The Psychology of Michael Jackson: The Real Man behind the Mask

In 2017 I was having my normal quality time watching TV and searching for a good movie to watch after the kids have slept. Anyway I found myself in front of a movie Called “this is it” and started realizing that it’s mainly about Michael Jackson. I watched a bit and then was like “oh yeah that was a movie they realeased after his death I guess”. Anyway I kept watching. My perceptions at that time about the king of pop whom I was a fan when I was a kid and teenager were all “not so good” but not horrible also, I was neutral let’s say. For some reason I didn’t like hearing those things about him (or about anyone). As a child I was a big big big fan. I remember I stopped being a big fan maybe in high school but kept listening to his songs. Anyway my perceptions were all things like “he is a “strange” person, a bit “weird” , he changed his skin color… he died because of drugs ….etc. I had these perceptions from what I used to hear from people around me and from my parents. Of course they got this information and made their perceptions from the media.

As I continued to watch the movie, I got so confused. The man is so “humble” and “kind”, how he talked to his cast and to the dancers, how he smiled, and how he is singing. He also looked a bit older than when I was watching him as a kid. I am 34 now so you can imagine I was 12 in 1997 when MJ was all what we were talking about and listening to. The first song I ever loved in my life was “smooth criminal”. I remember as a kid I never got enough of it. Anyway I kept watching and then I realized it’s more of a documentary not a movie. I got so emotional as they were talking about MJ. I had mixed feelings of “excitement” and “sadness”. I was excited to watch the 2009 tour, the “this is it” tour. I actually was not aware that he died before doing the tour, how ignorant I was! . I got extremely disappointed after the movie ended. What? There is no tour. That’s it! This is it! Oh my goodness.

He was for me very generous, energetic, kind to people around him…

But why did I get so emotional? Because I saw something very strange. I saw a very different MJ ! Not the one I imagined, far from what I expected and contrary to my perceptions . He was for me very generous, energetic, kind to people around him, yet something was broken in him! At the same time, he was happy singing, and rehearsing. He appeared to really wanted to have this tour done. I got confused, sad and also touched. My perceptions started to change , just from watching him in the movie, just from his body language, so it was just my intuition. I didn’t do much research at that time but the memory of that day remained in my mind.

After around 8 months, In 2018 when it was MJ’s birthday, a song was created that is a mix of his hits. It brought all the memories back and for some reason (I don’t really know) I just started to do some research on him. I searched his name on google and of course the results were marvelous ! Here we go…

Analyzing Michael Jackson

I found so many articles on him and many were not really saying positive things. I kept on searching and then it never stopped and now I use MJ as a case in my lectures and I speak about him in my psychology classes. I am even talking about him in my coming book “Happiness: the ultimate truth”. Deep inside I felt something is wrong in these articles and posts. For me the guy I saw in “this is it” and the one who wrote “heal the world” and “we are the world” cannot be that person they are talking about. So I analyzed many interviews and read a lot of articles, even read some of his court documents.

Well, you most probably know a lot about MJ but in case you don’t know here are some facts to start with. He is the best selling artist of all time. His album “thriller” is the best selling album of all time. And he is actually the best selling “dead” celebrity of all time. He is the most followed dead celebrity on social media with a Facebook page of around 73 million followers!. His tour “ bad” made the highest revenues ever! Perhaps no person in earth was as famous as MJ was.

So that was just some of the records he achieved that could not be beaten until now! Was he different? Well… you say it! If he is all that then there must be something different about him. If people are still listening to his hits till now, then there must be something different. Who listens to the Beatles now (with all my respect) ? but you can easily find MJ CDs and play lists in almost every family, where at least one member is a fan. As a psychologist and also a leadership professor , MJ created a very curious case for me that needed to be analyzed. Now though I believe this needs a book, and maybe I will write one soon, I invite you to read some of the results I found when I analyzed MJ. As I just highlighted I am a professor and a researcher so am not just sharing thoughts here. Am analyzing MJ based on the science of positive psychology and I relied on scientific methods in my analysis. I did that through two main research methods that we use in psychology. The first one is observation , I watched and observed a lot of interviews and videos (for him and for people talking about him). The second method is qualitative research where I also analyzed Michael Jackson’s character and life from all available “reliable” sources I found. Again these sources are either videos or reliable documentaries or facts (like the records I just mentioned above).

In this article I look at his personality and life in general. Below , I start by sharing some of the findings I found that is related to what we call in positive psychology VIA or values in Action. These 24 strengths (developed by Christopher Peterson & Martin Seligman) fall under six virtues. Let’s analyze the king of pop.

Wisdom

And this has to do with the “strength of the head”. Under this virtue are values like creativity, curiosity, judgment, love of learning and perspective. I will tackle three here, love of learning, creativity, and judgement. So how “strong” was the king of pop’s head? Well, we were not “obsessed” with everything about MJ for no reason when we were kids and teenagers ( those who enjoyed his 80s and 90s eras will relate). Titled as the king of pop and the world’ s greatest entertainer, Michael was not just creative, he was a genius. He was talented and his talent was not just his voice. He was a poet, he wrote many of his songs, he was a talented dancer, a composer and a “musical instrument” too with his beatboxing.

Our world has never seen, and most probably will never see, such talent. Michael perfected his work. He was a perfectionist and if you think those songs and dances he made were made by chance you are definitely wrong. There is a great deal of creative work and hard work behind them. But Micheal was also gifted, this type of creativity that is above all normal levels that we speak about in psychology. Watch him with Oprah singing “Who is it” and you will not believe the musical instruments at the beginning is just simply his own sounds that he creates.

As for the love of learning, it’s well-known MJ had a huge library and owned and read hundreds of books in many fields. But MJ would not score high in judgment as he was “naive” and took some wrong decisions in his life as I will speak about this part later in this article. So how would the king of pop rank in the strength of his head or the “Wisdom” virtue?! Full mark in creativity I guess, a very good grade in love of learning and not the very best grade in judgment. However am not claiming MJ’s judgments and decisions were all horrible. If he was so, then how come he is the richest dead celebrity . He must have made some very good decisions too of course. Let’s make it seven out of ten.

Humanity.

Now this has to do with the “strength of others”. Under this virtue are values of Kindness , love, and social intelligence. So how did MJ score in “Humanity”? Let’s see. And remember , we speak facts and research here.

Let’s start by the most important values MJ had. The hardest thing for me was to be believe that the guy who wrote “heal the world” and “the lost children” could harm children. The guy whom kids felt so safe and peaceful in his presence (check any of his videos with children on YouTube). Watching. the videos where he is running and playing with kids in his ranch “Neverland” brought tears to my eyes. MJ’s philanthropic work was unquestionably unique. One of the things unfortunately the media don’t give much attention to is the amount of money MJ donated. In fact, Michael Jackson was in Guinness Book of World Records for Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star where he supported around 39 Charities and donated over $300 Million Dollars. These include organizations like Make-A-Wish foundation, the UNICEF, and the NAACP. By the time he was doing this, and by the time he donated all the revenue from the dangerous tour, which was estimated to be around 100 million dollars, the man was called “Wacko Jacko” and the media just focused on his plastic surgery and skin color. A fact worth mentioning is that MJ suffered from the known skin disease called “Vitiligo”! This shows the power of the “yellow media”. I did believed he changed his skin! And guys, the thing is, there is nothing called so!

The idea was not just about donating! MJ really loved children and cared for them. Some facts; MJ built a “hospital bed” at his theatre in his ranch Neverland for kids with severe cases to come and enjoy movies! MJ helped healing many kids all over the world whether though his organization “Heal the world” or other organizations. It’s a fact that many children visited the ranch to enjoy the facilities and have fun! Thousands of children , whom none of them reported anything but love and happiness! Michael Jackson befriended and took care of thousands of children who were severely sick, they were suffering from cancer and AIDS. It’s a well known story he became friends with Ryan White, a kid who suffered from AIDS, and his family. He dedicated the song “gone too soon” to him when he died. Ryan was inspired by Michael and spent the best days of his life with MJ, as Ryan’s mother highlighted. The kids lived longer than the doctors said because he was happy! This is what Michael Jackson tried to do to kids. In his car, the last song he was listing to was “man in the mirror” as MJ and Ryan’s mother discovered after his death. So this is for kindness and love. As for social intelligence, Michael Jackson indeed was a child at heart and so did not have the “social intelligence” needed for an adult. He trusted the wrong people many times and allowed families to enter his life without knowing them well. Micheal would not score very well in social intelligence as his kindness and love scored way beyond normal and there is a link between being super kind and loving and being socially intelligent.

Courage

“Beat me hit me, you can never get me” !under this virtue are strengths of bravery , perseverance, zest, and authenticity. We will focus on bravery and perseverance here. MJ was a child-like and we have to comment here that children are so courageous by nature. They get angry easily but also get happy again easily. When they are angry they express themselves. MJ wanted to express himself in that song (and in many others). He was so mad and frustrated from what was happening to him ( the false accusations and the tabloids) and also from what was happening in the world in general, the injustice, the wars, the pollution ,etc. When you look deeply at his life, you realize he was so brave and really wanted to change the world and heal the world. His actions proved that and not just his songs. However some people didn’t understand him as he says in his song childhood.

Transcendence

The virtue of transcendence holds strengths like appreciation of beauty, gratitude, humor and spirituality. I will try to tackle each in brief and again, this needs a book. As Deepak Chopra, who was a friend of MJ, once said about him “ he was the most spiritual being he ever saw”. Michael was a true genius. He was different and this is what extremely talented people usually are. He had very different levels of spirituality, sensitivity to others and their pain, and awareness. As for humor, from my research, all of the people who spent time with Michael Jackson whether lightly or extensively reported that he had a great sense of humor. Again, he was a child at heart. He wanted to have fun and just wanted to live his childhood and yes, he never really grew up. The greatest evidence to that would be the episodes of Michael Jackson’s private home movies.

As for gratitude, I have never seen such a humble celebrity who is always thanking those who stood by him and showing gratitude to them. Michael Jackson could have been arrogant. He could have had a very different character having had all what he had and being the “king”. But instead he was a very polite and decent man who always showed gratitude to others. You can recall many speeches for him and you will find out more. Finally, for appreciation of beauty, Michael was an artist and he definitely has a great deal of this value. He dressed differently, looked at the world differently, and loved planet earth differently. He wrote a poem called planet earth. This is worth a read.

Temperance

Finally, the virtue of Temperance, which holds strengths like forgiveness and modesty. It’s a very well known fact about MJ that he was a very modest man. We never saw him yelling at anyone, or swearing or cursing. We never saw any act of narcissism though he actually was the most famous person on the planet. He never spoke badly about anyone. He had a very forgiving attitude towards everyone. His “peaceful” attitude during the false accusations was evident to everyone. In his interviews he kept insisting the kid is good and that he knows his heart and that it’s probably his parents who manipulated him.

So Michael Jackson scored very well in almost all of the virtues of the VIA. But I had to highlight in some other psychology strengths that I think he had too.

Emotional vitality and Charisma

There was something about the king of pop that made not only fans but even fellow celebrities stop and watch, stand and clap their hands for him, listen and get lost in his presence. We cannot underestimate the fact that MJ was a case and a phenomenon, not a normal star. He had the energy and the aura that made people of all ages love him. Children would through themselves at him, something by the way that adds to his innocence. When we are talking about his music and dancing and also his speeches, we are talking about a very charismatic person, a genius and a talent like no other. He would take himself and his audience to an alternative world. Not only in tours, actually MJ gave speeches in very important events, met presidents and was actually treated like presidents! Recall the bad, dangerous and history eras.

Flow

There is no other star that started in the 70s (actually even before that) and is still loved and listened to till 2019. Why? It’s because of a mix of passion, dedication, talent and what we call in positive psychology “flow”. Flow is a state when you feel absorbed in what you are doing, you feel that time has stopped. This is exactly what was the case when MJ was with his music, whether on stage, or when writing a song or working on his new album. As he describes “ there is no greater bliss, you become one with the music, one with audience”.

Now am sure you want to ask “how about the allegations ?” You want to add the “but…” and the “what if…” or maybe the “could he be…”! Yes that’s an interesting question, could that person we just talked about be an abuser at the same time?

Child-like: The psychology and the abuse

It hurts actually after all what we have spoken about above to speak about abuse or molestation. How can someone who scored high in all VIA (so from a psycho analyses, this is a very normal and good person) also be a molester or abuser. For me it’s not making sense! And based on this Psychological analyses too, it’s not valid and not reliable to then say “yeah and he was also an abuser”. The guy who wrote “heal the world” and ended his tours talking about change and singing his hit “ man in the mirror” and spent most of his time visiting hospitals and charities and donating and made his home a place where sick children can come and enjoy some happy moments, was accused of molestation. Well, it’s not just me and my analysis but even the psychologist who was responsible for MJ case confirmed that his personality does not match at all with a molester. or with someone who can harm children. It is worth mentioning that as I started writing this article, there was no news at all about the new documentary “leaving Neverland”. As I was about to finalize the article, it popped up. Now though this is not the main topic of this article, I will share some insights.

Michael Jackson was child-like and yes he was a Peter Pan at heart as he once said. It’s very easy for anyone to investigate this fact. A basic search on YouTube will give you some videos for him with kids whether. kids who just visited Neverland or kids who were friends with him like Macaulay Culkin. Have a look with your eyes and you can tell just by observing the body language and how they interact ( Michael and the kids) together and you will see for yourself what type of relationship it was. We underestimate the power of “body language” and the science behind it. An ABC psychology analysis will tell you these two people in the “Film” are lying and will also tell you how innocent and pure Micheal Jackson was. Michael didn’t want his soul to grow old. The real MJ is not the MJ that the media of 2019 are talking about!

When you look at the life of Micheal Jackson, how he interacted with the children around him, the songs he written, the charity he did, the person he was and how “very reliable” people around him explained his character you bet this is not someone who would hurt a child. Let me take you back to the 1990s when MJ was the “Mandela” and the “Luther king” of music. In 1992 when he founded the “heal the world foundation “ the whole world including his fellow celebrities were appreciating MJ efforts. He was big, bigger than life actually . Though he was still in his 30s , huge celebrities would stand up for him as he enters the stage. Before the 1993 case, everybody knew he had kids around him all the time and none saw anything wrong! Why? Because he was a real humanitarian, he was a real figure, it just would not cross the mind. Most leaders who care for humanity, children and the planet were always around children. MJ at that time was what parents wanted their kids to be like, schools invited him to give speeches, he was awarded an honory doctorate. He was awarded and appreciated for his efforts by the NAACP. MJ was close to leaders like “Mandela “ at that time in how people saw him. He was treated like presidents and in fact we don’t recall another artist that has been met and greeted by presidents like him before. In the 80s and 90s (even after the first allegation), MJ was a role model, a change maker , a politician , an activist and not a just another talented artist. So will you believe it if someone told you “Mandela “ or “king” abused kids? Of course no, never in a million years.

Unfortunately some believe the lies about a man who in my own opinion and from the facts I shared above tried to change the world as much as these two leaders. Michael met Mandela and visited Africa and donated millions! Michael donated all of his revenues from the dangerous world tour , which counted to 100 million dollars, to saving people. So, in fact Michael saved and changed lives too. I know my words could be “strange “ for some people. People who want to assume a man could be both ! Could be charitable person who is trying to heal the world and also an abuser, and you will give examples of people who did the same. Here , I have to mention a very important analysis. There is a great difference between someone who raises money for charity and someone who lived all his life trying to make the world “a better place” for children and for the whole world, someone who cared about the Planet itself. Michael was a “change maker” and if someone does not want to believe that this character cannot be also an abuser then at least one should doubt ! And when we doubt, guess what? We search more, we search for more evidence. This is what I did regarding the accusations but this article is not about stating facts that directly relates to the accusations. It’s about stating facts and analysis that describes who was Michael Jackson, the real MJ, that in fact we all knew and loved this way, it’s not even a secret. The media just tried, and is still trying, to make us forget this legacy.

I could have started this section with the fact that MJ was found not guilty on all counts and was investigated by the FBI for 15 years and they found nothing to prove he is guilty. But in fact, I wanted to tackle it from another perspective. A perspective no researcher or psychologist dared to talk about till this day. In fact, you will find some articles and books that analyzed MJ psychologically but unfortunately from the information of the tabloids. Declaring his innocence in my opinion is the “justice” from God but we as human beings should also use our brain to judge people and their behaviors. We should look at their actions and not just what people say about them. And of course we should look at facts! Unfortunately some people didn’t do this. They didn’t look again at the behaviors and actions of MJ, his work and his dedication for changing the world. They did not care that everybody around him said very positive things about him and actually said the “same things” about him, like being “child-like” , kind , polite, shy, creative, sensitive to people’s pain, loving and much more. And this kind of consistency gives us great credibility to believe them. This is what we call in psychology “reliability”. The “before you judge me, try hard to love me” words that MJ said in his song childhood is what we should do and believe me you can do it in a very scientific way. Yes, when we analyze someone psychologically, we are trying to understand that person before we judge.

From my research, the only mistake MJ did was that he has given too much trust to all people and was so kind. He opened his heart and his home to many people and some people are just greedy. There are facts and findings from the court and the FBI documents, facts from people who knew Micheal, and there is psychological analysis that leads to findings too . I focused here on the second and third ones. However I encourage people to consider the facts that were found too. Some of them were strangely not known to the public. For example, a quick psychological and scientific fact , this medicine that the boy took in 1993 (they said it make you say the truth) could also bring false memories.

The most important fact about Michael Jackson !

For me the most important fact and finding that shows his innocence is his vitality and aura when it comes to children. We tend to think children are stupid while in fact they are very smart. They are pure and so they feel the energy of people. Kids would not run to a “molester”. I know this might not appear scientific for some but it really is and there is even research (by Harvard and Yale professors) that proves children from as young as 3 years old can recognize evil persons and sense them . Mj was always surrounded by kids because they felt the love and kindness and Purity of his soul. How did I know that? You can check the YouTube! As I said “observation “ was also a tool I relied on. Yes, better than taking facts from a “cartoon” movie about the fantasies of 2 people right?

Some psychologists and people actually did analyzed before judging but they analyzed using information from the tabloids as I mentioned ! And from words of people who contradict themselves ! If we have to believe someone why do we choose to believe 2 people who contradict themselves and not thousands who spend a lot of time with MJ and are reliable people including Diana Ross, Chris Tucker, and Elizabeth taylor and the current president of the US whose children used to have sleepovers with MJ. Why do we have to believe these two people and not Brett Barnes or Macualy Culkin who were friends with MJ too and were there during the same times. How about those who worked with him and were there most of the times, like his bodyguards, his drummer and his makeup artist. All of them agreed on one fact, there was no person they trusted. children with (including their own) as much as Michael. They agreed they saw nothing that could signal any harm. They agreed it was all love, kindness and purity. These people defend MJ till the current moment. It’s up to each reader whether they want to believe thousands of people, thousands of facts and thousands of pages from the FBI , or… two people who filed a suit seeking money from the wealthiest dead celebrity on earth! Would the case be the same if MJ’s estate had no money?! And now I move on with my analysis …

Was MJ happy, sad or depressed?

Have you seen his last performance while rehearsing for the “this is it” tour? The videos that kept everyone including psychologists and physicians “speechless”. He looked so happy, present , mindful, and energetic! What we just explained previously as having a state of “flow”. So what happened?

Absolutely MJ was happy and passionate but he was a perfectionist too which takes a lot of the joy one could have. He was never satisfied with his work or his performance. In his 1993 interview with Oprah , he talked about how he is never happy with what his performance. Well, you know the famous saying and actually the science proven fact that there is a link between being “genius” and being a “perfectionist”, between creativity and stress and pressure!

MJ was a beautiful soul with a crazy mind! Don’t get my wrong I don’t mean the “crazy” in the tabloid perspective , I mean. “crazy” in a beautiful way. Deep inside he wanted to do many things and give many things, his mind was always eager to craft and perfect new things. Don’t forget that he was not just a singer, it’s a different story here. MJ was a song writer, a creator (he created music, dances and ideas), a dancer and even an actor sometimes. He had a crazy mind in terms of both creativity and perfectionism. This is actually the most hectic equation one could have, to have a creative mind and a “perfectionist” personality. Look at him while recording a song or composing it! He is a genius, a perfectionist and a hard worker.

So was he happy? MJ in general was a happy person. I keep on watching his interviews and wonder how some people don’t see this. He is happy and is both , a child-like who is enjoying what he is doing, and also a genius. What an equation? An equation that people believe could not happen? You can’t be kind and smart, talented and pure, innocent and successful! But MJ was all that! He was not acting ! This is what he was. He was talented like no other so he became the king of pop, yet at the same time he was a child deep inside, a child who loves life, loves everyone around him and have beautiful intentions and passion for the world!

So overall was he happy? I have always thought he was depressed at the end and had some psychological problems. I actually changed this perception after my research. I disagree with people who say he was a tortured soul! Yes he would get sad and mad easily but would also get happy again very fast (again just like a child).

In one interview, he is so sad and angry about the “Wacko Jacko” thing. You can see it in his body language guy he was really pissed off. Then in the same interview he is suddenly happy again when he starts talking about his son prince and how he laughs when he dances to him. This interview says a lot about MJ’s personality. Though of course I believe his happiest years were the beginning of the 1990s and till 1993. He was in general a very spontaneous soul, and he loved life. At the same time he is very resilient. His resiliency made him recover again and I believe he was also enjoying his life in the late 1990s too. It was the 2003–2005 trails and accusations that turned this child-like soul to a tired soul. But Micheal remained good to everyone, he did not seek revenge, he did not change any of his missions in life. Yes he took a break, this is what I call what he did from 2006 to 2008 but he came back stronger than ever!

More on his body language

We underestimate the power of our bodies and body language. In fact if we understand the science behind body language and analyzed MJ’s interviews and speeches, we would be astonished. There is a very nice book on that if you wanna read more as it’s not the main topic of this article. However I wanted to highlight on this fact. Don’t judge people from the tabloids, listen to them, watch them , body language always prevail.

The resiliency of MJ

Resiliency is your ability to bounce back after adversity. MJ proved his resilience over and over through his life. After the 1993 accusations, he bounced back and maintained his legacy. I disagree with analysts who say it was the beginning of the end. The only change that happened is how the tone of the songs of MJ started to change. “They don’t care about us” and “tabloid junkie”, “earth song” and “history” were not as soft and utopian like “heal the world” and “man in the mirror”, however they touched people’s hearts and MJ bounced back with even greater hits that are maybe more known world wide than the hits before the 1993 case. You can check how strong he was when he talked in 1994 NAACP about false accusations! Also observe how at that time it was very hard for people to believe this accusation. People believed Michael at that time and he. kept on shining. He toured the world again in 1996 and 1997 and made great performances in 1995 (The MTV music awards performance was a masterpiece). So it was never an end. The hard years were the 2003 till 2005, till he was proven innocent.

MJ ‘s resiliency during the 2003–2005 incidents and trails show how strong he was and as he said with Geraldo Rivera “I am a warrior yes”. Now I have to say it could take me years to analyze and talk about MJ specially during this era. Here, MJ was in peace but I would not say “happy”, strong but also “hurt” and disappointed, maintaining “faith” but also tired of the madness happening. MJ in general was not just a happy person, he had sense of humor and was so alive and energetic. But he was also very emotional and sensitive. We talk about MJ and forget he is an artist ! Artists are “emotional “ beings, artists are different from normal people! Talking about body language , you can observe MJ in the world music awards of 2006 where he gives this look and nodge his head and smiles a very sad smile in a way like “here you are guys still cheering for me”. Was he hesitant that people will keep on loving him? Was he hurt deep inside? yes. The same happened in 2009 when he was not able to go out to talk to the fans to announce for the this is it tour but then he did it. He was hesitant, not sure how to come back but wanted badly to come back. So he started shining again in 2009 and was happy again that he will perform. There is no doubt that being around the fans and performing, which is his greatest gift, made him the happiest. The sadness and frustration at that time where about the “how will people react?”. This is why I believe when around 750 thousand tickets were sold in very few hours and made a record of one of the fastest selling concert of all time, MJ gained his confidence and started some happy days again.

So why was he taking pain killers and medical subscriptions? There are two incidents that made MJ rely heavily on pain killers as many might know, the Pepsi commercial incident were his head was burned badly, and the accident that happened where he fell while performing Earth song in his last tour in 1997. This and along with the false allegations made him in some phases of his life, not all the time like some people say, rely on pain killers. The other medical prescriptions were for insomnia. We talked about MJ being a perfectionist, add to this the pressure of his work, the tours he had to do, and the creativity of his mind that made him never stop thinking and creating ! All of that added to the anxiety and insomnia Micheal had but he was not an addict and he was not depressed! It was reported by people who were very close to him in his last days that he was not even taking it in his last days. In general I would say MJ was a person who enjoyed and loved life, he was a very spiritual person too as per all those around him and most importantly he believed in God. The king of pop was not an addict. There is a great difference between drug addiction and dependence on “pain killers”. So , unlike what other people think and some fans even, i don’t see MJ as a tortured soul or as someone who suffered all of his time and was and will always be misunderstood. Don’t get me wrong in the suffering part, I already mentioned that what he has been through was not easy at all. However as we look at his life in general, MJ was a happy loving person who enjoyed life, laughed a lot, was shy yes, in peace yes and had his own insecurities sometimes yes but was a happy peaceful person in general. He really wanted to make a difference and change the world. I don’t only rely on my own opinion in that no. This is a fact. This is what MJ was mostly known for despite what the media and the tabloid try to do. Kids are singing his songs and dancing on it. Tributes for him are everywhere and will always be.

I believe MJ died with dignity and pride. He did not die alone in a house ,addicted or lonely. He did not commit suicide, and was not depressed or overdosed (though some TV shows made it appear like that sometimes) . In fact, MJ died in a state as much like his thriller era, everybody was waiting for his show, everybody was looking forward. And when he died, everybody was “please come back” and “we will appreciate you more”. MJ lived doing the best thing he loved doing which is music and died doing it. In his last days he was asking his chef to feed him healthy food, he was playing with his kids, he was happy and active but unfortunate to us… ready to leave the world. In fact I don’t see the way he died a normal one. Imagine if MJ the legend died as a loser or as someone whom used to be the king of pop but then died alone and lonely ! MJ lived as the king of pop and also died as the king of pop. Search engines crashed the day he died! Cities all over the world were giving tributes and for the first time in history the tribute was “dancing” where people were dancing and crying at the same time.

Lies will come and go but MJ’s legacy will remain. There is no artist who died and people from all ages and across all countries are still listening to his music and dancing to it. Athletes, dancers, sick people and even sick children with cancer are still and will always be MJ fans who dance to his music to heal themselves and create new beginnings . After sometime, there will be no X and Y, we will not remember their names but there will always be a one and only Michael Jackson, a man who tried to bring people together and cared for children more than any person we know on this planet. As keya Morgan said about him “he was the savior of those who had no food, water and medicine. He was a modern day saint”.