The love you save

For the last two hours I’ve been trying to figure out why I’m so interested and affected by the death of Michael Jackson. I’m sure it’s partly pure shock. I barely remember when Elvis died and that that was shocking to people. Not nearly as sock-to-the-gut as John Lennon’s death though. I think beyond the surprise of it is the idea that Michael Jackson’s life was one that pretty much unfolded in front of our generation.

When I was a kid, I remember Jackson Five songs on the radio and the idea of “little Michael” going solo. There wasn’t a lot of radio airplay, at least in the Deep South where I was, for Michael but when “Beat It” came out (meaning the video), it was everywhere. And everybody loved “Beat It,” which I can only imagine must be a hard concept for people in their 20s and younger to grasp — that guy’s music was that popular? And everyone had a copy of Thriller, at least everyone I knew (including people who liked metal or country or other non-pop music). I was lukewarm to Thriller but I really loved “Beat It” and “Billie Jean.” I was a Duranie myself.

So anyway…

I think the main thing that’s on my mind is that people younger than I see Michael Jackson as something completely two-dimensional and freakish. Some “has-been” who “bleached his skin” and carved his nose into some unrecognizable shape. A punchline for jokes about inviting little boys to sleepovers or a poster man-child for kids who grow up scarred by an abusive parent. Maybe there is some semblance of truth to those impressions. Maybe there’s so much exaggeration that the bits of truth within can’t be uncovered.

I got a note via YouTube this week from a girl who recently discovered the movie (and consequently the album) Purple Rain*. She said she’d read via Wikipedia about my lawsuit, having linked article to article as one does. She wanted to know how she could enjoy the music that she’d just discovered and had already come to love.

I told her something and I’ll say the same here about Michael Jackson: the artist is one entity and the product is another. I can listen to those (80s) songs and think of nothing more than the music and the particular memories that I have — and no one else has my same memories as triggered by that music. No matter what the artists behind the songs do or become, somehow I’m able to retain my love of the music, especially in the video form, which was fresh and revolutionary.

Hawk & I had discussed buying some MJ tunes off iTunes and had never gotten around to it. Tonight I purchased a few songs and I hope that instead of the bizarre person in the black surgical mask, people in the next few days might think of the songs and the effect the father of three had on pop culture, on music and on people who enjoyed the art that he created.

You can go to the Michael Jackson official channel at YouTube to watch videos (and when the YouTube search feature is back up, you can see him pleading to be “Agent M” in Men In Black 2 as part of the Alien Affirmative Action plan).

*yes, I’m aware this may not be real but it is what I received