of "They Don't Care About Us" From Last Dress Rehearsal now run 24/7 on TV
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, aggravation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Bang bang, shot dead
Everybody's gone mad
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Beat me, hate me
You can never break me
Will me, thrill me
You can never kill me
Jew me, sue me
Everybody do me
Kick me, kike me
Don't you black or white me
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Tell me what has become of my life
I have a wife and two children who love me
I am the victim of police brutality, now
I'm tired of bein' the victim of hate
You're rapin' me of my pride
Oh, for God's sake
I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy...
Set me free
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
trepidation, speculation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
black man, black male
Throw your brother in jail
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Tell me what has become of my rights
Am I invisible because you ignore me?
Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now
I'm tired of bein' the victim of shame
They're throwing me in a class with a bad name
I can't believe this is the land from which I came
You know I do really hate to say it
The government don't wanna see
But if Roosevelt was livin'
He wouldn't let this be, no, no
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, speculation
Everybody litigation
Beat me, bash me
You can never trash me
Hit me, kick me
You can never get me
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
Some things in life they just don't wanna see
But if Martin Luther was livin'
He wouldn't let this be
Skin head, dead head
Everybody gone bad
Situation, segregation
Everybody allegation
In the suite, on the news
Everybody dog food
Kick me, strike me
Don't you wrong or right me
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us
All I wanna say is that
They don't really care about us