Recently I gave my English students a Michael Jackson biography to read and retell, by way of practising Reading and Speaking skills. Little did I know how inspiring his story would be for me personally.
What did I know before? I knew he was the King of Pop and heard some of his songs and especially loved that "In the Closet" clip with Naomi Campbell. I also knew that he was one of the nine Jackson children and one of the famous Jacksons Five, and that somehow he grew to be a solo artist.
In fact, the Jacksons Five had a contract with Motown and most of their highly creative time was owing to the label. Later they began to want more creative freedom and did their best to sever all ties with the label - which was not easy, as they had a soundproof contract with them and one of the Jacksons married the director's daughter. However, despite their differences they did perfrom for Motown's 25th anniversary. By that time Michael had already started to evolve into a highly popular solo artists and in his turn did His best to set himself apart from his family.
The video of their perfomance at the Motown Anniversary was a revelation to me in many ways. Most of all, because I saw them all together at that important point in their careers, performing together - but it was clear, just seeing them, that one star - that of the Jacksons Five - had fallen that night, while another - that of Michael - was born. I knew that Michael had agreed to perform with them on condition that he would sing his own songs as well later. And he did. His perormance of Billie Jean and his first on-camera moonwalk were - I couldn't take my eyes of him. I saw and felt his passion for music, passion to assert himself, his hunger for recognition and fame. It's been a long while since I saw such hunger - and it was so inspiring, so infectious! As if some of his energy wass pouring into you. I realized that Michael Jackson is one of those artists that need to be seen - for maximum impact.
Then I found a rare interview of him with Oprah in his own home. A famous and rare interview, for he hated interviews. And with Oprah, too. Yess, that means trouble, I thought. One can't help feeling afraid of that woman, she is so shrewd and intelligent and has the talent for asking some impertinent questions - although discreetly. She also mentioned in the beginning that they hadn't discussed any of the questions beforehand. However, this interview became a revelation to me not because of her questions or Micahel's answers, but because of his manner. He was so different from his onstage persona - sweet and kind and childish and gracious. Actually it was a little boring, even though Liz Taylor suddenly appeared in the room (to support her friend emotionally?)) and said a few kind words about him. Yes, Michael famously was friends with Diana Ross and Liz Taylor, and they were wonderfully supportive of him, motherly even.
Anyway, there were some basic questions covered, starting with his childhood and how he felt about his father and brothers, about his personal life (he said he was dating Brooke Shields, sudden suprising frankness), the amusement park that he had built on the grounds of his ranch (for himself and for sick children who come there) - and they showed the park and the movie theatre and talked about that - and only in the end did she ask him how he comes up with ideas for his music videos and dances, etc. He showed her a few steps of his famous moonwalk and also sang a little in that iterview, and that's when I saw the magic happening - the shy, quiet and polite Michael transforming into the passionate and amazingly rhythmic performer - a great performer that we know. He said that he was most happy onstage, and one can see how true that is - he really comes alive and breathes inspiring energy into everyone who sees and hears him. Love is the energy, he truly loved his public and gave us all of himself - and one can't help responding with the same in return.