Like most
people today, I'm left sitting around and thinking about the
life of Michael Jackson. I very fondly remember all of
the big cable concert specials he would do, that bizarre
Oprah interview, the way everyone universally referred to
him as the King Of Pop, the Sega Genesis game and, of
course, the exact moment when the bottom fell out and he
went from being a larger than life superstar to just a
weirdo.
Before I even hit up Youtube to find the video I was already picturing it in my head. After all, not only was it a big Super Bowl for me as a young Dallas Cowboys fan, but the whole "teleporting" all over the place and then jumping out of the stage pretty much eviscerated my 10-year old brain. To this day it remains the best halftime show I've ever seen.
It's just not possible to
mention Michael Jackson without automatically conjuring up
at least one image from this incredible video or wanting to
do part of the dance, so I really had no choice but to list
it. In any case, aside from its everlasting
appeal, I think it also shows that the guy didn't
just make music, he made full blown experiences.
By the time
this film rolled into theaters in the summer of 1993 I
was already convinced that Michael could teleport, glide
backwards at will and do...well...whatever the hell he
wanted. So, it didn't matter what piece of music
he released next - I was already hooked.
Although, I'm mostly sure the sheer joy of seeing Willy
The Whale do
a slow motion jump over a child my age certainly had
something to do with it as well.
Seeing this as a kid made for a rather
intense experience. After all, I lived in a small town
and this made the city look like a big dangerous place where
people had knife fights. Sure, they may resolved all
their problems with dancing, but what if MJ hadn't been
there? Death. Definitely. Or something.
I was a kid! Don't judge me.
When this came out it was beyond uncool
to like anything from Michael Jackson, but I always found
myself excited whenever it would pop up on MTV. Only,
I just don't know if I actually liked it or if its weird
level of aggression, Janet Jackson's breasts and the super
futuristic setting (even though for some reason the only
game available is Pong) were all I needed in my
pre-teen years.
That's all. Thanks for taking the
time to reminisce about the King Of Pop through my eyes.
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