The Legacy of Michael Jackson
the Tabloids, the Music, the Family, the Kids Paris, Prince, Blanket
Jul 9, 2009
On the front page of the July 8 2009 USA Today was a picture of Michael Jackson’s siblings all clad in black coddled around a weeping Paris Michael Katherine Jackson at the microphone. At the July 7, 2009 memorial at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, her brothers, Prince and Blanket were close by her side.
Michael: the Icon
Neilson reports over 31 million viewers around the world watched as Janet and Marlon Jackson adjusted the microphone for a brave Paris Jackson to address the audience. She stepped to the podium and uttered the first words spoken to the public by any of Jackson’s 3 children, “ . . . Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. . . I love him- so much.” With that Paris, was not alone when she broke into tears. All around the world people cried for Michael.
Michael Jackson was an icon with talent unmatched, known for Thriller, Man in the Mirror and countless other chart-topping hits. An entire generation grew up with Michael Jackson’s music as the very soundtrack of their childhoods. There were times when Michael was treated like the true King of Pop, and there were times when his vast contributions to music and humanity were over shadowed by court hearings or his latest physical transformation. It wasn’t so long ago that the tabloids headlined “Wako Jacko”, with a photo of a discombobulated Jackson appearing to dangle his son, Blanket over a hotel balcony.
Jackson's Fair-weathered Friends
After Michael Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009, a lot of “close friends” of the King of Pop started coming out of the wood-work to do interview upon interview on all the major news networks. There were cooks, doctors, lawyers, childhood friends, foreign friends; and all of them spoke about how loving and caring Michael was as an individual. Geraldo Rivera spoke on Fox News about this odd surfacing of old chums, “Ninety-nine percent of the celebrities who came to the memorial did not stand anywhere near Michael Jackson during the years he was accused of those horrible crimes, and they didn't say, 'We believe him innocent, they didn't say let the case go where it may, let the facts prove innocence or guilt.' They just disappeared,” he said, “and now they have resurfaced to celebrate his life.”
Michael Jackson’s life was full of fair-weathered friends and fair-weathered fans, however there was one undying force who continues to protect his honor: his family.
Mourning Michael Jackson
At the 2009 BET Awards, Janet Jackson told the audience, “My entire family wanted to be here tonight, but it was just too painful. To you, Michael is an icon. To us, Michael is family and he will forever live in all of our hearts…Thank you for all of your support. We miss him so much.” Janet and Paris have tried to reveal to the world a Michael Jackson that unfortunately was never revealed during his life. To many fans, he was larger than life itself. Perhaps the lesson here is that Michael's legacy will not only live through his music, but through his children and family. He was a man, a brother, a son, and a father and he has left a family who loves him dearly.
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