An Empathic View of Michael Jackson: Was He Simply Misunderstood?

This idea came to me when I was watching Dateline and all the other shows about MJ.  I didn’t want to respond at first, but then I put a question on Yahoo about MJ and I saw some hateful answers come back and this bothered me.  I know something about MJ and I believe that it needs to be shared with the world as he shared so much of his life but withheld certain aspects.

In one of the interviews from way back when he was a kid Michael made this one claim that really stuck in my heart.  He said “I never had a childhood of my own”.  I still get tears when I remember the way he said it.  I believe that one thing was what haunted Michael for many years.  He never had a childhood.  He never said it was bad or good or anything like that … just that he never had one … ever … at all. 

I believe this is what caused his downfall in the press and among certain viewers.  His need to have a childhood influenced him to acquire all the amusements rides and to build Neverland.  He needed to see what childhood was all about for some “normal” kids so he invited several to his ranch.  I did not get the feeling from Michael, ever, that he was gay, or intended any evil toward any of the children he invited.  I did get the feeling that a mother decided to take advantage of Michael’s generosity by claiming wrongdoing on his part and coercing her son to speak lies against Michael.  We know they were lies because the person who made the accusations withdrew them later as unfounded and deliberate lies in order to extract a reward for his silence.

I have had a chance to see many film clips and events in Michael’s life and I must admit that I can usually see evil intentions in people, when they exist, such as when President Bush used to speak in the Press and when some Senators preached their own innocence.  I’m sure there are many more of you who have noticed the same thing.  I doubt that I am the only empath on this planet and I further doubt that I am the only person who can tell when someone is lying or not.  I believe that Michael had a sincere, kind, and loving heart and that he would never do anything to harm anyone.  One of my own personal commandments is “Harm No One” and I believe that Michael lived by that tenant as well.  It only makes sense when you look at all the love that he spread around this entire planet.  If MJ were not sincere in his love for the world we would not see it reflected back to him as it has been for the last two weeks since his passing.  Michael became bigger in death than he was in life!  How does that happen?  When an entire planet mourns the passing of one of their greatest heroes.  He could not be that hero if he was guilty of the heinous wrongs of which he was accused.  He would not have been found not guilty by the jury if he had been guilty.  Millions of people would not follow him as they did if he had ever harmed anyone in the manner portrayed by the Press.