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GONE TOO SOON.

WOW. I can’t even believe I’m writing this.

There are certain moments in history, in pop culture, that everyone can look back on and definitively say, “I remember where I was when…”

For your parents, those moments might include when JFK was assassinated… when Elvis died… and when John Lennon was shot.

I remember where I was when Princess Diana died, and when the Twin Towers fell. Ironically, I was interning at MuchMusic on September 11th.

Now, I will ALWAYS remember June 25th, 2009.

I will always remember where I was when I heard the news about Michael Jackson’s death. I was home sick for the day, lying on my couch, and around 5:30pm I got a text message from my friend Jen: “MJ had a heart attack”. I responded “WHAT??????”, because I just couldn’t believe what she was saying.

I instantly sat up and turned on CNN, and sure enough the news was true. Michael had suffered cardiac arrest, but no one really knew the state of his condition. Was he still alive? Was he in a coma? Or – the most unthinkable option – was MJ GONE???

Those moments of doubt and confusion were agonizing, and seemed to last forever.

Then I got another text from Jen: “Oh my god. He’s DEAD.”

And just like that – with those five words – a part of my innocence, and a HUGE part of my childhood was gone forever.

I’ve been a Michael Jackson fan since I was 3 years old. I literally have no memories of life without him and his music. I was born in 1979, and Thriller was released in 1982. I wasn’t even BORN when Off The Wall was released, and yet I knew all those songs – I was drawn to them. I wasn’t old enough to go out and buy my own Thriller album, so I stole my uncle’s. I listened to that cassette EVERY SINGLE DAY for years, so much so that the ribbon wore out and eventually broke.

I still have that cassette to this day.

The Victory Tour was my first concert in 1984, I was five years old. We sat in the absolute LAST row, way up high in the nosebleeds. I remember covering my eyes when Michael performed Thriller, because the costumes freaked me out. Like every other kid growing up in the 80’s, the Thriller video scared the crap out of me.

I promised myself years ago that if I ever had the opportunity, I would pay ANYTHING and travel ANYWHERE to see Michael Jackson in concert again. When he announced a tour in London this summer, my sister and I logged onto Ticketmaster UK at 4am to buy tickets. We got them, and we paid A LOT for them, but we didn’t care. We were finally going to see our idol in concert, and especially for my sister – who had never seen MJ in person – it was an absolute dream come true.

That dream is now shattered forever.

My sister is completely inconsolable, while my emotions flutter between profound sadness and throbbing anger. Sadness over a life cut short, on the eve of a much-anticipated comeback – and anger over the callous and insensitive coverage I see from some media outlets (I’m talking to YOU, Entertainment Tonight – you should be ashamed).

I know people will say sure, the loss is sad, tragic even… but it’s not like Michael was a part of your family, or you even knew him. True, I didn’t know Michael Jackson personally. I never met him. I knew him the way most of the world knew him – as a singer, a dancer, an entertainer, and an icon who I worshipped from afar.

But for me, my connection to Michael Jackson is a connection to my childhood. Songs like Billie Jean, Rock With You, Thriller, Human Nature, Man In The Mirror… they represent a time when life was simple, and innocent, and fun. Music television was in its infancy, celebrities were famous for actually DOING something, a handful of pop stars were changing the game, and Michael was single-handedly re-writing music history.

I am so fortunate to have experienced the Thriller phenomenon first hand. Something that monumental, so musically and culturally significant, will never happen again in ANY of our lifetimes.
Not only did that album shatter every conceivable sales record, but it also crossed ALL boundaries of race, class, gender and age.

Case in point: my great-grandparents – Italian immigrants who barely spoke a word of English – knew the words to Billie Jean. The words didn’t always come out right, but they KNEW them. They LIKED the music. And they didn’t force me to change the channel when the video came on TV because they, too, were transfixed by his gravity-defying dance moves. Michael’s appeal was truly universal.

Michael Jackson re-defined music videos and what they could be. In his hands, they were more than cheesy, badly-shot promotional tools - they were mini-movies, artistic statements, and epic and fantastical visual representations of his music. An MJ video premiere was a BIG deal back then, something you marked on your calendar and even skipped school for.

It’s hard to believe that once upon a time, black musicians did NOT get played on MTV. That is, until Michael came along and single-handedly broke down the racial barriers that existed at music television. MTV and MuchMusic, as we know them today, might not exist if it wasn’t for Michael Jackson.

Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Usher, Ciara, Missy Elliott, Chris Brown, etc. etc. etc – NONE of those superstars would exist today if MJ hadn’t laid the path.

You couldn’t WRITE a life story like Michael Jackson’s. Through all the soaring highs and equally profound lows, he lived four decades in a scorching spotlight. It’s hard to imagine the pressure, loneliness and isolation that accompanies that kind of superstardom.

It makes me SO sad to think that an entire generation grew up thinking that Michael Jackson was a freak before all else. Sure, he did a lot to contribute to that “Wacko Jacko” label – whether he was sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, or getting countless plastic surgeries, or walking around with his pet chimp Bubbles on his arm.

And of course, there are those nasty criminal charges that tarnished his legacy forever.

Somewhere along the line, most of us forgot about what made Michael Jackson SO special. His music, his artistry, his charisma, and his philanthropy. An artist who lived for his fans, and a man who dedicated countless hours and millions of dollars to charitable causes - most notably the historic We Are The World single in 1985.

No matter what the critics and the cynics say, nothing will ever change Michael Jackson’s TRUE legacy, and that is what I choose to remember today. The MUSIC is what matters to me today.

Michael Jackson is my youth.
He is energy.
Movement.
Vision.
Creativity.

Quite simply, Michael Jackson is MAGIC. I say IS, not was – because magic like his will never die.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank Michael for all he has given me over 30 years.

by Antonella La Farcioli

Tags: michael jackson, rip

Posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 2:38 pm by Mark Swi and is filed under Celebrities & Pop Culture, Headlines & Current Events.

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