Man In The Mirror - The Michael Jackson Topic

Growing up as a kid in the 1970's there was no one around my age who didn't know and like The Jackson Five. Even though their hits were a few years old by the mid-70's, they were still omnipresent on radio and TV (I watched the Jackson 5 cartoon series pretty regularly). There's no way to overestimate just how huge they were.

"Off The Wall" was a bigger album than people remember (most likely because the success of "Thriller" dwarfed it). I had the single for "Rock With You" even though I could've lived without it as it was being played on the radio constantly.

I was 13 when "Thriller" came out and arguably at the perfect age for it. I do think it's a lesser work than the previous album but it's certainly the most influential album of the 1980's and to Pop Music in general. Jackson as a megawatt celeb with endorsement deals, elaborate music videos and choreographed concerts pretty much invented the modern day pop star. To this day, a track like "Billie Jean" can be played next to the latest Ariana Grande single and not sound dated. That's saying something.

Despite its success, by the time the "Bad" album came out there was a sense, among my peers anyway, that Jackson was already past his sell-by date. The songs became overproduced, the stage shows almost grotesque in scope and the videos longer, more expensive and less interesting. Artists like Prince and Madonna had already surpassed him in terms of respect and influence among my peers. Their music seemed to age along with us whereas MJ became more of an act meant for younger kids.

I dropped out of paying much attention to MJ after 1987. Granted, my music interests were far removed from what he was doing or most top 40 in general (although I hung in with Madonna for a while and I never gave up on Prince who only got crazier/more creative and whom I consider one of the few geniuses in rock/pop).

After MJ died it felt as if we were going through some kind of pop cultural wake and his (alleged) dark past of child molestation accusations and bizarre behavior was being swept aside to reexamine his influence. That's inevitable for any cultural icon.

I did take a somewhat ghoulish interest in the posthumous releases his estate began cranking out; the controversial "is it really him?" Michael album and the more palatable Xscape album.

We've reached the end of that "cultural wake" I described. The #metoo movement has played a part in that, no question. I can sympathize with MJ fans who don't want to believe the testimonies as heard in "Leaving Neverland". I don't want to believe them either. Who would?

They exist, however, and they're not going away. Trying to stifle the conversation or dismissing them without at least listening to them gives the appearance of trying to marginalize victims of child sexual abuse.

I think one can separate the art from the artist. MJ didn't make that music by himself holed up in a closet somewhere. If we ban MJ, should we also ban the members of Toto who played on most of the Thriller tracks? Should Quincy Jones' work with Sinatra be suspect now too just by association?

I don't have the answer for all of this. I don't think banning his records and tearing down statues to MJ (which I didn't even know existed until this week) will get us any closer to the truth or to a comfortable place where we can examine his now-tarnished legacy thoughtfully.

My gut tells me that we've only hit the tip of the iceberg with this stuff. It should all be heard, discussed, processed, and reevaluated. It's going to be a bumpy ride for MJ fans.

Oh, I'm relaxed. Thought the glorious self-portrait (That little yellow smiling head? That's me!) would give that away...