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When it was announced that a series of 50 concerts was to be held at the O2, there was intense excitement. When they became available, all tickets sold in minutes. For tens of thousands of people, the opportunity to see and hear the legend was worth any amount of money.

The hysteria that accompanied the mere announcement of the tour was enough to confirm the popularity of the singer. His music brought intense nostalgia, his dance routines were hypnotising, the iconic moves and squeals were his alone.

Yet Michael Jackson was a riddle. He was a performer who was intensely talented and confident on the stage, but painfully shy and embarrassingly eccentric everywhere else. He got into trouble morally and financially, yet his fan base remained secure throughout. ‘What do you think of Michael Jackson?’ Is a question that needs a bit of thought before it can be answered.

Changing minds?

His ‘This is it’ tour could have changed a lot of people’s minds about him. It is possible that he could really have staged a comeback, readdressing our perceptions of the Wacko Jacko stereotype. Recently released footage on YouTube shows Jackson singing and dancing in rehearsal two days before his death. It amazed me because, despite my cyncism, the King of Pop really did seem to be up to it. The energy and effervescence of his dancing and singing, particularly at the age of 50, was a bit of a shock. He seemed to be back on the stage at his most confident and vital, doing precisely the thing he loved, free from his shackles.

Death of a legend

Yet it is also clear that the issues haunting him off stage may have led to his death. The last days and weeks of Jackson’s life are under intense scrutiny. Over the coming weeks we will inevitably be given tiny details that build up a picture of why and how he died; what drugs he was using, how he was coping with the build up of pressure from his coming tour and how the medical staff working for him reacted to his demands.

His life was certainly lonely and there were few people he could trust, particularly in the media. Yet he did have very close friends. Among them were Christian singers, Andre and Sandra Crouch. Through their times with Jackson, they report that they had talked with him about the Lord and prayed with him. Sadly, to their knowledge, he had never committed himself to Christ, despite knowing that he had access to forgiveness. It is increasingly obvious that Jackson found himself seeking relief and comfort in painkillers and powerful sedatives rather than in God.

Dissatisfied

In all the tributes that I have heard, people draw our attention to Jackson as a legend, a talent, an icon. They conclude that his shortcomings were such because he was a product of his upbringing, a victim of intrusive media attention, a misunderstood child-man.

Yet from a Christian perspective, he was simply a sinner who was wealthy and extremely well known, living out his sinful nature in the spotlight. Like us, he displayed overt egotism, but his money made it a bit more obvious. We may not have the cash to float vast statues of ourselves on boats down the Thames, but who among us has never wanted to draw attention to ourselves? We may not have built a fantasy fortress around ourselves and filled it with pleasures that we alone can enjoy, but we sure would like to! We may not have changed our appearances through plastic surgery so drastically, but we have all been dissatisfied with some aspect of how we look.

The author Paul Theroux visited the Neverland ranch ten years ago and wrote at the time that ‘it was filled with images, many of them depicting Michael elaborately costumed, in heroic poses’. It may seem tacky when put like that, but, deep down, we all idolise ourselves. It’s a reminder to check our own hearts to see whom we worship. We probably pose heroically in many areas of our minds!

The death we need to understand more deeply is not Jackson’s but that of Jesus Christ. Understanding the cross will bring me more life than the Complete Essential Collection ever could.

Eleanor Margesson

© Evangelicals Now - August 2009
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