Second Star to the Right, and Straight on till Hell

I finally got to watch the Michael Jackson interview after taping it Thursday night. As a father, I felt immense sadness and pity for his three children. I say his - I'm not convinced in the least they are his own biological children but they all seem to be in his custody. Until they're of legal age, these kids will never know a public life without a mask or veil.

Jackson never learned that you have children not to "complete" yourself, or indulge in their innocence. Children are to be taught, raised, nurtured and loved so that they become caring, functional adults. Jackson treats his and other children as playthings, wind-up toys that come and go at his whim and perform their innocent performances for his amusement. He longs for the childhood he thinks he lost in his own home - one of toys, games, amusement park rides, and trips to the zoo. He thinks nothing of the effect an entertainer's lifestyle has or will have on them. He seems to fear for their safety if they were to go out, unmasked, without him. He feels certain the media crush that follows him will follow them as well. Unfortunately, it's a self-perpetuating fear that keeping them out of his life would solve.

It appears that as long as they are with him, they have worth. If he were to give them up for adoption it would be intolerable to him because without kids he and they would have no identity. They are defined only in terms of him: Michael Jackson, father. The kids might be free in other circumstances to play outside with other kids and show their faces in public, but in Jackson's self-built family he must have children and so there they stay.

His stories of how Prince and Paris' moms (they may have been the same person) "gave him gifts of a child", and that Paris' mother encouraged him to take the baby home immediately are absolutely chilling. It gives the idea he did just the opposite - he took the children for himself without free consent from the mom, but his "people" were able to effectively convince her it was in her "best interests." And, of course, little "Blanket" just appears so he can be fed like a doll and dangled so his own adoring fans can "feel his spirit". This is a man using children as objects to justify his own existance.

I can't help wondering if things keep going the way they have, he'll have his own ready-made singing group in about 5-10 years... That or he'll start calling them Wendy, John and Michael.

I hope as a result of this interview that someone, somewhere will take the initiative to get these children away from Jackson. Either by legal means or some kind of moral persuasion.... I wonder who in the world Jackson looks up to? Liz Taylor? Diana Ross? Who exists that would try to talk sense into Michael Jackson? Probably no one, and for that his redemption is likely hopeless.

He may still feel that he's 10 years old, but most 10-year-olds still have parental figures for discipline, guidance, understanding and love. Jackson seems to have never had this, and still doesn't and as such will never grow up.

Nothing to crow about here. Just cry.