This really is an interesting discussion and I bet we could correlate reactions with age. I do not understand all the people crying FOR him. That's not why they are crying, even though it appears so.
I remember coloring in coloring books at the baby sitter's house and listening to a Jackson Five 45 record with Michael singing "I'll Be There" when I was very young. We played it over and over; and I remember being amazed at his voice, and thinking "He's just a kid too! Only a few years older than me... and he's on a record!" I remember I didn't like the song on the flip side. I hadn't thought about that memory for a long, long time.
"Thriller" came out and was all over the radio and constantly played on the jukebox when I was working my first "real" job (outside of a high school internship) as a waitress at Reno's Pizza.
I think various times in our lives are remembered and forever linked in our memories with the music we heard at the time.
As far as "people crying FOR him. That's not why they are crying, even though it appears so"... I think that's a very insightful comment. Thank you for writing that, Peter. It really helped me to think, figure out, and understand why I suddenly became so moved and sad at his passing... when before yesterday, for years, I had only thought of him with disgust and contempt.
I don't think I was crying for the loss of him, or even his music. We will all still be able to listen to his music or see videos of him performing whenever we want via recordings. And all these years, I've never had the urge to look up and watch any of his older stuff (the great stuff, his dancing, and his moves when he was on top). Watching him decline into ever stranger freakishness, although mildly entertaining, did nothing to endear him to me. Furthermore, if he was a child molester, I'm wholeheartedly glad he's off the face of this earth and can never harm a child again. In a way it seems his passing should be a relief, and actually a blessing in many ways. What changed my feelings and perceptions last night when he was suddenly gone?
I think his death brought forth a reflection upon what was once good in him; and the finality of realizing that now nothing will ever bring back either a return of the "good" Michael and what he once was, or the times in my own life that I remember and associate with him when he was at his peak. It's a sadness for the loss of what he once was; and an even deeper sadness, I think, of the loss of things in our own past, what we once were and the possibilities in life we once had. Death is a reminder of the finality our lives, and an end to possibilities of change or further accomplishments. I think it compels us to remember and compare our own lives in the past (through memories associated with the dead person) with how far we've come, what we've accomplished, and where we are today. It's a reminder that our own past is truly gone. Are we the same person we once were? If we were to die today, how would people remember us? What would our legacy be? And above all, are we ourselves happy with who we have become, and with our own lives now?
