I must be a freak, or at the very least, an unsympathetic jerk! I feel no great loss with Michael Jackson's passing!
Sure, the guy was a gifted musician and dancer. That fact is undisputable.
But, for me, Jackson's unsavory appetite for young boys and subsequent molestation accusations--trump all his entertainment value. The outcome of his two trials--one, a plea bargain pay-out, the other, an acquittal--left only more questions than answers.
The occasional documentaries featuring Michael Jackson, in his own words, only cemented my belief that true life is (often!) stranger than fiction. Understandably, instant fame at a very young age can and does wreak havoc. Only those with the strongest support systems seem able to supersede the obvious obstacles.
Cast early on as 'superhuman entertainer' undoubtedly gave Michael Jackson a distorted view of 'real life'. That mantel, coupled with an unrelenting father/manager, set the stage for a surreal life that played out instead.
But no amount of celebrity, no matter how stratospheric, can negate underlying smarminess or history.
In the final analysis, Jackson was a victim of his own imagination--however great it may have been.
