Those words were the first to pop up when I googled the name Michael Jackson. The Michael Jackson Live website home page goes on to say tickets are still available. The video is not and an empty viewing screen stares back at the reader, while changing images to the right of the video show Michael at various stages of his life.

This site somehow seems to be the most fitting tribute I have seen so far to the man who in the end appeared to be just that, an empty façade with only the past to sustain the legend. The absurdity of the website name and the ongoing offer of tickets also seem somehow fitting as well, for the life that was in many ways a tribute to the sadly and strangely bizarre.

Although Michael’s odd behaviour, obsession with his self image and loneliness seem extreme, he is of course not alone. Other big entertainment stories of the week seem equally vacuous and sad. Of note is Roman Polanski’s quest for bail and non-extradition to the United States to face sentencing for the rape of a 13 year old girl. Sound familiar? It makes me wonder whether family dysfunction is a driving factor to success or whether success creates dysfunction; the old story of absolute power corrupting absolutely.
Like Jackson, Polanski is accused of using his power and fame to lure a child into sex acts. Unlike Jackson, he was unable to pay off his victims and avoid a prison term. Instead, Polanski fled to Europe on the day of sentencing in the U.S. Apparently thinking that let him off the hook, he turned up in Switzerland to accept a lifetime achievement award where he was arrested and now awaits extradition.

The point I find most disturbing in both cases is that these men thought their fame and money could buy them freedom despite crimes against innocents. It begs the question of whether we have become too star struck. It seems generations of famous people are unable to have normal lives and those that do go off the rails, are under such scrutiny they can’t get back, or they are forgiven all behavior because of their fame. It would be hard to imagine the Jackson children experiencing any more normal life than their father had, because their lives are also played out in front of a camera, all of the time.
Of course these children also have the same family crosses to bear as their father did. Joe Jackson, Michael’s dad, was in the news last week liaising with media about the Jackson kids/paparazzi car incident and I may be wrong, but I am sure I detected a little of that old happy to be in the limelight no matter what the reason feeling. This is exactly the kind of behaviour that supposedly created such resentment from Michael toward his father. The minders of these children will have an uphill battle protecting them from opportunists, both inside and outside of the Jackson family circle.

Some stars of course, like the indomitable Meryl Streep who never ceases to amaze and impress, manage to have a balance. Despite winning numerous academy awards and performing in films as far back as I can remember, this woman seems to be immune to the attention and dysfunction that stardom brings. She has maintained an air of grace and fame, and has kept a normal private life, so it is possible.

For the most part, I think the lives of movie and music stars put my own life into perspective and I am glad to be un-famous. Give me the dishes, the kids, the laundry and the walks to the park. I would take these over stardom in a glass bottle.
Now that Michaels bottle is empty, sadly, there seems to be nothing of substance left; just tickets for sale to a concert that will never be.