Cry For The Chldren

As affected as I was initially by the death of Michael Jackson, I soon grew tired of the constant barrage of MJ stories on TV. Even CNN lead their top-of-the-hour story with speculation on what the toxicology report from his autopsy might reveal, and relegated North Korea’s threat to launch a nuke at us on July the 4th to the second spot.

Fine. I have come to accept that the responsible, watchdog press in this country was in its death throes for decades, finally pushing up daisies during the dubbya days, if it ever really existed at all.

I also have come to terms with the sad fact that celebrities are the royalty of America, and our reverence, fascination, even obsession with them rivals that usually reserved for the House of Windsor by Londoners.

Though I am told I am opinionated, in my heart I am basically a live and let live person, so I have been trying to ignore the television instead of torturing myself with hour after hour of MJ coverage, and how that coverage reflects on us as a nation.

But when I saw the video of Paris Jackson, MJ’s daughter, speaking at the memorial, and the actions of those around her during this heartbreaking scene, it touched something in me that wanted to spirit those children away and not give them up until a decent, normal home was found for them.

Here is a link to the video. It is only 46 seconds long, but it speaks volumes. Watch it once and you will see the pain in this little girl’s heart (I bet this video will be up there with the one of little John Kennedy saluting at his father’s funeral, the oversized watch dangling poignantly from his tiny arm). Watch it again and notice the actions of the family around her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xd-bUZXxNU


Initially, what we see is the very public display of this child’s shattered world. Her squeaky words remind us that this was not just the King of Pop dying, this was a man, a father, that left 3 basically motherless children to this world. We can debate his fitness as a parent til the cows come home, but we cannot deny that this child loved him.

Grief for the loss of a parent is a natural part of life (albeit not usually at such a young age), and as sad as it is to watch, we all know Paris Jackson will recover from this eventually. But being forced to express that grief in front of thousands of people, some of whom screamed out “Janet” from the auditorium as if this were some creepy necro-concert, is just plain wrong. We see the aunt (was it Janet or Latoya, who knows, they all look like mannequinesque copies if each other now anyway) telling her to “speak up Honey.” There was the grandmother adjusting the microphone so every vampire out there could be sure to hear. After Paris barely gets out her 2 sentences, she turns and dives into the breast of her aunt, who comforts her briefly, which drives home to us the lack of a real mother in these children's lives.

In typical Jackson fashion, the “show” was the reason. These spectators were not mourners, they were an audience. Tickets were sold to a memorial service for godsake. There was applause as the casket holding Jackson’s corpse was brought in by his brothers, as if they realized this would be the last time the Jackson 5 would be seen together. Mariah Carey belted out an old J-5 tune, one that was popular before she was even born. There was a morbid We Are The World-type gathering on stage, sung by about 100 of the Beautiful People, performing one of MJ’s humanitarian numbers; a reason for B-list pop stars to get face time, and for a few A-list divas to feed their egos. Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the show. I for one don’t give damn about any of it. The only thing I ever want to hear about Michael Jackson again is what is to become of his children. I certainly hope they are not allowed to be near their abusing grandfather, the man who, in my opinion, is responsibly for the very broken person Michael Jackson became.

I saw 2 people with genuine emotion on their faces, and neither sported the last name Jackson. Lionel Ritchie was pale as a ghost and looked to be fighting tears most of the time. And Brooke Shields, a lifelong friend of MJ, gave a sweet eulogy while barely maintaining composure.

In the meantime, hidden behind Jacksonpoloosa, Farrah Fawcett was quietly buried with family and friends present. It was reported she left a letter to her family to be read at the funeral, one that will be kept private, as it should be. Once again Farrah, your overlooked class and dignity shines through.