Death by fame
WASHINGTON — The sad tale of Michael Jackson will be retold a few thousand times more as autopsy reports and estate details emerge.
Meanwhile, the presumed verdict is that Jackson died of prescription drugs. On CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” Thursday, the director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Gil Kerlikowske, said that Jackson’s death was a wake-up call to the country about prescription drugs.
Maybe. Maybe not. We all know that abusing prescription drugs—taking them for purposes other than prescribed—is bad for our health. Potentially deadly, in fact.
Regardless, people choose to abuse drugs (or smoke cigarettes or drink booze) for a variety of reasons. But drugs aren’t really what killed Jackson, are they? They might have led to the stopping of his heart, but Jackson’s death spiral began decades ago.
You could see it in his face.
Michael Jackson’s identity crisis wasn’t subtle. There could hardly be a more vivid physical manifestation of a human being’s chaotic psyche than Jackson’s ever-changing visage. Imagine trying so hard to become whole—however one imagines one’s complete self—that you subjected your face to multiple transfigurations until you are hardly recognizable as the person you once were.
Fame and the spiritual poverty of lost childhood are what killed Michael Jackson.
It seemed inappropriate to air these thoughts before the memorial service. It’s still too soon—and probably irrelevant—to focus on Jackson’s attraction to other people’s children. New York Rep. Peter King’s declaration after Jackson’s death that the pop star was a “lowlife” and a “pervert” not only offended many Americans, it served no useful purpose.
An online poll conducted by HCD Research, using the MediaCurves.com Web site, found that 60 percent of participants felt that King went too far and 57 percent didn’t agree with his statements.
Otherwise, King’s blunt-instrument analysis fell far short of insight into the truly tragic dimension of Jackson’s life. Like the face Jackson tried to fashion around some ideal image, his search for that lost part of himself found expression in his Neverland Ranch.
For a man whose musical genius was unconstrained by gravity, Jackson’s personal search bordered on the banal. Peter Pan?
The lost boy in Jackson seemed to grow younger with age. And though interviews through the years suggested that he understood what ailed him, he wasn’t able to approach a grown-up remedy. Perhaps having all the money you could ever dream of—and the worship of millions—meant not ever having to grow up. But a man who isn’t an adult is doomed to pain—and Jackson’s was excruciating to witness.
Rather than receive the therapy he so desperately needed, he projected his needs onto real children and apparently sought to repair himself through them. His sometimes odd relationships with children—including his defense of sleeping with little boys—will always be a postscript on any appraisals of his immense talent.
Whether Jackson’s good works—not just his artistry but his charity—outweighed his peculiarities will be measured elsewhere. Meanwhile, his life—more than his death—is a wake-up call, but not about prescription drug abuse.
Whatever killed Michael Jackson was merely an instrument of self-destruction. The real disease was his own wracked soul that pivoted between a drive to push himself to preternatural levels and an almost fetal recoil from the demands of adoration.
The message I suspect even Jackson would hope we get is that children need a childhood, not fame. They need two loving parents, not material things.
Jackson’s life is a testament to genius, yes, but also to a culture best characterized by misplaced priorities. The loss of innocence and our obsession with fame and celebrity are the real plagues, for which drug abuse and other pathologies are but symptoms.
By all accounts, Jackson was painfully empathic toward children’s suffering and, apparently, sought his own relief in their company. Unfortunately, there was no shortage of peers. Millions of lost boys and girls are wandering in the neverland of instant gratification unbuffered by responsible adults. Most won’t meet such dramatic ends. Few can afford to indulge their inner child for long or to subsidize the extreme expressions that Jackson underwrote.
But the afflictions of loneliness and delayed maturity born of inadequate nurturing are the same for many. Until we cure those, prescription drug abuse is the least of our problems.
Kathleen Parker is a columnist for the Orlando Sentinel. Her e-mail address is kparker@kparker.com.
Jul 13, 2009 at 11:44 p.m.
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http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi...
Jul 13, 2009 at 8:13 p.m.
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Mr. Freeman actually died in 2008.
Jul 13, 2009 at 5:26 p.m.
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The battle at LZ X-Ray was depicted in the book (author: Joe Galloway) and the movie (both titled): We Were Soldiers Once ....And Young. I think Freeman was played by Greg Kinnear in the movie.
Ric Rescorla also fought in that battle. On 911 he died in the second tower after repeated efforts to escort people to safety. Several years ago the First Cavalry Association was attempting to have Rescorla posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom.
Jul 13, 2009 at 1:48 p.m.
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Andrew- RIGHT ON my friend!
Jul 13, 2009 at 1:44 p.m.
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The people that claim to be Americans could better be served by following a path like Ed Freeman. His last name is kind of ironic isn't it?
Jul 13, 2009 at 11:27 a.m.
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First off, Jackson wasn't pushed into doing anything! The "it's his daddy's fault" excuse is way past it's sell by date now. I have nothing against Jackson and openly admit I've always appreciated his gift and art that he's shared for many decades. I also understand that somewhere down the line accountablity kicks in as well. Of course the entertainment business is work. I give him credit for having the ambition and fortitude to continue doing it as long as he did. He chose not to be mediocre and continually strived to be the best. He should be commended. This doesn't make him immune from certain standards or rules of society nonetheless. Whether we like it or not, we're all role models to some degree. It's just way it is. I'll even go so far as saying, I don't think Jackson was even a bad role model. He chose to live his life, oddly as it was, the way he wanted. We all make our own beds and it always will ring true, our actions have consequences. Personal accountability is a major key to living life in a matter that respects others and allows them to live their lives. We simply have to have laws in place because so many choose to cross those lines of morality and violate others freedoms. In essence, we "ain't" perfect, but, it's our job as individuals to learn and be better people on a daily basis. Lead by example.
Jul 13, 2009 at 12:26 a.m.
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Michael Jackson dies and it’s 24/7 news coverage. A real American hero dies and not a mention of it in the news. The media has no honor and God is watching!
Ed Freeman
You're a 19-year-old kid. You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8-1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is half way around the world, 12,000 miles away and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter and you look up to see an unarmed Huey, but it doesn't seem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.
He's coming anyway.
And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire as they load 2 or 3 of you on board.
Then he flies you up and out, through the gunfire to the doctors and nurses.
And he kept coming back, 13 more times, and took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.
Medal of Honor Recipient Ed Freeman died on Wednesday, June 25th, 2009, at the age of 80, in Boise , ID. May God rest his soul.
Jul 13, 2009 at 12:03 a.m.
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Unless you have been in the business, you can not appreciate how hard it is. What fools people is that a professional makes it look easy and fun, that's part of the job, but it is seldom easy and not always fun. You have to become a different person for the performance and after its over become yourself again, whether you realize it or not, and the transition can be incredibly difficult both physically and emotionally.
Jul 12, 2009 at 11:55 p.m.
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I think that the fact that Jackson was being pushed into doing 50 shows instead of 10 was more than he could handle emotionally and certainly physically. Have you ever heard of a star of this stature being pushed into a contract for so many shows in such a short time? Sure, there are the Vegas and Branson acts that take on billings like this all the time, but is there any real comparison to the energy and sheer physical exertion that the fans expected from Michael? I think that Michael was terrified that he would not live up to the fans' expectations and that the stress was just to much for him to bear. Michael had paid his dues in the business many times over and I think that it was despicable to put him in this situation. He deserved to be treated better as a performer no matter what you may think of him as a person.
Jul 12, 2009 at 9:46 a.m.
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How about we start using the correct definition for these so-called entertainers, "Hyperactive Narcissists". Look closer, you'll see it in every one of them.
Jul 12, 2009 at 9:41 a.m.
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The word "genius" is used way too much!
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