The REAL Michael Jackson
If you turn on any mainstream media outlet you're sure to encounter at least a bit of the wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage. The extraordinary attention given to him after his sudden death is not surprising, really, as talented and as eccentric--and as troubled--as he was.
What I find interesting is how zealous everyone seems to be trying to find out the real Michael Jackson. What was he really like, and did he really do any of the destructive things so many think he did? How many times have I seen or heard--and believe me, it isn't really a lot, mostly because of nothing to do with Michael Jackson but because I just dislike the idolatrous nature of the coverage--anyway, how many times is someone interviewed who details whatever intimate knowledge they have about Michael Jackson?
The day after he passed away I was driving to work and some radio newshow mentioned the final concert tour he was supposed to have, and I had this thought.
Why don't they just get someone else to do all the songs at this concert tour? Certainly someone can sing the way he did and dance the way he did. Why can't they find someone just like him to do all the tunes and moves and entertain all just as much as Michael Jackson could? Please, again, I share this not because of anything to do with Michael Jackson himself, but just to reflect deeply about the whole affair, about this amazing obsession with the guy.
Hey, who replaces Jackson could even do a better job than he would--indeed some of what has been said is that even though Jackson was working very hard and he was excited about the tour, he was nowhere near the physical condition he needed to be in.
But the answer to the question is simple. Replacing Michael wouldn't work because
It wouldn't be Michael.
And that's the point of the reflection.
Is who Michael Jackson was important? I mean, is who he was in real true real live reality so meaningfully important that it'd be good for those with whom he had interaction to actually know what that was?
To know who he was?
It seems to me that part of the fascination with the whole Michael Jackson drama is that Michael himself appeared to work very hard at making it very hard for others to know who he really was--the odd behavior and the strange plastic surgery and all the rest of it. All of it just looked like Michael Jackson's valiant attempt to keep people from knowing who he really was. Or...
Perhaps he was compelled to assuage the fears he himself had that people would make grave mistakes about who he was in spite of his efforts to be as transparent as he could. Wow. I know there are a few people who spend a lot of time doing that.
The thing about all this is that the truth of Michael Jackson's identity is something everyone acknowledges. It is there somewhere. Sure there are rotten people who get it wrong, but the only way they'd get it wrong is if they don't care about the truth of who he was or they deliberately deviate from the truth about who he is whether they know it or not. Whatever the case, there is a truth about who each person is.
The truth about each of our identities is important to each one of us.
My question about this is,
What about the identity of the most important Person?
The One with Whom everyone must encounter sometime, Jesus Christ?
Why is it so many are so satisfied with their own conceptions of God and they won't even come close to knowing Who He truly is?
Oh yes the World has a zillion different conceptions of Jesus, he's much like Michael Jackson in that regard--everyone has their take. And the World will probably never get it right, just as much as they'll probably never get Michael Jackson right. But then hey, why should they? If they do, the tantalizing drama may end and no one will tune in anymore.
Well, I have some more thoughts about true identity in my latest webzine home page piece.
Some more thoughts about Jesus and His identity are here.
What I find interesting is how zealous everyone seems to be trying to find out the real Michael Jackson. What was he really like, and did he really do any of the destructive things so many think he did? How many times have I seen or heard--and believe me, it isn't really a lot, mostly because of nothing to do with Michael Jackson but because I just dislike the idolatrous nature of the coverage--anyway, how many times is someone interviewed who details whatever intimate knowledge they have about Michael Jackson?
The day after he passed away I was driving to work and some radio newshow mentioned the final concert tour he was supposed to have, and I had this thought.
Why don't they just get someone else to do all the songs at this concert tour? Certainly someone can sing the way he did and dance the way he did. Why can't they find someone just like him to do all the tunes and moves and entertain all just as much as Michael Jackson could? Please, again, I share this not because of anything to do with Michael Jackson himself, but just to reflect deeply about the whole affair, about this amazing obsession with the guy.
Hey, who replaces Jackson could even do a better job than he would--indeed some of what has been said is that even though Jackson was working very hard and he was excited about the tour, he was nowhere near the physical condition he needed to be in.
But the answer to the question is simple. Replacing Michael wouldn't work because
It wouldn't be Michael.
And that's the point of the reflection.
Is who Michael Jackson was important? I mean, is who he was in real true real live reality so meaningfully important that it'd be good for those with whom he had interaction to actually know what that was?
To know who he was?
It seems to me that part of the fascination with the whole Michael Jackson drama is that Michael himself appeared to work very hard at making it very hard for others to know who he really was--the odd behavior and the strange plastic surgery and all the rest of it. All of it just looked like Michael Jackson's valiant attempt to keep people from knowing who he really was. Or...
Perhaps he was compelled to assuage the fears he himself had that people would make grave mistakes about who he was in spite of his efforts to be as transparent as he could. Wow. I know there are a few people who spend a lot of time doing that.
The thing about all this is that the truth of Michael Jackson's identity is something everyone acknowledges. It is there somewhere. Sure there are rotten people who get it wrong, but the only way they'd get it wrong is if they don't care about the truth of who he was or they deliberately deviate from the truth about who he is whether they know it or not. Whatever the case, there is a truth about who each person is.
The truth about each of our identities is important to each one of us.
My question about this is,
What about the identity of the most important Person?
The One with Whom everyone must encounter sometime, Jesus Christ?
Why is it so many are so satisfied with their own conceptions of God and they won't even come close to knowing Who He truly is?
Oh yes the World has a zillion different conceptions of Jesus, he's much like Michael Jackson in that regard--everyone has their take. And the World will probably never get it right, just as much as they'll probably never get Michael Jackson right. But then hey, why should they? If they do, the tantalizing drama may end and no one will tune in anymore.
Well, I have some more thoughts about true identity in my latest webzine home page piece.
Some more thoughts about Jesus and His identity are here.
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