Michael Jackson: A life under duress?

Ankita Shukla

Like A Comet

-From Michael Jackson’s famous single ‘Gone Too Soon’.
A life less ordinary, on a road less travelled…a life little too short, ceased in a fraction but yet the pain lingers on - is what one can think of, when one remembers the life and times of Michael Jackson.

They say that ‘one shouldn’t stand in someone else`s shadow when one’s own sunlight can lead the way’ and that one person for whom this holds true is none but the eternal ‘King of Pop’ himself. For this man too became the sunlight, breaking away from the shackles of a magnum Sun (read ‘The Jackson 5’). He shone bright, brighter, brightest and then came a day when it rained and gone with that rain was the glory and triumph that was achieved after infinite firm steps. He hoped that the rain was not going to last and the Sun would be back again, but little did he know that when the clouds were just starting to go, came the night which had no morning.

Little did Jackson know of his future! Even a soothsayer wouldn’t have dared to predict such a downfall and of course the last attempt to overcome failure and regain the epitome of success.

Michael had lost the battle of showbiz the day he found himself embroiled in every possible demeaning controversy. He kept moving in life, but also kept moving into debts of various kinds- monetary and of relationships.

Years of profligate living as well as legal battles left him with debts worth USD 2 billion approximately. So much so that he reportedly agreed to perform at London, where a series of his concerts were to be held - only to break even.

Going by the above logic, here we had an artiste, who was being forced to come out of his hiatus of creative shamble, just to satisfy his materialistic needs or to simply get over the pressure of paying the money he owed and move on forever.

Critics too had echoed a similar sentiment when they had indicated that Jackson was only performing in London to rebuild his finances.

But music lovers disagree and say that it was his love for music and his fans that was bringing him back. There was also a theory doing the rounds that he wanted to perform for his children’s sake as they had never seen any of his mega stage shows. But then, none can deny the fact that he wasn’t the same old Jacko, who could drop a chill down your spine, as he was sadly in a bad shape healthwise.

Jackson was reportedly living in constant fear about his mounting debts and was worried about his comeback concerts in London, telling friends: “If I don`t tour they`ll kill me.” Also what shouldn’t be forgotten here is the fact that a few months back there were news reports that had suggested Jacko’s shock and disbelief about performing at fifty concerts, giving a cue somewhere about his apparent inability to pull off something of such massive scale owing to his deteriorating physical form. It also indicated perhaps that Jacko himself was not being kept in the loop as he seemed to continue to believe that there would be just 10 performances. A statement of retraction about his surprise at the gig number later then seemed intriguingly forced.

If this wasn’t all, the dancers who were to back him at the London concerts had reportedly exchanged messages on social networking websites a few days back casting doubts over his ability to sing and dance his way through 50 shows. The comeback dates were also postponed on the pretext of buying more rehearsal time.

No one could’ve doubted MJ’s singing and dancing credentials if it wasn’t for his health troubles. It isn’t even about him not being able to perform to the expectations, what is sad here is the fact or perhaps an assumption that a man as colossal as him, an artiste of such gravity was under pressure to perform at that point in his life when he would’ve (in normal circumstances) liked to enjoy the fruits of his hardwork.

However, we all know in our hearts that concert or no concert- MJ remained MJ- the real superstar, in life, and afterlife!