MICHAEL Jackson’s life has always been an open book for the world to read.
We had seen him evolve from a talented child fated to superstardom into one troubled adult beset by intrigues. We had scrutinized the legendary pop icon from head to toe, seen his transformation from “black” to “white,” and watched his rise and fall.
But just as we thought we had finished leafing through the pages of Jackson’s life, the appearance of his 11-year-old daughter revealed a missing page of the Jackson almanac.
“I just wanted to say, ever since I was born Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just wanted to say I love him so much,” said Paris Michael Katherine Jackson last July 7 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles before the estimated 21,000 “M.J.” fans in attendance during a memorial service.
Jackson’s untimely demise from cardiac arrest last June 25 shook the entertainment world to its very core, bringing an end to the tumultuous career of one of pop culture’s greatest icons.
Apart from celebrities, people from all over the world also took part in the black parade for the “King of Pop” one last time, honoring his music which greatly influenced his generation and the rest that followed.
At age 50, the “greatest performer that ever lived” had done a lot, yet he knew he could give his fans more through a series of concerts that were to start in London this July. But time was never kind to Jackson, evident from his “deprived” childhood leading to his unusual behavior later on as an adult. Before we knew it, it was time to bid the “Moonwalk revolution” goodbye.
This was the first time Jackson’s children Prince Michael I (formerly Michael Joseph Jackson Jr.), Paris, and Prince Michael II showed their faces to the public. Their late father made them wear masks or veils in the rare times they had been photographed.
Perhaps Jackson’s consummated life burning before the multitude’s eyes would explain why he was fiercely protective of his children, and why he would not want to expose them to the media’s prying eyes. The fact that Jackson never maintained a stable relationship with women would only instigate nosy media men to feast on the kids’ exact origins.
And so the world was shown a picture of little Paris sobbing in her aunt Janet Jackson’s arms in retreat, the loss of her beloved father finally sinking in. She may had seen it coming that mother Debbie Rowe would come and take them back soon but for Paris, she and her brothers became orphans the minute their father died.
Gone are the days when daddy would run free in the backyard and play with them. Gone, too, are the days of buying toys or ice cream during their birthdays. The songs, dances, and other things daddy would so lovingly do for the kids would only remain memories.
Paris will always look back to the happy times spent with her father like that trip to Bahrain which lasted almost a year, or those moments when she and her brothers hanged out with the music legends daddy used to work with, like rock musician Lenny Kravitz.
Kravitz said in a Time Magazine report: “I grew up in an old-school West Indian family where respect was paramount. And [Michael Jackson’s] kids were just like that, full of respect but not robotic. They both drew pictures for me and signed them.”
Perhaps equally priceless was the feeling of simply being reared by a father in the best way he could, amid the unhealthy instances and controversies that surrounded them.
But whatever flawed picture the world has painted of Jackson, he would always be seen as a provider and protector in the indiscriminating eyes of his three little angels.
Whether or not Paris got her message across and reached her daddy will remain unknown. But the world was surely listening.
