TRUE STORY.)when i think of MJ, i think about THE WIZ. i was about five when my mother and the man she was seeing took me out on some kinda, let's test how he is with my kid date. you single mamas know what i'm speaking on, but hey i didnt care - we were going to the movies, and i was going to see Michael Jackson on the big screen. i didnt even really understand what THE WIZ was, or the political implications- ma's date being of a pro black sort, but disco driven too. combination huey p, and travolta. tight leather pants suit and the shit was green too.
anyway, we get there- him wanting to kinda squeeze up on mama, puts me in the aisle seat. im totally engrossed by the vivid colors, and quincy soundtrack - the characters are wild, and then it dawns on me- this is a black people wiz. i distinctly remember thinking that it was so wild that there were none of my Aunt Fran's friends in the movie(she was a multicultural lesbian before there was a term for it) and then it happened . . .
all the little kids my age, older even started to dance in the aisles, and it was to "you can't win"
the solo song for MJ- and he kills it and the kids can't sit down, and the parents are overwhelmed, a couple sit their kids down, but most just start clappin and yelling encouragement. seriously left a mark on my soul, for i got up, and started in with the rest of them. it was my first public performance, it solidified my weirdo stance for it turned on the brights on my technicolor. ever since that moment in the theatre art has been my refuge, my friend, and my shield.
the guy wasn't around by my sixth birthday, i stopped asking about him after the new one moved in. yeah. i guess he didnt pass the fam test.
and while over the years MJ changed from visionary young talent - to world icon - to worldly shame- i will always remember the simple wisdom of "you can't win".
yeah, you can't win, but you sure can moonwalk while trying.
rest in peace.
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