I’ve been watching some of my old tapes and DVD’s and I’ve been impressed with how totally lame and uninformative some of these things are. Of course, I don’t blame Michael for being uninformative. Quite the contrary, Michael answered most of the questions that were asked by those conducting the interviews. It wasn’t his fault that the interviewers asked the wrong questions.
For example, Oprah Winfrey in 1993 asked “were your brothers jealous of you when you started getting all the attention?” Michael’s response was, “Not that I know of, no.” At the time I first watched the interview in February of 1993, I thought, “Wrong question, Oprah. You should have asked if Michael felt that his brothers exploited his popularity.” I think that would have been a much better question and would have allowed us much more of a glimpse into Michael’s thoughts and feelings about his siblings.
Another example from the same interview: “I’m embarrassed to ask you this, but I’m going to ask anyway. Are you a virgin?” I literally winced at this one. How many other adults have ever been asked this question in a televised interview? How many other adults, men or women, would have tolerated the question and not walked out of the room leaving her sitting there by herself with an hour to kill? Michael’s response was, “I’m a gentleman.” And she had the nerve to ask him what that meant! “I interpret that to mean that a lady is a lady …” How did we become a society that would expect to know such intimate details about a gentleman’s personal life? What gives her … or us … the right to be a fly on the wall in this gentleman’s bedroom?
Diane Sawyer later asked Michael and his new bride, Lisa Marie Presley, if they had sex. Well, that’s not exactly true. She didn’t have the courage to ask; she had some of Michael’s fans on the street ask. At least Oprah spoke for herself. However, she did have the courage to openly question his integrity. In the same interview, she asked about the HIStory trailer and said that some were saying that it was modeled on a Nazi propaganda film maker by the name of Leni Reifenstahl. When Michael denied that it was his intent to uphold or condone violence or warlike behavior, her comment was, “Well, we will just have to agree to disagree about this.” If she knew his intent, why did she ask him the question? Why bother to ask? It doesn’t make sense. How dare she question his truthfulness so blatantly?
In all the interviews conducted by all the reportedly reputable journalists and fact-finders, none of them asked the important questions – the questions I really need to hear the answers to. I don’t care about oxygen chambers or elephant man’s bones or plastic surgeries or who Michael went out with last night. Those are celebrity-cult-driven inanities that have no socially redeeming traits whatsoever. Who cares?
What are some of the really important questions? Well, here’s a brief listing:
What drives Michael Jackson? What makes Michael Jackson tick?
Why do you visit so many hospitals and orphanages? What drives that compassion for youngsters?
What is it like to enter the room of a child who is bedridden and connected to intravenous tubing and watch his face light up with awe when he realizes that the most famous man in the world thinks he’s important enough to visit?
Where do you find the courage, the strength, the energy to organize an effort to relieve the suffering of tsunami victims when the world has cast you as a child molester and you have endured the first week of jury selection in a trial that will last for months?
How do you pay for liver transplants for children or prosthetic limbs or a baby’s funeral in some unknown country while being scorned and ridiculed by a world that can’t understand that kind of compassion and prefers to think of your love for children as sinister?
When you are accused of unspeakable crimes, how do you continue to pour yourself into the world’s cup to the point of overflowing? Where does such fearlessness come from?
After spending day after interminable day – week after soul-searing week – sitting in a court room and listening to horrible distortions of who you are, how do you return home to your children without letting them see that soul-weariness, that exhaustion, that fear? Where does that courage, strength, determination and stamina come from?
How do you not lash out – ever – in two and a half decades – at the unfairness of the treatment meted out to you by the world’s media? How do you continue to bleed internally at the obvious prejudice of the media against you? How do you continue to forgive them?
How do you never come from an egotistical place when dealing with dancers, band members, lighting crew, directors? You have more reason to be egotistical than any human being who ever lived. How do you sublimate that urge to demand that things be done your way because, after all, you are the genius in the equation?
How do you remain humble, kind, gentle, courteous in the midst of psychological and emotional crucifixion? Where does that gentleness, humility, lack of ego come from? Are you even human?
How many of the children that you invited into your life have recovered from their illnesses and gone on to live productive lives because of the care and positive thinking and prayer and happiness that you immersed them in? How many kids have you called back from the brink of death with your caring?
How do you remain innocent and unjaded while rising to the very top of a corrupt industry in a fraudulent city, society, world? How do you continue to trust in the goodness and worth of humanity when betrayed and exploited and manipulated and abused by those surrounding you?
How do you speak out, inviting us to know you when you know that your words will be twisted unrecognizably, taken out of context, colored by the filters of those who hear them, questioned, misrepresented? And why?
Wouldn’t it be easier to retreat to a deserted island and live out a quiet life? You could afford it. Why, oh why didn’t you protect yourself?
Was your impulse toward creativity so virulent that it continued to compel your actions? Was the force of its movement through you so unstoppable?
What is it like to be standing in front of tens of thousands of people and be taken over by that gale force breath of creativity – used by The Force – and to know that that force is the same force that animates and organizes the universe? Were you aware that God was using your beautiful voice and body and imagination to reach out and touch hundreds of millions of people from every walk of life, in every country in a personal and meaningful way? Did you, at some point in your journey, sign on for this thankless task? And if so, would you do so again, knowing what you know now?
Would you take up your cross and follow Him in such close lockstep again, Michael?
How did you continue to have faith in us?
Did you know how much we loved you? Yes, we loved the boogie, the beat, the melody, the performance, the dance and you knew that. But did you know that we wanted your safety and well-being more? Did you know that your happiness was important to us? Did you know that you didn’t have to earn our love any longer – that you had proven yourself to us long ago?
Did you know how your leaving would shatter our souls into little tiny pieces? Some of us have known you for a long, long time. Many of us just became curious after you were gone. Nonetheless, whether we knew you for five minutes or a lifetime, your absence is an ache in our hearts that hasn’t subsided even more than a year after you left. Did you know that you would take the sun from our skies and the brightness and magic from our imaginations?
Wouldn’t you love to hear the answers to these questions instead of the bullshit our media has fed us on for so many years? Is it too late to pose these issues, now?
Jan
Dear Jan – I am in tears!
I too have often been frustrated when watching the rare interviews that were done over the years. In my mind, I think, “This is all we have. This is what was left behind for us to piece together the heart and soul of a man who was here to change the world!” The questions posed by the media reflected what they thought we wanted to hear, and this reflected our small-mindedness. Michael so wanted to be taken seriously as an artist, as he was in many regards, but no wonder he didn’t like doing those interviews! They asked the same questions over and over again, and then asked them again as if his answers were never good enough! Although Michael always handled the questions with such grace and dignity, they were in fact an insult to this genius and global humanitarian who stood before us with such important messages for us to hear. And we didn’t really hear them…until he died.
When you ask “Is it too late to pose these issues now?”, it makes me think of the possibilities. I don’t think it is ever too late – it must NOT be too late! We are tasked with continuing his messages and with being living examples of who he was. We must continue to pose the questions and give the truthful answers in whatever ways we can, lifting up the work he so tirelessly laid down for us, as you are doing with this wonderful blog of yours.
In our small way, we still can change some things today.
Lovingly,
Charlene
P.S. I also started a blog last month. I invite you to visit and read some of my own reflections and poetry. It’s a little bit different focus, but it’s what my heart was leading me to do: mjreflecdtionsheart2heart.blogspot.com/
Dear Charlene,
Once again, my thanks for your comments. Please don’t be too disheartened. We must consider ourselves the lucky ones – we have the tapes, the DVD’s, the interviews, the performances. We are so, so fortunate to have these things and to be able to flip in a tape or a DVD and see him and hear him. In years to come, people will so wish that they could have just that small comfort. It WILL happen. We got to experience first and second-hand what the rest of the world and generations-to-come will only know by hearsay! We can watch and read the body language and facial expressions and laugh a little at his humor and wit where they will only have what they’ve been able to get their hands on or read. That’s what we’re doing here – straightening out the erroneous impressions and heralding in a much brighter day. “We’re sending out a major love and this is our message to you. The planet’s are linin up. They’re bringing brighter days. They’re all in line waiting for you. You’re just another part of him (me!) US!
Jan
Help Jan–I need a tissue.
I agree, so many had so many chances—but what did we get???
Martin Bashir had the chance to do something GREAT–as did Oprah, and others.
Some day–some one, WILL villify Michael. Will tells us about THE Michael Jackson.
Dawn
That is what we are working towards, Dawn. That’s the whole reason for this blog – for my re-entering the world of the internet with my little rants and meanderings – for the curriculum that is being developed with Voices Education Project.
We have set our goal and now, we must follow Michael’s example of working steadily towards it – not taking our eyes off the prize until it is accomplished. We don’t want to rest on our laurels – we don’t want to feel we have accomplished – we want always to keep striving to change this world and the way this world has portrayed this innocent, loving, gentle man.
If just one person runs across my little blog and rethinks his or her opinion, becomes curious, investigates, and finds reason to change that opinion – I have not lived in vain! If I can encourage just one of my readers, if one feels a connection or that I have expressed them in something that I have written or that they shared this feeling or thought – that’s what I’m doing here.
Jan
Yes… you are right… those were the right questions to ask.
It would be nice to send them to those and other journalists now, so they know what we would have liked to hear from his voice… unfortunatly it’s too late but I think it would be worth anyway.
L-O-V-E from Italy
How is it almost 2 years later I feel my heart aching for this man after reading your words Jan….I used to feel so much anger towards Diane Sawyer, O and Bashir (I’m luck I’m no in the US so I have no exposure to many of the other journalists) now, I’m better. I just feel intense sadness at the hate that lives in their hearts. Michael’s message of love will outlive theirs of hate…I remember seeing that interview with O and I could not believe she asked him that question and Michael just smiled so sweetly through it all.
I really really want to know how he was able to stay so gracious and humble through it all….I think about this a lot and the only thing I can think of is that Michael’s faith in God was so strong, he took no credit for his amazing gifts at all…he was just the channel for God’s work so if you feel that way, it’s impossible to have a super ego, you’re humbled that God chose you ♥♥♥ Michael, my love, thank you for what you’ve given me over the years, esp the last almost 2 years. Thank you again Jan there will be no more comments frm today! : )
Michael your work continues from a different realm. thank you for what you have given me, especially over the last two years since your passing.
ThanX for tHIS Jan. Interested article. Marry