Even the kids knew it was kind of a big deal. Their friends texted them about it, but they'd already been watching the updates over my shoulder. May said, "I'll always remember that I got a manicure the day Michael Jackson died."
They hardly knew who he was. They'd seen him on TV in the past and asked, "Who's that weird old lady?" I told them that old lady used to be the coolest entertainer in the world. I showed them pictures of him when he was a cute young black man. He had a great smile then, and a beautiful Afro. And he could really dance. "Remember in 13 Going on 30," I said, "when they were at a party and played "Thriller," and everyone just had to dance? Didn't it make you feel like dancing too? That was Michael Jackson." They nodded their heads.
I liked Michael Jackson. Everyone liked Michael Jackson. I don't think I ever owned one of his albums, but I didn't have to. He was on the radio and MTV all the time. I had to explain to the kids that MTV used to play music videos, back before it went to an all-scripted-reality-programming format. Michael Jackson was the first black performer to get any kind of airtime on MTV. He invented the moonwalk, I told them. They think Napoleon Dynamite invented the moonwalk. They don't know it used to be cool.
Still, they had a vague sense that something big had happened. I felt the same way when Elvis died. I knew him only as the sweaty, bloated has-been in a white jumpsuit. It wasn't until after he died that I saw footage of him as a young man and realized what a sensation he had been. Thats the Elvis we remember now.
I hope it will be that way with Michael Jackson. I hope the news stations stop running footage of the frail, emaciated, troubled man whose handlers failed him (as they failed Elvis, and Judy, and Marilyn). I want show my kids the old videos and performances so they will know, and we will remember, why he was the King of Pop.
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