"Where to?"
"Forest Lawn in Glendale, please."
And so begins my adventure to pay respects to the King of Pop on the one year anniversary of his death, June 25, 2010.
As I pull up in my cab to the front gates of Forest Lawn Cemetary, the press was EVERYWHERE. Tons of news trucks, reporters and cameras. I walk inside and am instructed to go up the hill and just basically follow the other people. I expected there to be a very organized, strict, straight laced way about doing this, but really the entire grounds were open. I thought they would corral us into a line like a herd of cows and just make the line continue on past Michael Jackson’s tomb. No stopping, no pictures, no nothing. I was so wrong! It was actually so incredibly…beautiful. I know that sounds cheesy, but you simply just walked up this hill (more like hike, I was DYING…yikes, no pun intended) until you got to the mausoleum, and there were barricades set up to form a line where you could walk through.
As I walked up the hill though, tons of fans were just milling about doing their own thing. Some were taking pictures, some were gathered around portable iPod players blasting his music, and some were huddled together crying and comforting one another. It was very, very touching. There were TONS of international fans, as well. People from Japan, Spain and Australia came just to pay their respects! There was a little stand where you could buy flowers, mainly sunflowers (MJ’s favorite), and leave them for Michael. Once you got up to the mausoleum, there was a little stage set up and an employee would take the flowers and gifts and set them up on the stage. You were allowed to stand there for about 10 minutes tops to look at the memorial, pray, take pictures, whatever.
It was so amazing to see all of these people from different countries, all different walks of life, come together to pay respects to this man who so heavily influenced so many things we love and enjoy today. Black artists would not be as welcomed and embraced as they are today if it weren’t for Michael Jackson and the Jackson Five. Half of the dancers out there today list MJ as their inspiration. Same with musical artists. Think of how popular popping, locking, and isolated movement are in hip hop dance. Michael started all of that. Would Justin Timberlake dance the way he does today if he didn’t have Michael to look up to and learn from? I find it so sad that for some people, the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Michael Jackson is “Wacko Jacko”, child molester (which was denied in court – wish people would drop it), weirdo. He was just simply misunderstood. He was so genius, he was beyond us. We couldn’t understand him because he was on another level. The same has been said for Einstein. His teachers failed him because he wasn’t “thinking right”. Little did they know. But whatever, I’m going to get off of my soap box. Going to his memorial solidified the fact that yes, there are some who do not recognize MJ’s genius, but there are MORE who DO. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: some people put on Mozart for their babies to fall asleep to, to trigger intellectual growth. My children will be falling asleep to the Thriller, Bad and Dangerous albums.
Okay, back to the fun stuff. I made my way through the line, but was really so overwhelmed I felt as if I didn’t really take it all in. So I sat down and people-watched. I watched all of the fans unite, and I watched a beautiful moment where this one woman just broke down in tears, and a complete stranger came up to her and offered her a tissue and a hug. I got up and made my way through the line one last time, so that I could REALLY soak it all up. As I was exiting, a CNN reporter came up to this woman and asked if he could interview her. A crowd started to form and I just so happened to be right behind her. Well, cameras started rolling, and the reporter came up to her and started going! Right before I called my mom and told her to turn on CNN…I’d be live in five! Haha, so after that my mom called back and she was laughing, saying that she saw me and I looked “ever so somber”. I was really trying not to laugh because I couldn’t help but think how INSANE it was that I just so happened to be in the right place at the right time, live on CNN. So after that I said my final goodbyes to Michael Jackson and made my way down the hill and grabbed another taxi...only to get in and hear Michael on the radio. :)
It was so very special to me to be able to be in LA for the one year anniversary of his passing. Growing up, I of course knew who Michael Jackson was. However, I grew up in the time of "Wacko Jacko". I remember the first time I ever saw him, I was watching him and Janet do a joint interview on TV. I was watching with my parents, and I remember hearing the interviewer refer to Michael as Janet's "brother" and ask about Michael's "wife", but I was confused. I thought I was watching two girls! So I asked my parents..."wait...which one is the boy?!" As I got older I realized that yes, Michael was a little strange, but he was also a huge superstar. I watched The Jacksons, that little mini-series that documents his life from the Jackson Five until present day, and I remember sitting on Hannah's couch watching the infamous Martin Brashear interview. Of course, MJ's career had slowed down in the late 90s/early 2000s, which is when I was growing up. We had Britney, N Sync and the Backstreet Boys. But like I said before...without Michael, would we still have these groups that I idolized? Like Elvis started rock and roll, MJ started pop.
After he died, I sat glued to the television and watched all of the MJ specials, news coverage, etc. I kept thinking to myself "this is what it must have been like when Elvis died". And in the weeks following his death, I myself researched MJ and constantly watched YouTube videos of his performances and music videos. It was then that I realized just HOW MUCH he influenced music today as we know it, and just how genius he truly was. I feel guilty because it's like I jumped on the Michael bandwagon after his passing, but in all honesty, his death made me appreciate him so much more. I now understand WHY people from all over the world would come to pay their respects to him at his burial site, and I now understand WHY people like Usher and Chris Brown broke down while performing Michael's songs. Without him, they would not be doing what they do today. Not only has Michael's music inspired people, but so has his outlook on life: ALL FOR LOVE. L.O.V.E.
Oh, and how could I forget? Without Michael, my roommates and I (aptly named The Jackson Five) would never have spent all those hours in my living room dancing along to MJ videos while we should have been studying. Dun nun dun nun dun dun duh duh...
Thank you, Michael.
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