Friday, June 26, 2009

The King of Pop

I am struck by the change in images that occurred during the lives of Elvis Presley, John Lennon and Michael Jackson -- all "Kings of Pop" in their own time. The obvious metamorphosis and even deterioration that the "real" people underwent; obvious "deteriorization" from the idols of the popular image. Having never experienced the process personally, I can only speculate about the feelings that might prompt one to run away from, conceal and even "deface" the popular image, when that image has been taken, blown up and idolized by the public. I cannot imagine the pressure on a real person to attempt to live up to the image and expectations of a god. Ultimately, the fantasy overcomes and extinguishes the reality; the person withdraws into oblivion or we kill the real person to preserve the image we treasure. Then, we can remember the "King of Pop" and forgive or even forget that person behind the mask; the sad and macabre reality is irrelevant to our needs. I remember Michael Jackson as a child prodigy singing and dancing joyfully on The Andy Williams Show. He was plainly an angel, as are all children, a spark of life from the overwhelming heat of God's love. That is easy enough to see in the flush of youth, and obscured over time by our own efforts to capture, to become that angel in our human consciousness, our own self-created image. It is a hard lesson so public when the real Michael Jackson dies. Yet, I think it is vitally important when we truly look for "The Man in the Mirror."

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