Is Michael Jackson Really a Role Model?

Regarding Michael Jackson and his super-hyped career: Even I can’t deny the man’s talent, but I keep a level head when thinking of him. It’s hard to think of Jackson as being human. The way he’s represented to the world as out-of-this-world makes me wonder about him. What kind of person goes to such great lengths to appear surreal? The cosmetic surgery, the way he hides from the world, the little girl’s voice he uses when he deigns to speak to the public.

I am sorry, but I can’t make Jackson out to be a role model for anyone. For someone who sings of believing in oneself, for accepting life in all its forms as is, he certainly goes to great lengths to disprove these theories.

If the children are to believe what Jackson sings, then how can they look to Jackson, who changed his physical appearance to such an extent? He has people he pays to keep him sheltered from the world, to keep him apart from the everyday. I am constantly hearing that he is just a “regular guy,” but who believes it? Cloaked in secrecy, he reminds me of Howard Hughes and Elvis--so removed from everything that they became legends in their own time, alone, scared and, in Elvis’ case, dead too early.

If I seem to be judging Jackson’s life, maybe I am, but it’s hard not to suppose about someone who appears to be this strange. For all Jackson’s talent (and it is extensive), he comes across as inhuman, not someone I admire or would like any future children of mine to look up to.

TRISH BASSETT

Upland