Neverland never dies

'I'm better off dead. I'm done'

It's been a little over 72 hours now, since the king of pop passed from our midst. I have purposely refrained from commenting on his death, in lieu of contenting myself to simply watch the lecherous aftermath of what surely is proving to be a media feeding frenzy and media circus. Quite predictable I might add and leaving little for someone like myself to add of either worth or relevance.

I was like many of the Jackson era, I passed the last forty odd years on the sidelines watching the rise of the child into the mega star and then the decent into the decadence of a childhood deprived and prolonged by mind boggling wealth and a media circus that both prolonged and propelled it into its final oblivion.

I was never a great fan of the man or his music, although I must admit that his Thriller video has always stood out to me as the zenith of his career and the best offering of talent that he ever produced IMO. I like many others, simply watched the circus that was Michael's life and never considered the conflicts and pain that he endured until probably the last five or six years of his life.

The man child was a hapless soul IMO. A pitiful mass of humanity that had long ago been trapped into the life of a performing circus animal and never allowed to experience even the most simple joys in life. How else to explain the infatuation with Peter Pan and Neverland and the boy who never grew up. How else to explain the known comfort of the company of children. How else to explain the wide eyed wonder of extravagance, all the while never considering the consequences, or the fact that at some point the money runs out.

Michael Jackson was the classic caricature of arrested development IMO. The child trapped in the grown up body that could never be a man and yet could never remain as a child. There were never any options for this trick pony from Gary Indiana. He was born into a family of performing acts and he wound up being the prize pony of an abusive father that never allowed him to simply enjoy being a child.

I could probably say a lot about my observations of Michael Jackson over the last thirty odd years, but there would be little point. Most everyone knows and has seen for themselves the spiral of the once mega star into the oblivion that resulted in his death this week. In the article linked above, the author clears up more than a few loose ends and answers more than a few painful questions IMO. The article and comments obviously excerpted from his book and from a seeming wealth of direct experience dealing with and observing Michael over years. The author is the first person to bring it all into perspective since Michael's death IMO and his book was already written before Michael's death.

My first thoughts after hearing of Michael's death this week were.....'let the circus begin.' But in reality, the circus has always been there, it never ended. It goes on and all that has changed is that the real freak show is about to begin. And that will become the legacy. Everyone from the creditors to all the other scavengers are only out to make a buck. Sadly so, even his family will be right in the midst of carving up the legacy. They will all be tearing at the carcass of memory that was once the king of pop music and they will each want their pound of flesh and royalties for their efforts.

Thankfully, Michael is gone and removed from this final act of debauchery. He won't have to endure the penetrating lights and the sneering laughter anymore, or the family betrayal that has already begun IMO. He has endured one of the most sumptuous and painful lives that any human being could possibly imagine, but all that has ended now. And whether he is at peace now is something that remains between him and his creator.

I for one find no pleasure in watching the circus. I am content to remember the performer that was Michael at his best. Before the corruption of life and people had taken their toll and destroyed the last living resident of Neverland.

I can close my eyes and almost hear Michael's voice saying......."Forget them, Wendy. Forget them all. Come with me where you'll never, never have to worry about grown up things again."

RIP Michael.