Friday, June 26, 2009

From One Messed Up Dude To Another


Talking much about oneself can also be a means to conceal oneself.
Nietzsche

I can still hear momma say: “honey, don’t let it go to your head.”
Kim Gordon

...one thing I’ll say about Michael Jackson, he was one messed-up dude...and I say that without judgment, as a fellow messed-up dude...even if messed-up in very different ways...Tolstoy didn’t say that normal people are all alike but messed-up people are all messed-up in their own particular ways, but he might as well have...

...Michael Jackson’s problem, some say, was that he didn’t get to have an adolescence...my problem, it could be said, is that I did have one...and yet, like him, I suspect, I’ve sometimes felt that true happiness was lost with some important formative experiences I never had...

...I’ve certainly tried to remake myself...at least in terms of the ways I thought other people looked at me...more than once...even if I haven’t had any actual “work” done...nor have I managed to get obscenely wealthy...but, as with Michael Jackson, as has been made all too clear, I found the same problems remained right there where they were on the inside no matter what was done to hide them on the outside...

...to be honest, can’t say I was ever much of a fan of his...then, to the best of my knowledge, he was never much of a fan of mine...so we’re even....besides, if one thing’s clear about Michael Jackson, it’s that whatever stardom did for him, it wasn’t good...so, guess I can be glad I didn’t contribute to it, much...

...and, anyway, this is really only meant as a salute from one messed-up dude to another...and to all the other messed-up people out there struggling to love their messed-up selves...

If you're going through hell, keep going.
Winston Churchill*

*stolen from Yogadork

10 comments:

koe whitton-williams said...

I must confess I bought thriller in LP, cassette and CD and if they were still making 8-tracks in '82 I probably would have bought that too. I was too old to be a real fan - (he was 3 years younger than I) but I thought the song human nature was always worth a listen. The last line of that song is "I like living this way."

Yeah.

Sure.

Anonymous said...

My sentiments exactly. Great picture with this post too!

Christine Vyrnon said...

Great quotes, great dolly dali dalai

I agree MJ was messed up. I also am eternally amazed at how we keep on cruxifying these sacrificial lambs. I often wondered if he would have been any better off if his public had been more supportive and less judgemental as he manipulated his facade. But let's face it, as he cracked we were all more than willing to point and laugh. Why do we do this... famous or not... find someone to build up and then tear down?

Erik Donald France said...

Good beans, Wellington. Exactly.

the walking man said...

*shrug* He lived, left behind what he left behind, he died and now he sleeps in the house of his ancestors. The rest of us messed up dudes who are reading this post of yours on the other hand have a "heap o' living"* yet to do.

*Edgar A. Guest

TheRiverWanders said...

I think the lives and deaths of some celebrities (whose dramas we see played out on a national and sometimes global stage) illustrate three facts:

1. The impact of a safe and sane childhood (alternatively, its lack),

2. Society's voracious ability exploit a person's vulnerabilities for entertainment and profit, and

3. That fame and fortune - especially for children - aren't necessarily beneficial conditions.

*Normal* is just a setting on a clothes dryer; we're all messed up to a certain degree. I guess celebrities just have more people witnessing (and profiting from) the breakdown.

My favorite MJ song is "You Are Not Alone" - I don't like the video, but the song itself is one of the loveliest ever written.

roseanne said...

Powerful reflections here. I think that if we'd all long ago started to see MJ as a "messed up dude" and not a genius/freak/celebrity, he might have had a better, healthier life...

Michelle's Spell said...

I also felt compelled to write about MJ -- I like your take a lot! I always enjoyed his music and think that there's a truly tragic side of fame and money -- you have way too much power to "mess yourself up" -- I'm glad that I can't do everything I want in certain ways. Keeps me from some bad decisions, I'm certain.

patti said...

I'm with Christine - if someone is weak and vulnerable (as most artists are), the mob goes for the jugular, and the media lead the charge.

Dr Norman Doidge (Brain Dr) talks about 'critical periods' - times when we learn what we need to know at each stage of development. MJ missed out on a few I believe. Not his fault.

This world needs compassion, compassion and more compassion. Love is the answer, it's not corny, it is the truth.

Lydia said...

I'm catching up with your posts early in the a.m. on the 4th of July. This one brought a tear, kinda choked me up. It's probably one of the best tributes to MJ simply because of that amazing paragraph beginning to be honest. The funeral on Tuesday is sure to be one for the record-books, but what I'm going to remember is this post that I wish his kids could read someday to put him in perspective.