Michael Jackson

Okay, I've held it in for a day or two, but I guess I have a comment.

I grew up with Michael Jackson's tunes ringing in my ears. The one that really grabbed me at an early age was "Ben." Yeah, it was a love song to a rat. I never saw the movie. But in Michael singing it I heard a plaintive cry for a place to go for all of those who saw themselves as unwanted by society.

And wasn't that always Michael's trouble? No doubt, the guy was very strange. And his boku money allowed him to become stranger and stranger. Yet, all of the different things Michael did to himself and his life were outgrowths of what he was expressing in that song. He wanted to create a life and place where he could belong and where no one even desired to exploit him, much less did it.

He had a tremendous talent for music. He understood it in his soul and had a gift for being able to incorporate all different types of music in his tracks. Thriller stands by itself musically and dramatically. Michael was ALWAYS dramatic. He was never given the opportunity to be a little boy, and as soon as he was old enough to stop being a little boy exploited, he used his emancipation to wrest control over his own fate.

To hear that his family is "moving quickly" to take control over his children and his image and his financial empire is tragic. In the end, those who should have protected him are the ones who once again will exploit him. And this time they'll do it in the names of his children.

I'm not sure where Michael Jackson ends up eternally, but if he's with Mozart, you know there's some great music being created.

/kw