A Father's Abuse Haunted Michael All His Life

My wife was a bit taken aback when I complained that after 24 hours of non-stop news of Michael Jackson's death it was time to move on.  "You've got to be kidding.  It's Michael JACKSON," she said.  "He was a legend, he will be remembered as one of the most talented performers ever."

That's true. So why didn't his death have as big an impact on me as it did on everyone else?  I stopped to think, when was the last time I've ever been shocked to tears, to feelings of deep sadness and extraordinary loss by the death of a singer or actor or athlete or the breakup of a group?

Never.  Maybe the closest I've come to something like that was when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles in 1958, but I was a young kid then and that was when I finally learned that baseball is a business, not a game.

But just when I was beginning to think I was a freak or something, my son called and said, "Don't know about you, Dad, but I'm tired of all the news about Michael Jackson."

What saddens me most about Michael Jackson's death was that for all his talent and fame and personal wealth, he was never very happy. Hilzoy at Obsidian Wings posted a clip from Wikipedia about how badly Micheal was abused as a child.  It was so bad that Jackson claimed there were times when the sight of his father would make him nauseous.

The irony is that some of that abuse probably made Michael a better performer at a very young age.  Would he have become the star he became if his father hadn't been so brutal?  The better question is, would Micheal have had a longer, happier life if his father had been more encouraging and less of a tyrant, even if he never became a star?  Certainly, if Michael never became a star we would have never known his sweet voice, his blockbuster songs and stunning videos.

But to be honest, I think most of us would happily give up the great things Michael Jackson gave us in return for a loving, supportive father and a happier childhood - and hopefully adulthood - for Michael.

--Trakker

Comments

[smooth criminal]

nice thoughts but I don't think he'd have traded it back.

http://themichaeljacksonmemorialsite.com

[Trakker]

...I don't think he'd have traded it back.

You are probably right. I think I project my feelings onto others. I know for a fact that I would be miserable if I was famous, and even more miserable if I had been abused as a child.

Michael raised a lot of money for charities, and gave a lot of his own money too. I'm sure he got a lot of pleasure out of that, but I think it was painfully obvious that for the last 10 years or so Jackson was in psychological pain.

[cari]

...and now Michael's abusive father and enabler mother are trying to get custody of his children.