The King of Pop

There's a fairly vocal minority of people who are almost rejoicing in Michael Jackson's death. Even as I heard of his passing from my friend, my first reaction was disbelief and that led, immediately, to mockery. I'm not sure why, but I think it has to do with how immortal he has always seemed to me. I can't claim to be in awe of him like so many millions of fans were, but he never quite seemed of this world.

Of course, he came from the not-so-exotic Chicago neighbor Gary, Indiana and was borne to normal folk who looked at their brood of talented musicians and saw something special, something revolutionary. He went from being a star in a boyband to being an adult icon seamlessly.

Yet there are those of us who demonize him and cast his career asunder because of his alleged indiscretions. I'm not here to speculate the chances that he was guilty of some kind of sexual misconduct, or at the very least, something inappropriate. I'm reasonably sure that there were some shady doings going down in the Neverland Ranch and I can't help feeling awfully disappointed in Mr. Jackson.

But are we still unable to look at a person and judge him not on one (or two or three or etc) bad thing he did, but as a complex, multifaceted human being?

I could have sworn that we were past the Hawthorne days of pinning red letters into the bosom of wrongdoers. Didn't the Jules Dassin of the 50s sacrifice enough in the name of tolerance...or at the very least, open-mindedness?

The fact remains that Michael Jackson may have done some bad stuff, but can we really vilify him after we consider all of the good he has done? He tried to heal the world and make it a better place. For you and for me...and the entire human race. He was the voice of a generation and made people smile. Everywhere.

So before you cast a stone, remember that schadenfreude isn't enough to rejoice a man's death and ask yourself how well you personify perfection in the way you expected it from Michael Jackson. Think on all of the people you may have disappointed or wronged or hurt. Think about the promises you never fulfilled. Think of all of the bad stuff you have done.

Then...after you take stock of your life in that context, ask yourself one question:

If your legacy was being determined for perpetuity, your strengths and weaknesses not withstanding, wouldn't you want to be judged based on both? So let's give The King of Pop a break and allow his legacy neither entirely good nor entirely bad, but complex, fuzzy and messy like everybody else.