Wednesday, July 8th, 2009

R.I.P. Michael Jackson

Watching the Michael Jackson memorial yesterday it dawned on me that there is something terribly wrong with the world. Here was a man who had given much to the world and yet general consensus was that there were all sorts of things wrong with Mj. We seemed to have forgotten about the real Mj. Including myself. I was a big fan of Mj growing up. I still listened to his old music even now but my image about the man Michael Jackson had been blurred. Blurred by how he was portrayed. Blurred by how his good deeds were twisted into acts of craziness and criminality. I do not believe Mj was ever a bad man. I do believe that bad news sells way too good in this modern world. So-called writers and reporters make good money and get famous not for bringing the next feel good story about Michael Jackson or any other celebrity for that matter. It’s the scandals that sell. True or false. There is no screening in the freedom of speech. People are in general followers and there is only a small percentage that has the guts to go against general thinking. Especially when the alleged things Mj had done are so controversial. If you say you support Michael Jackson are you also saying you support all the things he has been accused of? I do not feel that it should. I do not see how it morally can. Yet this is the way it works. More often than not you get punished for having your own opinion so I don’t blame anyone. I feel sorry for how Michael must have felt, when apparently the whole world had turned against him for facts that are no facts. I wonder what this does to a man, how it makes you feel and how it would make you carry yourself in relation to people. I for one would not trust anyone, be timid and probably would be labeled as “strange”. I was heartbroken by the words of Michael’s daughter Paris. Sometimes we forget that the remarks, accusations and judgments we make based on the words of other observers in the end really do hurt real people. I will not remember Michael Jackson for how people portrayed him. I instead choose to remember Michael Jackson for what he did.

Charles Zwolsman

Tags: Column, Michael Jackson
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