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Michael Jackson: 1958 - 2009

Three weeks ago, the words "Michael Jackson" were commonly uttered as the punchline to tasteless jokes. The controversial King of Pop certainly provided a steady stream of fodder for the tabloids, whether it be his constantly morphing appearance, the secretive and ostentatious trappings of the Neverland Ranch, the seeming dangling of his infant son over a German hotel balcony -- and, of course, the lawsuits over allegations of child molestation. Where Jackson was concerned, the media merry-go-round seemed to be a self-perpetuating amusement ride, a sensational ouroboros with an insatiable appetite, forever presenting images of the singer as a freak show at best, an unwholesome and disturbed individual at worst.

All of that changed, however, on June 25, 2009, when it was announced the 50 year old music legend had died of cardiac arrest.

Shakespeare, in imagining the eulogy Mark Antony delivered for Julius Caesar, may have had it backwards when he wrote, "The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones." If anything, except for the rarest exceptions, death is the great ameliorator, silencing critics and forcing a pause upon the living -- a moment of reflection where those who remain are almost forced to recall only the best memories, to recall and say nothing but good of the dead. Now the very media that lived to excoriate the man seem to be stumbling over themselves to be the first to officially canonize Saint Michael of Gary. The posthumous picture that emerges is of a tortured soul, a forever boy locked in a constant struggle to deny the legacy of his father, battling anxieties and seeking solace in medications.

In death, Jackson's fame and fortunes have skyrocketed, with sales of his albums dominating top positions. His funeral service will be attended by winners of a lottery, who even now are selling their extra tickets for sometimes exorbitant amounts on eBay, while the less fortunate scavenge their basements and garages for Michael Jackson memorabilia, eager to take part in the warm and fuzzy wave of Michaelmania that has gripped the country, as Jackson is lauded for the musical triumphs (USA for Africa) and canny business decisions (purchasing the Beatles' music catalog).

But for those addicted by schadenfreude to the maelstrom that dominated Jackson's persona, there will be no shortage of bread and circuses, even amidst the wellspring of good feelings and warm wishes. Some will focus on father Joseph Jackson's apparent misplaced priorities, vis a vis his press conference faux pas in which he seemed to take the opportunistic shot to promote his new business venture. Still others will be addicted to the imminent custody battle, as the world ponders whether or not Debbie Rowe will file for custody of her beloved children or write them off as bought and paid for breeding results. And, of course, there will be a will to dispute, as well as the ongoing investigation into various doctors and drugs to determine exactly what caused Jackson's death, with day-by-day, blow-by-blow updates on a par with the spectacle that followed the Anna Nicole Smith autopsies. One assumes we're only hours away from infomercials hawking Michael Jackson "best of" collections, biographies, DVDs of the fall of an idol (with exclusive cuts of ambulance arrivals and Staples Center throngs attending the funeral), and special edition commemorative coins.

Michael Jackson changed the face of the music world. He innovated the music video beyond the mere playback of a concert to a form of cinematography. He turned dance from an art form into physics-defying magic. And, for at least a little while, those will be the things for which he is most remembered.