Information and Links
Join the fray by commenting, tracking what others have to say, or linking to it from your blog.
The Jackson Family Speaks
So recently (or semi-recently 
Oprah landed a pretty significant gig interviewing the Jackson family that included Katherine, Joe and even Jackson’s kids who spent a lot of their childhood covered up. Is Micheal rolling around in his grave?
The interview was pretty low key and there weren’t too many unexpected turns. I just have to stop myself for a minute though and ask myself what it has to be like to be Micheal Jackson’s parent’s? As to be expected, the microscope has hovered over their heads for years as far as their parenting skills or lack there of. It seems we must blame either the parents or the world and fame for much of his dysfunction.
So Katherine is asked about his plastic surgery. She remembers when he first came to her about “feeling ugly”. Which for the record, like most people who have this miss-perception about themselves and their appearance, I thought he was actually a very cute kid. Had he left himself alone, he probably would have been a very handsome man. Maybe when he went to Katherine, she didn’t reinforce this enough with him? I can imagine as a parent, it is difficult to hear your child displeased with certain aspects of themselves. But rather than shrugging it off as normal behavior, she may have wanted to suggest some therapy at that point?
As I have gotten older, I have learned that happiness is nothing but something you can find within yourself. And to do that, you have to like/love yourself. So if there’s something you don’t like about you, you need to learn to like it and be happy with it…otherwise, it can easily spiral out of control to the point of you being miserable because you can’t find anything to like or love about you.
Okay, off of that soapbox for now and back to the main story. So of course Joe was questioned about his use of corporal punishment. Yes, I can imagine Joe’s harsh nature, constant critiquing and making Micheal never feel like he was good enough had something to do with his behavior toward himself. There’s no doubt about that. I don’t doubt that Joe was a semi-pimp when it came to his son’s career. He was a slave driver etc. But in the end, I think like most parents and people, he did his best. And while his best didn’t give a great father/son relationship, it did help to produce a drive and determination within an individual that made an impact on the world musically like few others. Could this have been created without Joe’s harsh tactics? Maybe, or maybe not? Is there any true way of knowing? No, but I do know that diamonds are produced under extreme pressure.
Then there are the kids who exemplify what true unconditional love is. It didn’t matter that he was a pop legend. Or that he may have acted inappropriately with other children in a sexual way. It didn’t matter that he carved out his face, was a germiphobe or that he just about dropped one of them off a balcony. They spoke of him as that he was a great father who made wonderful pancakes or something. Wow, what the world would be like if we all saw out of the eyes of children.
Pretty good post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed reading your blog posts.