MJ is dead!
Joe Jackson is asking the question, 'How did my son die'? For me, the question posed by Joe Jackson is loaded with irony?
It will take a few weeks for an autopsy report to confirm the 'cause' of MJ's death - which means for the next few weeks the media will speculate and spin, conduct interviews and investigations contemplating various scenarios in the attempt to answer the million dollar question: What was the cause of MJ's death?
I would like to suggest MJ died a long time ago? Without being cynical, the answer may be closer than we think and may have nothing to do with what the autopsy will reveal in a few weeks
Consider excerpt from Wikipedia describing Joe Jackson (father of MJ)
"Jackson's image as a father was tainted throughout the late 1980s through the mid 1990s in which the media reported stories told by some of his children that Jackson was abusive towards his children. When he managed his family, he ordered each of them to call him "Joseph", which led to several siblings being estranged from their father. In 2003, in an interview for BBC TV, Joseph admitted to using physical punishment on his children and also voiced his disapproval of homosexuality. Michael Jackson claimed that from a young age he was physically and emotionally abused by his father, enduring incessant rehearsals, whippings and name-calling, but also contends that his father was a strict disciplinarian that played a large part of his success. In one altercation — later recalled by Marlon Jackson - Joseph held Michael upside down by one leg and "pummeled him over and over again with his hand, hitting him on his back and buttocks." Joseph would also trip up or push his male children into walls. One night while Michael was asleep, Joseph climbed into his room through the bedroom window. Wearing a fright mask, he entered the room screaming and shouting. Joseph said he wanted to teach his children not to leave the window open when they went to sleep. For years afterward, Michael suffered nightmares about being kidnapped from his bedroom. Michael first spoke openly about his childhood abuse in a 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey. He said that during his childhood he often cried from loneliness and would sometimes get sick or start to vomit upon seeing his father. In Michael's other high profile interview, Living with Michael Jackson (2003), the singer covered his face with his hand and began crying when talking about his childhood abuse. Jackson recalled that Joseph sat in a chair with a belt in his hand as he and his siblings rehearsed and that "if you didn't do it the right way, he would tear you up, really get you."
What say you? Was the Neverland ranch, webster infatuation, surgeries etc a testament to the child rearing techniques of an abusive father who saw his children as assets to be marketed and not gifts to be nurtured and trained?
Some may argue all of the musical genius we've enjoyed somehow outweigh the methods which led to the accomplishment of such a feat, but i beg to differ. What did it profit the king of pop to gain the notoriety of the whole world and yet lose so tragically in the end?
What say you? I'm not interested in playing the blame game but creating a space where genuine and thoughtful conversation can occur on the issue.
Ralph
