Michael Jackson Eulogy

ARK in BEREA – Michael Jackson was undeniably an American genius who suffered for his art. He left a legacy of music and dance, and social commentary that touches, even sears, the heart.

He was haunted by demons, some of his own making, many not. His art allowed us to experience the outrage of racism and class oppression often without our knowing. His dance celebrated what was great about us, and what was not. His moonwalk and robot signatures picked up where Fred Astaire left off, taking dance out of the studio and into the streets. It will never come back. In “Thriller” “Beat It” and “Smooth Criminal” he explored America’s love affair with gangsters and violence.

“His art allowed us to experience the outrage of racism and class oppression often without our knowing.”

He reached out with other artists to more gently invoke the conscience of his massive fan base, “We are the World” and similar videos coaxed us to think about ways to work together against injustice. Sometimes, sentiment was not enough. “They don’t care about us,” was a drumbeat of stark truth to waken the oppressors mind. It was set in Brazil. It could have been made anywhere.

And then there were the personal revelations that cut to the core. “You are not alone” was a cry from a soul that longed for human companionship, but found it nearly impossible to achieve away from the stage (and yet there are only empty seats in this video for an audience cannot, in the end, provide real intimacy).

Like all great artists, He engaged and reflected his time and culture, a nation grappling with the fallout from racial, class and gender divides that nearly tore us asunder, issues still not fully resolved. Perhaps he sensed his unique place and warned us in “Thriller” that “I’m not like other boys…” And, he wasn’t.

It remains for this and other generations to sift through his remarkable and tragic life, but for now, a nation wakes up to wonder, could he have been an even greater artist had he come back for “This is it?” Perhaps, although it is hard to imagine how he could have eclipsed the standards set so high in previous decades.

And it will be repeatedly asked, could he have been a better person? Surely he had many a misguided notion about human relationship and struggled to find familial love coming from a family seemingly fraught with conflict in that area. And most assuredly, he struggled to live in a body conflicted with both creative and destructive urges of enormous magnitude. In the end, both won out, both had their way. We so greatly benefit from the former and painfully try to comprehend the latter.

As the man said, “Take a look in the mirror and make a change.”

Our generation is left with memories of the first time we tuned into MTV and witnessed the dawn of a leap in human communication as profound as cuneiform had been in its time. And, MJ was its prophet. If you doubt that audio-visual is the new communication form, compare the number of iPod Touch downloads to Amazon book orders, even with the assistance of Kindle. Or, just talk to a newspaper reporter and you will sense the resignation hidden in even the most optimistic prognosis. The talking heads have it and they aren’t giving it back anytime soon.

Michael did not tentatively dip his toe in these new waters, as it were, but rather dove in head first with an uncanny confidence that his vision would reach. And it did, by the millions and millions. Although we may question his life if not his art, wouldn’t it be more fitting, if we are inclined to pay tribute, to ask ourselves if we could be a bit better of a persona and make our corner of the world a little better today than it was yesterday? Surely, we could. As the man said, “Take a look in the mirror and make a change.”

International Center for Environmental Arts (ICEA)
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