There he’d be reminded of the syrupy yet preachy tune he subjected us to in the 1980s. You may remember, “Man in the Mirror.”
In the song, the self-proclaimed King of Pop croons:
I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror
I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways
And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer
If You Wanna Make The World A Better Place
Take A Look At Yourself, And Then Make A Change
As I watch the spectacle that Michael Jackson has become, I wonder what he sees when he looks in the mirror. I know what most of us see, but what does he see?
I’ve come to the conclusion that while most people slow down to gawk at a car wreck, some people enjoy being the car wreck. That was Michael: serial plastic surgeries, the chimp, living in the bubble, and of course, the Peter Pan fascination.
He’s enjoyed watching us slow down and gawk. He created this appetite in us to see how far he would go. What will Michael do next? And he has to keep taking it to the next level. For someone like him who grew up in the fish bowl and on stage, the worst thing that could happen is that people stop paying attention. We speed by without slowing down. The car wreck has become part of the landscape.
And as he continues to create absurdity for attention, he doesn’t realize how pathetic he has now become.
There was Michael singing to us about the man in the mirror, but it doesn’t appear that he has done any of the difficult soul searching he urged us to do in his sappy songs.
I guess royalty requires no reflection to acknowledge its own greatness. Besides, all the loyal subjects, the entourage, the trappings, they all reinforce what he intrinsically believes.
Surely somebody in that crew could tell him what he refuses to see. Perhaps the umbrella man could also hold up a small mirror once he is indoors and relieved of his duties. Surely someone could be close enough to him to be able to grab him by his fragile neck and shake him. Perhaps if he had forged a real relationship with an adult there might be a better chance of that happening.
Fine. I’ll do it. Michael! How did you get here?! You KNEW they were coming after you. You KNEW they would try to justify the failure of the old child molestation charges. Why were you holding a young boy’s hand on TV? Why in the world are you sleeping in the same bed with them? STOP! What in the world is motivating you?
The Jessica Lunsford incident has given us an opportunity to peer into the mind of a pedophile. It turns out most of them know they are wrong but just can’t help themselves. Is that Michael?
I've narrowed the oddity of Michael Jackson to one of two conclusions. Either he is innocent and clueless or guilty and helpless. Either he created a car wreck that got out of control, or he got out of control and created a car wreck. Either way, he can’t begin to address it without heeding the message in his own music.
Hey Mike, track #7.
