The Legacy of a Legend
I shared a quote with a friend the other day. "Great men have great flaws". When thinking about its true meaning, I had assumed that it referred to how a person's greatness might magnify the size of his/her blunder or mistake, simply because they are held to a higher standard. But perhaps, it can be taken in a more literal context. Perhaps, men of greatness are destined to have "greater-than-average" flaws. Remembering this reminded me of something I had written upon the death of Michael Jackson. Love him or hate him, I simply beg your indulgence.......
I've said it before & I'll say it again, I'm a movie buff. Every situation I've been in, I've always compared it to a movie scene. One of my favorites was a scene from "King Ralph", starring John Goodman. It was the story of a an american man who is crowned King of England (due to him being a distant relation), after a freak accident wiped out the entire royal family (which could possibly happen, but that's another story). While going through a preliminary course on the cuisine of England, he was introduced to their favorite desert, "Spotted Dick" (no, not a typo). It was so hilarious how he kept asking "Spotted dick??!! Dick of what"!!!! I suppose that one could simply label it as culture clash.
The global community, although quite uniform at times, has always been described as being a series of different cultures grouped together on this world, with very little in common. There have been few things that the whole has shared an opinion about, as a whole, such as soccer (a world wide sport), the internet (a world wide medium of communication) & Paris Hilton ( a world-wide party girl/airhead). But of all the known figures in global history that have transcended boundries like culture & tradition, none are as well known as the late Michael Jackson, the aforemention king of pop.
Since his birth in 1958, the Gary, Indiana-native was destined for greatness. Having had several hit songs with his family group, "The Jackson 5", he was quickly singled out for his mature, yet angelic singing voice & stage presence, despite the fact that he was the youngest memeber of the group & had yet to enter puberty. It would also be a major factor into who he would become, later citing in interviews that, during his childhood, he had been physically & emotionally abused by his father.
Eventually, he would break away from his siblings & establish himself as a solo artist, releasing several critically acclaimed albums, including the phenomenally sucessful "Thriller", which to date is still the best selling album of all time. The album would eventually earn him an unprecedented 8 grammy awards, as well as various other accolades.
Despite his massive sucess, he was not without controversy. Various aspects of himself & his life can be named from his over-use of comestic surgery that practically reduced his once-prominent nose like a pencil-sharpner, to his marriage to the daughter of the king of rock, Lisa-Marie Presley, to the birth of his children (who were also subject to media storms such as the berlin incident) & the shocking allegations made of his conduct at his "Neverland Ranch" home, including his admission to sleeping in the same bed with pre-teen boys. All this, coupled with his declining finances reduced him to mere inspiration for stand-up comics & late night show banter.
Everything about him was rediculed & scrutinized, everything ranging from his sexually-explict dance moves to the infamous child molestation cases that would not only plague him then, but continue to keep a dark cloud over him until his untimely death on june 25th, 2009. Citing a cardiac arrest as the cause of death, his life was brought to an abrupt, yet seemingly-welcomed end, through which this tortured soul can finally find peace.
Despite how he lived the last decade of his life, he should not be simply remembered & thus stigmatized for it. He should be remembered for what he brought into the world, what he gave the people of several generations, including my own, & what he left us with.
His music emotionally carressed & soothed us during out most terbulant times. It was an anthem of the 80's, a time of change & uprise from the care-free 70's, which, according to my father, was a decade to be remembered (although I'm sure pops remembers it for various other reasons as well).
His singing style & vocal inflictions were mimiced & imitated, not just by the youth of the world, but also by the various musical artists of the world. His smooth intonations, coupled with his occassionally raspy gasps inbetween made his sound thoroughly unique & memorable to the masses. Yet, regardless of how harsh he could sound, he still maintained his ability to almost croon his other softer-hitting songs.
His dance moves were in a league of their own. Although slightly akward occassionally, he would defy norms & infuse different styles into his own, creating a hybrid style that, to this day, still inspires untold dance routines & has been mimiced by other well-known dance oriented celebrities as well. Hell, to this day, I still moonwalk when feeling the need to (though I have no shame admitting that learning how to moonwalk took me half of my childhood, which I'm proud to say, was worth it).
His fashion sense, though unique, to put it mildly, was individualistic. He had a certain degree of autonomy in his "dress-code", which allowed him to raise above the others & establish himself as his own person, fashion-wise. From his capone-style hat, to the rhinestone-studded glove (which went through several incarnations), to his white socks, he helped usher in a style of the 80's & early 90's that was thoroughly imitated & has today been adapted by various artists.
If someone were to ask me "Who was Michael Jackson", then I would say he was a gift to the world. He was a flawed man, an imperfect man, albeit a seemingly disturbed & disconnected man ( in terms of reality ). But he was a gifted man, who was full of love, a love that he shared with the world through his music & his charitable enterprises, which was evident through some of his other songs such as "We are the world", "Change the world", "Man in the mirror", "Keep the faith" & the controversial "They don't care about us". He was a man who tried to make a world a better place, through his own way, & while he was hardly sucessful, he had managed to not only inspire an entire generation of music-lovers, but also touch a few people along the way. He was a man who had the whole world love him, but, was utterly alone & yet, he had persevered. He was a man who, despite endless allegations, jokes about himself & his life style & the never-ending media storm that followed him like moths to a flame, managed to crave out an existance for himself that many wouldn't have been able to tolerate, much less live in.
Michael Jackson didn't just influence music, he redefined it. He developed his own style, his own sound, his own look, his own persona, which became larger than him, larger than life. He became a face of music, an almost god-like figure that lead the way for generations of music-lovers to discover themselves along the way. He was an unforgettable talent, an unrelenting spirit & an unmatched artisit. He was the the very embodiment of the american dream.
Michael Jackson was, is & will forever be, the King of Pop. That is the legacy behind the man & for that, we thankyou. We thankyou for the music, for the inspiration & for the hope.
Rest in peace, Michael Jackson
I've said it before & I'll say it again, I'm a movie buff. Every situation I've been in, I've always compared it to a movie scene. One of my favorites was a scene from "King Ralph", starring John Goodman. It was the story of a an american man who is crowned King of England (due to him being a distant relation), after a freak accident wiped out the entire royal family (which could possibly happen, but that's another story). While going through a preliminary course on the cuisine of England, he was introduced to their favorite desert, "Spotted Dick" (no, not a typo). It was so hilarious how he kept asking "Spotted dick??!! Dick of what"!!!! I suppose that one could simply label it as culture clash.
The global community, although quite uniform at times, has always been described as being a series of different cultures grouped together on this world, with very little in common. There have been few things that the whole has shared an opinion about, as a whole, such as soccer (a world wide sport), the internet (a world wide medium of communication) & Paris Hilton ( a world-wide party girl/airhead). But of all the known figures in global history that have transcended boundries like culture & tradition, none are as well known as the late Michael Jackson, the aforemention king of pop.
Since his birth in 1958, the Gary, Indiana-native was destined for greatness. Having had several hit songs with his family group, "The Jackson 5", he was quickly singled out for his mature, yet angelic singing voice & stage presence, despite the fact that he was the youngest memeber of the group & had yet to enter puberty. It would also be a major factor into who he would become, later citing in interviews that, during his childhood, he had been physically & emotionally abused by his father.
Eventually, he would break away from his siblings & establish himself as a solo artist, releasing several critically acclaimed albums, including the phenomenally sucessful "Thriller", which to date is still the best selling album of all time. The album would eventually earn him an unprecedented 8 grammy awards, as well as various other accolades.
Despite his massive sucess, he was not without controversy. Various aspects of himself & his life can be named from his over-use of comestic surgery that practically reduced his once-prominent nose like a pencil-sharpner, to his marriage to the daughter of the king of rock, Lisa-Marie Presley, to the birth of his children (who were also subject to media storms such as the berlin incident) & the shocking allegations made of his conduct at his "Neverland Ranch" home, including his admission to sleeping in the same bed with pre-teen boys. All this, coupled with his declining finances reduced him to mere inspiration for stand-up comics & late night show banter.
Everything about him was rediculed & scrutinized, everything ranging from his sexually-explict dance moves to the infamous child molestation cases that would not only plague him then, but continue to keep a dark cloud over him until his untimely death on june 25th, 2009. Citing a cardiac arrest as the cause of death, his life was brought to an abrupt, yet seemingly-welcomed end, through which this tortured soul can finally find peace.
Despite how he lived the last decade of his life, he should not be simply remembered & thus stigmatized for it. He should be remembered for what he brought into the world, what he gave the people of several generations, including my own, & what he left us with.
His music emotionally carressed & soothed us during out most terbulant times. It was an anthem of the 80's, a time of change & uprise from the care-free 70's, which, according to my father, was a decade to be remembered (although I'm sure pops remembers it for various other reasons as well).
His singing style & vocal inflictions were mimiced & imitated, not just by the youth of the world, but also by the various musical artists of the world. His smooth intonations, coupled with his occassionally raspy gasps inbetween made his sound thoroughly unique & memorable to the masses. Yet, regardless of how harsh he could sound, he still maintained his ability to almost croon his other softer-hitting songs.
His dance moves were in a league of their own. Although slightly akward occassionally, he would defy norms & infuse different styles into his own, creating a hybrid style that, to this day, still inspires untold dance routines & has been mimiced by other well-known dance oriented celebrities as well. Hell, to this day, I still moonwalk when feeling the need to (though I have no shame admitting that learning how to moonwalk took me half of my childhood, which I'm proud to say, was worth it).
His fashion sense, though unique, to put it mildly, was individualistic. He had a certain degree of autonomy in his "dress-code", which allowed him to raise above the others & establish himself as his own person, fashion-wise. From his capone-style hat, to the rhinestone-studded glove (which went through several incarnations), to his white socks, he helped usher in a style of the 80's & early 90's that was thoroughly imitated & has today been adapted by various artists.
If someone were to ask me "Who was Michael Jackson", then I would say he was a gift to the world. He was a flawed man, an imperfect man, albeit a seemingly disturbed & disconnected man ( in terms of reality ). But he was a gifted man, who was full of love, a love that he shared with the world through his music & his charitable enterprises, which was evident through some of his other songs such as "We are the world", "Change the world", "Man in the mirror", "Keep the faith" & the controversial "They don't care about us". He was a man who tried to make a world a better place, through his own way, & while he was hardly sucessful, he had managed to not only inspire an entire generation of music-lovers, but also touch a few people along the way. He was a man who had the whole world love him, but, was utterly alone & yet, he had persevered. He was a man who, despite endless allegations, jokes about himself & his life style & the never-ending media storm that followed him like moths to a flame, managed to crave out an existance for himself that many wouldn't have been able to tolerate, much less live in.
Michael Jackson didn't just influence music, he redefined it. He developed his own style, his own sound, his own look, his own persona, which became larger than him, larger than life. He became a face of music, an almost god-like figure that lead the way for generations of music-lovers to discover themselves along the way. He was an unforgettable talent, an unrelenting spirit & an unmatched artisit. He was the the very embodiment of the american dream.
Rest in peace, Michael Jackson
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