i think Rolling Stone said it best.

July 02, 2009

when the unfortunate news regarding Michael Jackson broke last week, the world was thrown into a media tailspin. Phones were down, internet was down, people were texting furiously to find out what happened and what was true and what were salicious rumors. one man, one-gloved man, almost broke the Internet as we know it. news stations devoted around the clock hours to every piece of information regarding this tragic story, of a man who was once king of the world, only to fall so greatly in his personal life. the media had every angle to go for, from his family, to his children, to his debt, to his beloved Neverland. and sure enough, they did.

you'll always remember where you were when you heard the news, that is a given. you'll remember your nostalgic feeilngs for him, when, in your earlier childhood, you knew Michael Jackson as the King of Pop in the 80's and 90's. for me, i'll remember the people who were so cruel to him in the past decade or so, believing molestation rumors- which were in fact, rumors, unproven and perhaps untrue- of a man who was so troubled, so traumatized from his childhood, that the boundaries between what were socially acceptable blurred for him (not sexually, purely platonic) and he didn't realize how his actions seemed to the world at large. his childhood was so disturbing, that it made a man cling to normal childhood actions, no matter how weird it seemed to the world.

all he wanted was for the world to love him, without judgement or criticism for things people knew nothing about, but assumed that they knew plenty. he found this in children, ones who would simply spend time with him without passing judgement, something he had experienced since the age of 9.

i couldn't find the words that i wanted to say, how to convey my deep empathy for Michael, for a man who was so troubled that he placated himself with drugs and fantasies to his dying day. thankfully, Rolling Stone said it for me. Please read:

Michael Jackson, Alive and Well

June 26, 2009 6:51 PM

For our 9th birthday, back in 1987, our dad bought us an Aiwa stereo system, with a turntable on top. The first album we spun on that mofo was Bad. And we spun it over and over again. Our favorite song was definitely "Man In the Mirror." Many of our first musical memories are of MJ: The Pepsi commercials, the halftime show and, later on, the debut of the "Black or White" video. His performance of "Billie Jean" at Motown 25 is the single most jawdropping performance we've ever seen. We owned the glittered glove, and we definitely had one of those red leather "Thriller" jackets.

From then on, things got weird. He moved into an amusement park. His nose disappeared. His skin became whiter. He dangled Blanket over the balcony. He could no longer perform like he once had, and no longer live up to the larger-than-life persona that he created. When you've reached the pinnacle, though, where else is there to go?

When we got wind yesterday that he was rushed to the hospital, we turned on the TV only to find out that he was dead. In a way, the news was almost comforting to us. There is no doubt that MJ was a tortured soul. He was robbed of his childhood, and there aren't enough gold records in the universe that can cure that kind of psychological damage. It pains us even to listen to those Jackson 5 records, when he and his brothers were programmed to perform, in fear of the whip.

We're pretty sure MJ is resting, finally, in peace. And it may just be the first sense of peace he's ever known.

The media will drag out his death to no end. Friends, family, associates and prognosticators will blab on and on about what killed him, and what he'd lived for.

But we won't be paying any attention.

Michael Joseph Jackson is officially dead, but in our humble opinion that guy died a long time ago.

The great Michael Jackson -- the King of Pop, and the brilliant showman that created Off the Wall, Thriller and Bad -- is immortal.

http://www.rollingstone.com/blogs/smokingsection/2009/06/michael-jackson-alive-and-well.php

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