For evil.
As I sit here thinking about who filled this role for me several names come to mind. I remember bawling my brains out a few years ago for example when Pope John Paul II died. I never knew the man, never even came within reach physically. And yet all that he represented somehow managed to touch me through my formative years.
Mrs. Moran, my 3rd grade teacher filled a similar role. She taught me in many ways to be creative and use the right side of my brain in a world that rewarded the left. She was unique in so many ways, and I much of who I am today I have her to thank. I was so touched a few years ago when she (along with my first grade teacher Mrs. Bruener) showed up at my mother's memorial service. I hadn't seen her in years.
There are people who shape our existence in many ways, sometimes when we ask for it, and sometimes when we do not. So for whatever reason, good or bad, this blog has been inspired by none other than the famous pop star Michael Jackson.
I have no idea when it was that I first heard Michael's name. I suspect that it was when I was in the third or fourth grade. Around the same time that Thriller was just becoming so popular. Sure, the self proclaimed King of Pop had been around for a while, but I was just beginning to realize that I was alive and that there was a world around me to explore. Teachers like Mrs. Moran and Mrs. Bruener were teaching me all about that!
But on a personal and pop culture level, I was learning that there was a world beyond the one that my parents created for me. I was making friends and exploring. Sleepovers and soccer games were the norm and these became the proving grounds for new ideas and opinions.
My firstest and bestest friend was Matt. We played soccer together and had sleepovers together. But what set Matt apart was that his parents had cable while mine did not. So while I stayed up late watching Saturday Night Live at my house, at Matt's house we could stay up late watching MTV.
And what did we stay up late hoping to find?
Michael Jackson's Thiller! Of course!
A few years later, my family finally got cable, and that was great. Michael Jackson had, by then moved on to other things, and thriller was not nearly as popular (even if I did enjoy skating to it at the local Star Skate). We stayed up late hoping to catch Bad. Down the road on I-5 a ways, Captain E-O played at Disneyland, and I begged my parents to take me. I knew I would like Star Tours, but the Captain (in 3-D!) was out of sight!
We all knew Michael was a little weird, but it didn't matter. Man had talent, and made us buy a million Sega Genesis machines.
In high-school life got complicated. Girls suddenly became much more interesting than they ever had been before. People became cruel. Life became complicated.
But Michael Jackson was still around, as popular as ever to provide a little escape. Now he was doing videos with Macaulay Culkin and Heavy D. Made me want to go back to Disneyland all over again.
After Dangerous was released, things got dark for the King of Pop. I don't think we need to go into the details. You all know what happened. Collectively, we all wondered why Jack-o liked Mack-O so much. As an adult Mack-o is so weird you really have to wonder.
Then there was the talk of the 100 ft. Michael in the Desert near Las Vegas...
And then there were the rumors of a comeback...
And then there was...
The kid who couldn't have been older than 10 at the library browsing DVD's with me a few weeks ago.
"Excuse me mister" he had said. I wondered much in the way Michael must now wonder every time a child approaches him, if I should even acknowledge the request.
"Excuse me mister...can you tell me where I can find the Michael Jackson DVD?"
Yes, son.
It's right over here.
No comments:
Post a Comment