A critic finally gets Michael Jackson

This is what Stephen Gyllenhaal (Huffington Post) used to think about Michael Jackson.

I was never a Michael Jackson fan. Not at all. When he was a child I found his music manipulative and muddy — he seemed like an over-coiffed puppet. As he grew up he became equal parts scary and sad to me, not to mention wildly and crassly commercial. And then there were all the issues of the monster that seemed to emerge — the baby out the window stunt, all those rumored boys in his over-sized bed, his strange home, his face — a pop freak to the max, a ghoul.

SMFH – not at the critique, because everyone’s entitled to their opinion, but at the grounds for critique.

But then, he saw “This is It” this weekend and minutes into the movie he’d completely changed his mind and found himself “… literally weeping for his [Michael Jackson’s] voice that had the depth and maturity of the finest and most complex wine, a Shakespearean wine that rose above the tragedy of what his life had become.” And so that is how a critic finally got Michael Jackson.

But, there are a couple of things I don’t get. Like why people care so much about the Blanket in the window incident. It’s as if Blanket was their child. Or as if their own fathers never did some crazy thing when they were little because let’s face it, men aren’t always the most careful gender with babies and young children. It’s like me hating some random guy I don’t know because I saw him tossing his baby up in the air. Am I missing something here? Am I supposed to be hating guys who do that?? WTF. I mean did you ask Blanket how he feels about it? Sheesh.

And what was weird about Michael Jackson’s house? Why was his choice in decor such a problem to people who never even went there. Did he hold you hostage in a bedroom at Neverland with life sized images of Snow White, the Seven Dwarfs and Darth Vader that kept you up at night (hmmmph I suppose you wish!). How do you think a man who was brought up on movies and been a performer since the age of three would decorate his home if money was no object? Wouldn’t it be stranger if the place wasn’t full of entertainment memorabilia? “Over-coiffed puppet” – like was he supposed to get on stage in dirty clothes and uncombed hair? And btw puppets have jerky, awkwardly coordinated movements. What was ever jerky and uncoordinated about Michael’s dancing?

Goes to show how easily manipulated some people can be. Entertainment news says “look how he blows his nose with that handkerchief. That’s weeeeirrd – hate him!! Entertainment news says – “okay weird guy’s dead – you don’t have to worry about him dangling your baby anymore” (as if he was ever going to meet your baby in the first place but if he did you’d be doing everything to make sure your baby stayed on his guest list for as many perks s/he could get for as long as you could). SMH. This is why I have no interest in watching “This is It”. Michael Jackson was never just some weird guy that the evening news told me I was supposed to hate. To me he was a phenomenal performer, and part of the soundtrack of my life. I know great art when I see it and I’m damn proud to have been able to see the Jacksons family as exceptional performers when I was just a little girl. I’m glad that Michael’s choice of interior decor although it probably isn’t mine, has no bearing on the way I feel about him. To me he’s a musical icon period. I don’t need a posthumous documentary released without the consent of the decedent’s family to make me feel a few moments of sentiment for the artist, to think “oh maybe he wasn’t so bad after all”  – that is – until the next negative bs breaks on airwaves.

Click HERE to read the full review.