The Michael You Choose To Remember

The man who haunted us while living, continues to do so in death. Seriously. How much longer do we need to mourn the death of a man who (as of the last twenty years) has only made a name for himself as a pedophile who almost tossed a baby over a balcony?

While I was cooking eggs this morning I listened to The Today Show's coverage of the looming hullabaloo going on tonight at the Staples Center's MJ mourn festival. Then Akon performed a tribute cover of 'You Want To Be Starting Something'. Once Al Sharpton started dictating how everyone should feel I no longer wanted my omelette. But then the child within compelled me to jump on youtube and take a stroll down memory lane.

Beat It was a turning point in my life. I distinctly remember eating Flinstones Cereal and watching MTV the morning the Beat It video premiered. I couldn't keep it together. The man had some crazy talent. He danced his way into a street fight and into my heart. Soon after, on a family trip to Cedar Point, my dad landed a dart on the bulls-eye and I chose a framed pic of Michael Jackson as my prize. Oh, the countless nights spent listening to Thriller and crying on the glass barrier between me and Michael in his white jacket, reclining in a dreamy backlit haze.

So,this morning I was the 33,102,332nd person to watch Beat It and I'll say it...I got a little choked up. I remembered what it was like to see him for the first time. For four minutes and fifty-seven seconds, all the negative press that tracked his every move, true or not, didn't matter. It's bittersweet that videos like Beat It, Billy Jean and Thriller stand as painful reminders that the Michael we all miss died a long time ago.