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Michael Jackson passed away yesterday at the age of 50. Everyone seems to have an opinion of Michael Jackson and plenty of people seem to be willing to judge a man who just died. Myself I cannot be so quick to form an opinion on a man who I only knew through the distorted lens of our celebrity obsessed media culture.

What I do know is that Michael Jackson was one of the single most talented human beings to ever walk on this planet. He could do things on the dance floor that would make your jaw drop. He transcended the role of entertainer and became an icon – a musician, dancer and a celebrity with worldwide appeal.

What I also know is that Michael Jackson paid a heavy price for the fame and fortune he acquired – and the saddest thing about that, to me, is that he wasn’t the one seeking that fame and fortune!

Jackson was a product of his father, Joseph Jackson’s over-zealous ambition. Legend tells that Joseph was a relentless task-master who demanded perfection from the family he shaped into entertainment moguls as early as the 1970’s. The world first came to know about Michael Jackson in his role as the diminuative lead singer who danced and sung in that incredible high-pitched voice songs like “ABC!” Michael was the virutoso in the family and as such he became the family’s master bread-winner.

Michael Jackson did not have a “normal” child-hood. He was a celebrity before he hit puberty, and, like many childhood stars, his personality was distorted. Amazingly though he managed to hold it together and under the tutelage of legendary producer Quincey Jones he released some of the most enduring pop albums of all time. “Thriller” was a collection of smash hits, most aspiring songwriters would give their eye teeth to write the worst song on that album. It is a masterpiece from start to finish and the video for the title track would go on to be one of the most popular videos of all-time, and a piece of film that raised the bar for future performers and music video directors.

Michael Jackson maintained a thriving career in the cut-throat music business for the better part of three decades – but his success came with its fair share of problems.

Rumor has it that Michael Jackson hated the fact that he resembled his father, and that he in fact hated his father. People began noticing that something wasn’t right about Michael’s appearance. His once dark brown skin was fading to a peculiar shade of gray, he was undergoing dramatic plastic surgery, he was acting increasingly bizarre and eccentric.

Constant rumors of child molestation occurred. Michael Jackson went to court twice on these charges – once they were settled, in the second trial he was found not guilty. But the rumors persist. I don’t know what to make of those rumors. A trial exonerated him. My personal feeling is that Michael Jackson was never really an adult to beging with. I mean he was physically an adult, but mentally and psychologically he was a child. He preferred the company of children. He built NeverLand Ranch, a massive private amusement park, where he entertained children from all over the world.

It makes sense to me that Michael Jackson was living in a sort of extended childhood, or at least that he was always trying to live the childhood that had been denied him. Again, he never got to have that normal childhood. He was always working, from the minute he could walk and talk he was singing and dancing.

To me Michael Jackson’s life is tragic. Even though he was living what many of us would consider a dream, it was never his own dream. His life was his father’s dream, Michael was just an elaborate prop in making that dream come true.

I think Joseph Jackson has a lot to answer for. He consistently used the families accumulated wealth to justify their gross mis-treatment. But no one in the family seems particularly happy.

And therein lies the message I take from this tale. We live in a time now when everyone wants to be rich and famous – but wealth and celebrity cannot make you happy. In fact being in the celebrity-driven media circus, living your life under a microscope, adds tremendous stress to one’s life. So if there are fissures in a persons character before they were a celebrity, then those fissures are likely to crack under the pressure. We’re seeing that today in the unfolding “Jon and Kate Plus 8″ drama. We’ve seen it with young celebrities like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan.

Image via Wikipedia

We should be careful what we wish for because sometimes dreams do come true – they just don’t turn out to be exactly what we bargained for.

Image via Wikipedia