I'm too old for Halloween and I'm just the right age to have watched Michael Jackson come of age, burn brightly through the eighties, get crucified in the nineties and die a death which should never have happened this summer. It still doesn't seem real.
Many times when someone close dies you don't get a chance to say goodbye or have one last conversation . You are left with enormous regret. Well of course I didn't know Michael Jackson and I've only even met a few famous people for that matter. But famous people matter in your life for some reason.
Michael Jackson left behind enough footage of the rehearsals for his upcoming concerts in London that a movie was made of them that is now briefly showing. We saw it on Halloween night. His incredible knowledge of music, dance, choreography and show business was obvious throughout the movie.
But what really shone through was his care for his fellow performers and his desire to make everyone around him better. He was not the crazy, idiotic, self-centred lunatic that everyone from the tabloids to the mainstream press portrays him as.
One thing stays with me from the me apart from the incredible music. Michael Jackson has inspired generations of dancers, vocalists, choreographers and musicians that he worked with and many that he never knew. Go see the movie. It's worth the $12. Look in the eyes of the young and older dancers, vocalists and musicians. They are in awe of having the chance to work with him. Little did they know that his time was so short and they were among the last to see his greatness live.
