Althouse: "A frail-looking Jackson had spent his last weeks in rehearsal for an ambitious comeback attempt and 50 already-sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena."

June 26, 2009

"A frail-looking Jackson had spent his last weeks in rehearsal for an ambitious comeback attempt and 50 already-sold-out shows at London's O2 Arena."

"A major motivation was the $300 million in debt run up by a star who lived like royalty even though his self-declared title of King of Pop was more about the past than the present."

29 comments:

knox said...: There was a prime time interview with him, probably about 5 years ago. The interviewer went shopping with him at some really cheesy boutique store, and Jackson blew an ungodly amount of money on (expensive) junk like Mardi Gras masks and hideous end tables. He'd just point at the stuff he wanted. It was something he apparently did all the time.; 6/26/09, 8:30 AM
The Drill SGT said...: The UK Sun leads their O2 Jackson overage with this para:

Jackson collapsed and stopped breathing after an injection of the powerful painkiller Demerol at his rented home in Los Angeles.

It is believed he may have taken an overdose of the drug - similar to morphine.

The Jackson family's lawyer - who was at the hospital when medics failed to resuscitate the star - later revealed the legend's addiction to medications had become deeply worrying.; 6/26/09, 8:44 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: He'd just point at the stuff he wanted. It was something he apparently did all the time.

Sounds like Congress.; 6/26/09, 8:48 AM
knox said...: Hoosier, LOL. Well, the corruption in Congress is just about complete... why shouldn't it be an apt comparison? Although for a while, at least, Jackson was spending his own money.; 6/26/09, 8:58 AM
KCFleming said...: Abused children often end up addicts, from chronic pain of one kind or another.

They seem to do well in their 20s, but start to fall apart in their 30s. While some recover, many enter a spiral of decline. Recovery may be partial at best, and it's a lot of work. They often stay wounded birds thereafter.

We do have choices as adults, but a screwed-up childhood leaves you like a house without a foundation, just a trailer home waiting for the next tornado to tear you apart.

I hope research into novel methods like deep brain stimulation might offer at least a partial a mechanism for repair.

I know why the caged bird stops singing.; 6/26/09, 8:58 AM
TMink said...: Indeed Pogo.

I think that is why he was trying to turn white. He was trying to be safe, he did not want to be that little black boy who was sexually abused.

Therapy works better and can help you not do the same thing to other little boys.

Trey; 6/26/09, 9:05 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Although for a while, at least, Jackson was spending his own money.

That he was.

I think it says a lot about how we view someone as an icon and are able to overlook or flat out ignore what kind of person they really are only because he was an entertainer. If any John Q. Citizen acted like him and had the same creepy attraction to pre-adolesecent boys, he would have been tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail. But if you can sing and dance, hell it's just another one of those ecentric quirks that makes them so adorable.

I suppose that is why I loathe celebrities.; 6/26/09, 9:08 AM
AllenS said...: From the article:

"A major motivation was the $300 million in debt run up by a star who lived like royalty even though his self-declared title of King of Pop was more about the past than the present."

Sounds like he was spending other peoples money, after he burned through his.; 6/26/09, 9:13 AM
The Dude said...: Frail or stoned? Demerol will get you if you don't look out.; 6/26/09, 9:14 AM
Big Mike said...: On my way out the door this morning I saw part of an interview Matt Lauer was having with some unnamed woman. She characterized Jackson's trial as having been won by a clever lawyer who, effectively, put the mother on trial. She also characterized Jackson as a media whore, though she didn't use those exact words.

Lauer looked like he was sorry he ever started the interview. He wanted desperately to steer it, but the woman wouldn't let him. Good work on her part.

Jackson should be remembered at least as much for his probable pederasty as his squandered talent.; 6/26/09, 9:17 AM
KCFleming said...: Trey,

Yup; finding a therapist who draws the right connections is imperative. Otherwise you waste time and energy with a lot of nonsense.

I don't do any of this work myself, I just deal with their myriad physical complaints, their 'medically unexplained symptoms' of fatigue and chest pain and breathlessness and palpitations and diarrhea and weight loss and headaches and blurred vision and joint pain and numbness and tingling.

And more.

My job, is to exclude diseases that cause such symptoms, show that they aren't 'just crazy', and point them to a real connection between the abuse and their current complaints.

Some people go from specialist to specialist trying to find out why they are always in pain. Some never believe me.

I hate that part of my job sometimes, mostly because their stories suck so much.; 6/26/09, 9:21 AM
KCFleming said...: Big Mike,

I have mixed feelings.If he did what he was accused of, it makes him another one who fought the monster only to become the monster, an innocent who becomes a devil.

If he sought help and got only drugs, then medicine done him wrong. His money and fame got him exactly the wrong advice. That is, he bears blame, but so do his handlers.

Humans can be real bastards to each other.; 6/26/09, 9:26 AM
Big Mike said...: @Pogo, we can, can't we?; 6/26/09, 9:30 AM
Swifty Quick said...: As far as money goes, his worries are over, in more ways than one. Like Elvis, he'll be far far wealthier in death than he was in life. It's already started.; 6/26/09, 9:36 AM
rhhardin said...: Imus inverviews Debra Dickerson on Jackson, and it isn't bad.; 6/26/09, 10:16 AM
former law student said...: If any John Q. Citizen acted like him and had the same creepy attraction to pre-adolesecent boys, he would have been tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail.

Or, if he was attracted to adolescent boys, like Mark Foley, he would have decided not to run again for Congress, and become a real estate agent.; 6/26/09, 10:45 AM
Jeremy said...: Vanity Fair scribe Maureen Orth covered Michael Jackson in depth when he was alive, and Friday morning during a lengthy segment on "Morning Joe" she talked about his death and in some of the frankest terms heard since the news of his passing.

Orth said, among other things, that his isolation was partially self-imposed and helped him play with boys, that his fame and money got him off of child molestation charges, that he suffered a crippling drug habit and that the publicity-seeking Jackson would have wanted to die as he did.

He was a once wealthy pedophile.; 6/26/09, 10:48 AM
garage mahal said...: Wow, so there were allegations improper conduct between Michael Jackson and young men? The crushing fame and messed up childhood might have played some role? Holy shit!

*head smack* I had no idea!

Thanks Jeremy. What the fuck would we do without you.; 6/26/09, 10:57 AM
Hoosier Daddy said...: Boy it just warms my cockles to see lefties turn on each other like rats in a sinking ship. Too bad I wasn't reading this on my laptop while sitting on the patio soaking up the glorious sun and sipping a Jack and ice tea with a mint leaf. Then my day would have been complete.; 6/26/09, 11:50 AM
ricpic said...: Although Pogo's comment about the foundationless house is strong I still think a person has a choice: surrender to his demons or fight them and function, if not perfectly at least in a decent manner.
Jackson had a contract coming up for concerts in England. It's been reported that he showed up for something like two out of twenty rehearsals. That's the behavior of someone who has come to use his private torments as an excuse not to act in a responsible manner.; 6/26/09, 11:54 AM
Anonymous said...: Or, if he was attracted to adolescent boys, like Mark Foley, he would have decided not to run again for Congress, and become a real estate agent.

You might wanna Google the name "Gerry Studds."; 6/26/09, 12:35 PM
traditionalguy said...: Jeremy...Are you the original Jeremy, or did you lock him up and take his identity? My respect for you grows, and that has me worried.; 6/26/09, 1:08 PM
KCFleming said...: @ricpic: "surrender to his demons or fight them and function"

Quite true. I am trying to be careful to explain but not excuse.

He was fully responsible, period.

Yet I remain mindful that there but for the grace of God go I; that is, I am grateful for my parents. They were an undeserved blessing.; 6/26/09, 1:52 PM
KCFleming said...: And even more grateful for the absence of priest buggery in my altar boy days; that felled a friend of mine, I'm sad to say.; 6/26/09, 2:14 PM
former law student said...: the absence of priest buggery in my altar boy days

I wouldn't be a priest today for any money -- the pervert presumption is too strong. Too many situations put you alone with a parishioner. You'd even have to set up a confessional in the middle of the aisle. Or make a jail visiting day set up, with a patent physical barrier and handsets on each side.

It scared me, years ago, when the neighbor kid would drop by my garage to watch me work on one project or other, even though the door to the street was always wide open. The presumption nowadays is that anyone who's friendly to kids is a pedophile groomer. I'm surprised Dennis the Menace still exists; nowadays Mr. Wilson would be the menace.

The kid grew up and now has a family of his own. None of the neighborhood kids come by, thank God.; 6/26/09, 2:54 PM
KCFleming said...: fls -dead on.

I quit coaching for that reason.; 6/26/09, 5:02 PM
MamaM said...: Thanks Pogo...for shared insight and awareness, regarding the links between abuse, chronic pain, and addiction. Humans can be bastards. They can also touch others with awareness and understanding, as your words did for me today.; 6/26/09, 6:09 PM
Jennifer said...: The fact that some are not molded by childhood abuse is commendable. A testament to the human spirit. The fact that some are is reality. It is possible to allow some understanding without excusing.; 6/26/09, 9:42 PM
AmPowerBlog said...: Actually, LAT, "Michael Jackson's Last Rehearsal: 'Just Beaming With Gladness'." (link); 6/27/09, 1:12 AM