The Price of Fame

Okay readers, so I have had a change of heart about the death of Michael Jackson.  Initially, I was not fussed one way or t'other.  It's true - heartless bitch that I am.  But honestly, I'd not heard a song out of him for about ten years & all I HAD heard was what a "weirdo" he was, with paedophilic tendencies.  I judged him based on what I read & heard in the media.  Now don't get me wrong.  The media have a place in society but at the same time, I feel the media have a HUGE amount of power.  They are able to completely ruin someone's life!  I reluctantly found myself watching some of Michael Jackson's memorial service yesterday & was quite moved by the love & respect so many people had for him.  Then I listened to what Brooke Shields had to say.  I don't consider Ms Shields to be one of those flighty, hysterical stars & listening to her speak about a friend she truly loved and hearing all the fun they got up to made me realise that my opinion of MJ was completely skewed & based solely on what I had read & heard in the media.  How would I know what he was REALLY like?  I was never going to meet him or spend any time with him.  As I listen to some of my favourite of his songs (see below) I remember how much talent he had & how much I enjoyed his videos & music all those years ago.  How many of us accept famous people for the way they are? Somehow they never seem to be perfect enough for us.  How hard must it have been for MJ to live a "normal" life when he had so much expectation placed upon him?  When did we all forget that he was a human, not unlike you and me?  The tragedy of his death is that his fame eventually overpowered him.  I am incredulous that he can have been taken advantage of so greatly, by his doctor, his concert promoters....  If he was so incapable of caring for his money & his business & his health, where were his friends? Where was someone to look out for him?  Instead, the media, like vultures over a carcass, flew about waiting for his weaknesses to emerge.  Farewell Michael.  I am SO glad I am not famous...