Michael Jackson

Today there was a memorial service for Michael Jackson. I didn't watch it. I don't know what to think about MJ. I was never a big fan of his music, I never really listened to it.

I did have a look at a tape of him being questioned about the molestation charges. One person whose blog I like to read has posted about MJ a few times. He says that he thinks of MJ as being child like and innocent and put a link to the video I just mentioned. I guess we "read him" very differently. I don't have any strong feelings regarding his guilt or innocence of the charges. Maybe he just enjoyed being around children. I like to keep an open mind. I'm afraid I probably don't make a very good juror because I have a hard time deciding who's right.

But looking at his facial expressions in the video I wasn't seeing child-likeness. Well sort of, but its seems more like a kind of strange childishness. In the interview he wrinkles his eyebrows in sort of a look of surprise at one the questions. Then he covered his face and then there was this smile. He looked to me more like someone feeling shame and embarrassment for whatever reason. I felt that he was feeling conflicted about something. You hear a lawyer is telling him not to answer some questions. The lawyer throws another element into the mix.

I like to think I can read people's faces pretty well. I was fascinated by the several episodes of the show Lie to Me that I watched this season. The show is basically based on the idea that you can read involuntary expressions in people's faces that are universal. A hand at the brow means shame. Some smiles indicate guilt or embarrassment. I'm probably not that good at reading faces, to the point of having learned those things scientifically.

I also thought MJ looked a bit like the Joker in Batman. That probably could be the result all of those plastic surgeries. I'm sorry for him that he felt driven to change his appearance. I don't know if the surgeries did it, but all of his expressions seem exaggerated. Like a caricature.

I do feel sorry for him. His childhood sounds difficult. He said in one interview that he loved best being on stage. All of that attention. People "loved" him. Maybe they really did love him, I don't know.

Dirty Diana was trending on twitter. I didn't know it was a song, or anything, so I googled it and listened to the song and then read the words. Several people said they loved the song. Who knows what made him write that song. A real personal experience?

Really only God knows our hearts, all the motivations for what we do and say.

I felt a lot of emotion about John Lennon's death, maybe because I did like some of his music. By comparison, I feel rather numb about MJ, probably because I never was a fan.