I was watching one of the memorial shows yesterday where they played his videos over and over. I realized today that I was watching with a different eye than when he was alive. I was more in awe yesterday of his talent while watching them than I was in the past. Today, I thought, hey, wait a minute, I never really liked "Thriller". I thought it was slightly disturbing and somewhat melodramatic; the "Bad" video I remember feeling that it glorified bad guys and Michael Jackson as one of them was not believable (nor were the other "bad" guys since most of them were so obviously just dancers). I also remember being repulsed by his jock grabbing in his videos and on stage. A skinny, wimpy guy like MJ acting macho by grabbing his groin? Kind of out of place.
So I was thinking to myself, "Why the change of mind?" I believe it's what happens when just about anyone dies: we tend to look back at them in the most positive light, and see their acts as purer or better than they actually were, and maybe even impute motives that weren't there. So, I can't agree with labels like: he was the greatest entertainer ever (not for me). Andrea Peyser of the New York Post may have gone too far, but I think the gist of her statement, that Jackson's death has blinded us to many negative aspects of his life, is right.
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