Spacesally: Jackson is being called "the greatest entertainer of all time". There's the key -- called. That doesn't mean there's any merit to the statement. And the only reason he's being "called" that is because of dupes like you who idol worship at the feet of celebrities. Why don't you save your adulation for teachers, police officer, firefighters, health care professionals, and social workers? You know -- people who leave the world a better place than what they found it. Otherwise your protestations of idol worship will start falling on deaf ears!
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Two Icons, Two Lives
The parallels between Michael Jackson and Judy Garland are haunting.
Jul 2, 2009
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In the wake of Michael Jackson's death, I've found myself returning to the interview I did with Lorna Luft for my current book, The Lives Our Mothers Leave Us. She spoke poignantly and honestly about her mother, Judy Garland—THE fame that came so early, the prescription drugs that also came early, and the people around her who cared more about her fame than her health. The parallels between Judy's life and Michael's are haunting.
Like Michael Jackson, Judy Garland began performing as a child. Her talent was indisputable, a God-given gift that propelled her out of any kind of normal childhood and into a world of adults who knew her value and knew how to market her.
He might have died a sudden death, but Jackson leaves us with a music legacy for the ages.
Lorna told me that by the time Judy was a teenager, the cycle of pills had begun. Pills to keep her weight down, pills to help her sleep. They were provided by the studios and sanctioned by her mother, who saw her daughter as a commodity, a paycheck. It was, in the end, what killed her.
While we still don't know the complete autopsy findings on Michael Jackson, the flood of stories coming out about his dependency on prescription drugs can't be ignored. Uri Geller, a friend of Michael's, says the people around Jackson kept supplying him with medications— doctors, handlers, people who needed to protect their investment.
The iconic nature of both Michael Jackson's and Judy Garland's careers puts them in rarified air. This is not just gossip-magazine fame. This is not ordinary people who stumbled into a hefty paycheck on a reality show and squeeze out every last drop from their 15 minutes in the spotlight.
Those who are born with a towering talent, something that can't be contained or even understood, never have a chance at a normal life. The world grabs onto them early and can't get enough. The demands are daunting, the crowds are huge, the spotlight is blinding. There is little or no opportunity to grow slowly and organically into a knowledge of who can be trusted and who should be avoided.
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