Michael Jackson's Honesty Remembered

I know what you're thinking. It took me so long to post this one. I do agree, but I can explain.

Been in London for the past 3 weeks. I needed this time away, you see. So many things going on inside my head and it's so difficult to figure out the next step. Where would I go from here? I still have absolutely no idea, but let me tell you what happened in London.

I've made wonderful friends on Facebook and MJTP, and I got to see some of them face to face. This was amazing! Meeting virtual friends takes this friendship into a totally different level. Still our human nature demands that kind of direct interaction, you know. What is so special about Michael Jackson's fans, though, is that those folks never disappoint. They always exceed expectations. They leave you charmed with their sweet characters, warm hearts, and interesting talks. There is this striking chemistry, you instantly feel the bond and you get in touch with the social side of you like you've never experienced it before. I am so grateful for the time I spent with you guys. My dear friend, Natalie, it's been a blessing spending this time together, reading your beautiful poems, and of course going to the Thriller Live musical. The "Remember Michael' Association, Sophie Boisseaux who organized the London rally in front of the US embassy on the 5th of April, thank you for bringing this group together.

Goodness, there is so much to say, but let me tell you this. Although I was searching for resolutions and failed to reach any, I did find inspiration everywhere I went. This is not my first visit to London, I had already been to the top attractions (and the Michael Jackson Exhibition) , so this time it was about satisfying my artistic appetite. It was museums and galleries all day, and fun with my daughter in the evenings. This is how it worked.

Won't go into details, I just wanna say that time after time after time I come to realize that after all is said and done it is ART that remains to tell the story. Art carries the full experiences of the people, their stories, their times.. it tells about their minds, hearts and souls.. speaks the unspeakable. In Westminister Abbey, I was walking on tiles bearing the names of famous people, monarchies and those of rank. I spent a long time at the poets' corner, where the names of those who shaped my mind were engraved beside each other in front of Chaucer's tomb. My God! It is an indescribable feeling. Just as I was totally bewildered and overwhelmed, Shakespeare's words kept flowing into my head. He wrote a lot about death. Well, all poets did, but his words, to me, were the profoundest. I remember when I used to think, "Why is Shakespeare so obsessed with death?" I was like 18 then, and it seemed as though I'll live forever. Of course, you can never understand this until you reach a point when you have something to offer, some project or mission in life, and have to go through it bearing the heavy weight of the knowledge, that death will interrupt you and put an end to everything.

I also remembered the articles which commented on Michael saying on the "Living with Michael Jackson" documentary (it is a shame to call it a documentary, really) that he wanted to live forever. A bitter smile wiped over my face. What conclusions they derived out of his very simple and honest words! Oh Em Gee! Check this one for example:

Jackson's freakish body represents the struggle of fantasy against reality, the pyrrhic victory of culture over biology. Quite a few young people are not even aware that he is black. If postmodern theory won't acknowledge that there is any such thing as raw nature, neither will this decaying infant. It is hardly surprising that he has expressed a wish to live forever, given that death is the final victory of nature over culture. *

Who the hell doesn't wish to live forever, huh? Does Prof. Eagleton want to die? If he does, then he is suicidal. Nobody wants to die. Immortality has always been the desire of human beings, and this hopeless desire sparked their imagination since the dawn of history. So don't anybody come and claim they find it strange that someone who is asked how he'd like to be buried would give the honest answer: "I don't wanna be buried."

There is this story from mythology about the Sybil who wished to live forever and Apollo granted her wish, but since she forgot to ask for eternal youth, she aged too badly till there was nothing left of her but her voice. Not just so, locals were so disgusted with her, they placed her in a glass bottle for public display. In Petronius' novel, the "Satyricon", the hero claims to have seen the Sybil in her bottle, boys asking her what she wanted, and she replied saying that she wanted to die. Such a story can be interpreted in different ways, but it doesn't mean that people should want to die! What if the Sybil was smarter than she was and asked for eternal youth? Would she have given the same answer to the boys?

Those who enjoy wearing the cloak of wisdom and issuing judgments from their podiums should really pause and think again. Is it always better to trade honesty for what is considered to be "appropriate" or "acceptable"? Social hypocrisy is always hailed as appropriate behavior. I'm a woman of the world and I know that. But why do some people enjoy tearing up those who don't follow those ready-made scenarios? This is something that I don't understand and cannot classify under anything but vicious! What good could possibly stem out of calling someone a "decaying infant" just because he innocently expressed the simple and honest truth, that he, like everybody else, wishes to live forever? Just cause we don't say that doesn't mean you have the right to insult those who do.

Mainstreamers, please stop hating honesty! Enough said on this one.

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* Eagleton, Terry. "The Ultimate Postmodern Spectacle" The Guardian. 25 May 2005