- Voltaire.
Fame has claimed many victims in its time. Actors have quit their profession, coaches have refused positions, Presidents have broken down and all kinds of celebrities have complained about the pressures of being in the limelight. Imagine the life of a star that has no rival, the biggest entertainer of all time. Followed by paparazzi, hounded by fans, pestered with favours and pursued by lunatics – he lived with it for four decades.Michael Jackson died on June 25th, 2009 at the age of fifty. He left behind an ex-wife, three children, debts worth millions of dollars and a legacy that is unparalleled in its splendour, as well as in its capacity for controversy and debate. Jackson first shot into prominence as youngest member and lead singer of the Jackson Five, a band composed of his brothers and sisters.
Michael Jackson has been called many things – ranging from ‘King of Pop’ to paedophile. The truth is, that even though he has been recognised by many agencies, including Guinness World Records, as the “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time”, Jackson is remembered mostly as the latter, his acquittal in the case of paedophilia notwithstanding.
Scan the internet with the words ‘Michael Jackson’ and the links are innumerable. Few of these are dedicated to Michael Jackson – the man, the musician, the performer or the philanthropist. A majority talk about his obsession with his physical appearance, his multiple surgeries, his strange whims and his love for children. One cannot blame the masses; controversy will always command more attention than a virtuous virtuoso. However, it is only just, at least now, that someone tells Michael Jackson’s side of the story.
Twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jackson was only a child when he started singing. He was the seventh of nine children, but by far the most talented. This didn’t stop his father from tormenting him though. Jackson recalls how his father sat at his practices with a belt in his hand. If he got anything wrong, his father would hold him upside down by the ankle and whip him. Today Michael Jackson attributes the discipline in his life to his father.
Though many people believe that Michael underwent several surgeries that caused him to look ‘freakishly white’, he actually suffered from two diseases – vitiligo and lupus – both of which lightened his skin and made it sensitive to sunlight. It is true that he had four rhinoplasties. The fact that his family mercilessly teased him about his nose far into his teens, the fact that he broke his nose and the fact that his doctor ruined one of his nose jobs doesn’t do the gossip rounds.
One night while Jackson was asleep, his father climbed into his room through the bedroom window, wearing a fright mask and screaming. He said he wanted to teach the children not to leave the window open when they went to sleep. For years afterward, Jackson said he suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his room. Due to early experiences such as these, Michael believed that innocence should be preserved. He was very fond of children. He constructed Neverland Ranch, valued at a 100 million, and threw it open to underprivileged children. Some children with whom he was especially friendly stayed over at the ranch, like Jordan Chandler. Under the influence of pressure from his father and a controversial sedative, Jordan admitted that Jackson touched him inappropriately. These allegations were blown up and later dismissed by a court which cited lack of evidence, but no one remembers that. Evidence found later showed that the whole case was most probably a sham constructed by Jordan’s father. He was recorded on tape, talking about how he would win millions. Mrs. Chandler - Jordan’s mother - was adamant that Jackson had never been in the wrong. In his second trial, Michael was acquitted of all charges.
Jackson once remarked to a reporter, “Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, ‘I'm an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight,’ people would say, ‘Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up. You can't believe a damn word that comes out of his mouth.’"
Michael Jackson donated millions each to 39 charities he supported, and raised much more for his own Heal the World Foundation. Though Michael Jackson was proven to have many medical conditions that could explain some of his stranger acts, no doctor or anyone else can elucidate upon Michael Jackson, the phenomenon. He was a dancer that astonished the world, a singer that captivated a billion fans and a human who enriched the lives of thousands of disadvantaged children and people. Irrespective of his sexual preference or his skin colour, Michael Jackson never intentionally hurt anyone in 50 years, and that is something that no one can argue against.
"Music has been my outlet, my gift to all of the lovers in this world. Through it, my music, I know I will live forever." – Michael Jackson.
He will live forever.
Neil Maheshwari
