Friday 26 June 2009

The Monster is Dead

Inconsolable Grief, by Ivan KramskoyImage via Wikipedia

So Michael Jackson's dead. I had to switch off the television to stem the tide of grief. It doesn't seem more than ten minutes ago we were all being entertained by the sight of him dangling children over balconies, facing charges of child molestation and struggling to cope with a mountain of debt from an insane lifestyle that his ailing career could no longer maintain. The world gasped as his increasingly macabre visage leered out at them, caked in make-up and scarred by surgery after surgery, a grotesque mannequin piping platitudes in a ridiculous, squeaky-soft voice.

He died two weeks before the massive series of 'comeback' concerts, a 50 year-old man rehearsing, no doubt, to push himself through punishing routines that would defeat a 20 year-old as he put everything he had into that all-consuming gamble to try and win over the world that had turned its back on him. We can only wait and see if it's confirmed that he rehearsed himself to death.

The villagers chanting 'Kill the monster' as they marched on the castle with their burning brands are now clamouring to get in front of the cameras and wail about how they missed the monster and how he wasn't a monster really, but a globe-spanning entertainer that brought joy to millions and whose loss will be felt by the whole world.

And I sat there wondering why these people who had so much love for Michael had stood by as he sank into penury, turning away from him and tutting at the freak show. The outpouring of saccharine grief was, indeed, too much for me to bear.
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13 comments:

Stained said...

Well said....

They'll make a mountain praising him after his death...that's how the world works. Sad in my opinion.

RIP MJ!!

mike said...

I am so glad that someoen else feels the way I do about this guy. He was only a singer for heavens sake - its not as if he was a saint, quite the opposite if the stories about his fiddling kids are to be believed!

Scott said...

You said it, brother.

Susan said...

Agree whole-heartedly.

Rupert Neil Bumfrey said...

Praise the Lord, I no longer feel out of synch' with, what appeared to be, the rest of the world!

I was even relieved to hear a Rod Stewart track being played on the radio earlier.

Em said...

wow - RIP MJ

But this post truly put what I had in my head into words. How death can only redeem a falling star.

Dubai Jazz said...

Yeah, but Elvis was a racist douchebag and Sinatra was an unbearably arrogant and a womanizer.

But we don't seem to remember them for that, do we?

That because music lives and personal tribulations die with the man. RIP MJ

rosh said...

"And I sat there wondering why these people who had so much love for Michael had stood by as he sank into penury, turning away from him and tutting at the freak show"

My thoughts as well, Alex. American 'news' channels jumped on an obituary frenzy / biography. Marathon speeches / analysis and so forth from unknown Media & celebrity 'Analysts'. Sickening indeed.

Personally, I believe he was a misunderstood man. A young boy, trapped in a man's body, surrounded by the mean / unkind and the hypocrites.

May he rest in peace, in the true Neverland.

Gargoyle said...

Very well said, indeed!

Anonymous said...

nine double pages .... nine. This is what my city's Saturday newspaper devoted to this man's death. How they must despise their readership.

hut said...

Obviously, they had to cancel his London dates: Charlie, 7, and Ed, 11 years.

Jacques Renault said...

I agree in part. People have been comparing the outpouring of grief as this years ''diana moment'' when people mindlessly drool oversomebody who'd theyd previously been criticising.

Jackon was no long faced attention seeker like Diana though. He truely did define modern pop music and proved to the world that outsiders can succeed.

I can understand people's sense of loss.

Saying that. The next person who tells me another rubbish Micheal Jackson jokes is in trouble.....

rosh said...

Yes, Nick would know the details, he 'coordinated' the play dates ya know :)

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