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Step 1
Many people will laugh and shake their heads saying, "Wacko Jacko, what a shame". Many people will cry and will fill with memories of a man that few, if anyone understood. Understanding is the first step to how I believe we should all mourn Michael Jackson's passing.
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Step 2
To understand Michael Jackson we all must look at ourselves and understand the pathologies and the experiences of each of us. What is your first memory? What was your childhood like? Few of us can even begin to understand how a child prodigy, a star and a money-making machine for an entire family grew up. The very things and experiences that shape us all were absent in Michael Jackson's life. He was never truly a child. Forced to rehearse obsessively at the abusive hands of his father and fed to an industry all to hungry to lap up his talent, chew him up and later spit him out, Michael Jackson is a psychological enigma.
The fact that he made it as an adult and even made it into adulthood in itself is a tribute to his strengths. This man was destined for tragedy from the youngest age but the world, eager to take what he gave but not so eager to give back in terms of compassion, understanding and examination of the human psyche proved to be the catalyst to his ultimate demise. -
Step 3
His tragic abuse at the hands of his father, his lack of a childhood and his stunted emotional development created the shell of a human we called Michael Jackson. To mourn him we need to use him as an example as to what can go wrong when family and societal pressure on a child takes its toll on a single human life.
His deep-seated hatred of his father was not expressed in a lashing out at the man whom caused him so much pain, but rather was expressed by sublimating his rage onto himself. He sought to change the way he looked to escape seeing his father Joe in the mirror. This in turn led to him being exalted yet ostracised from society and as he fell deeper into this psychological abyss he pulled further inwards and left public life to indulge in a life with children, often misunderstood but the only world where he felt safe. When the lights went out this was a lonely man trapped in the loss of his childhood, confused, hurt and later addicted to drugs and alcohol. His fall from the self-proclaimed throne was devastating to this man. He went from being the modern day embodiment of stardom to the ongoing media punch line. Few will ever understand the anguish the man felt in his life falling from heights none of us will ever know to a place of darkness, loneliness and isolation. -
Step 4
To mourn Michael Jackson we must all remember his talent and forget the negative as none of us will ever understand the astronomical highs this man rode and the depths to which he fell.
Comments
gardeningjunkie said
on 11/12/2009 Great article! I've found that a great way to cope has been to see "This Is It". It's a film of rehearsals for the shows he was going to do in London. It shows who he was, without knowing these performances would ever been seen. He was a kind, loving soul with a huge heart who was very nice to his crew and dancers/musicians.