More in Death

"You can't win Darth. If you strike me down I will become more powerful then you can possibly imagine" Obi-Wan Kenobi says these words to Darth Vader on their fateful lightsaber fight on the death star. He is making a profound statement about death. We become more in our death then we did in our life. Our good and bad become magnified as we die and people remember us. It is true with Michael Jackson. All the good and bad that was in his life has now in death become something even greater then it was in his life. Since, his death I have been listening again to Michael's music. What comes over me is a mixture of emotions. I remember the first time seeing the video for Billie Jean, the time at the skating rink everyone stopped and starred as they played the video for Thriller. the time I danced, or sang along with a Michael Jackson song. For everyone my age we remember the day when there was no bigger or greater entertainer on the planet then Michael Jackson. What he became was a conclusion to a life that was complex. We will never know the truth about Michael Jackson as a person, because it has to be filtered to us through media, and fame. What we will always remember were the moments of joy he brought us through his music and his dance.
Recently Rep. Peter King called Michael Jackson was a "low life" and a "child molester". My problem with Peter King is that he is guilty of breaking the eighth commandment. He is guilty of making innuendo and rumor into truth. He can say "All Michael Jackson did was sing and dance." But what he can not take away is that Michael Jackson was part of our lives. He touched people with his music. That is something powerful and his death reminds of his brilliance and power. As well as his failures and short comings. The truth is that Michael was like all of us because he was human, and every human life is complex. We are all filled with good and bad, brilliance and failure. It is easy to say, "stop with a psychological babble." It is a lot harder to live in the real world with complicated people. I suppose it would be more comfortable for Peter King if everyone fit into the same mold, acted as he would like. However, this is not the way the world works. If Michael had broken the law then he would have rightly been in jail. The truth is that he was never convicted. So anything one might say about his involvement with children is simply guessing. We can say that he was a complicated person. He had things that were not so great about him. But we can say that about everybody including Rep. Peter King. I wish as a public figure he would choose his words more carefully, and not just spout off to get headlines. Because what he forgets to realize is that in death we become much stronger then we were in real life for good and for bad.