Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough: Ray Reflects On Michael Jackson

I have never been much of a fan of Michael Jackson or his music. But I am a fan of his talent. And tonight, that talent - including so much unfulfilled potential - disintegrates on a coroner's slab. From the beginning, Michael Jackson was a star. As a six year old, he fronted a band with the raw sexuality and charisma of a person many decades older. As he grew into adulthood, his fame grew to astronomical proportions while his self-esteem shrunk inversely. Despite the bewildering successes he achieved in his life - massive albums like THRILLER and BAD, generous charitable organizations, and culturally-defining moments of pure performance - Jackson's promise remained strangely unfulfilled. It is a lesson to those generations most affected by Jackson's enormous influence : Never wait on what you could do today. While most of us do not have the opportunity to have the kind of stunning and unique talents that Jackson once possessed, each one of us has gifts to contribute to the world, or at least our smaller version of it. It's easy to become distracted by the everyday cares of life. But sadder than the loss of life itself is the loss of what might have been. In Jackson's case, the brilliance of his ten year contribution to music and film is completely overshadowed by the following fifteen years of controversy and non-musical pursuits. It's confounding to imagine that a man of Jackson's talents could be better remembered by history as a child molester and urn collector. It is not wrong to consider this. While we might desire to think of the positives at the end of someone's life, so many high-profile negatives come to mind too easily in the case of Jackson. If we want to assign blame, we can quickly point to father Joe Jackson for much of it. The elder Jackson mercilessly abused and exploited his gifted son, rendering him incapable of dealing with reality for much of his adult life. No doubt we will be subjected to many exclusive interviews, books, and television specials featuring a "grieving" Joe Jackson over the loss of his son, but, like most things Jackson, that will be a publicity grab more than a display of actual emotion. But ultimately the blame lies with Michael himself. Rather than focus on his music, Michael allowed himself to spiral into a vortex of amusement park rides, unhealthy child relationships, and drugs. Think about the vast fortune wasted by Jackson during the last fifteen years of his life. Not just THRILLER money, but also the Beatles money and all of the endorsements. Michael probably wasted well over a billion dollars in the last decade of his life on legal fees and extravagances. While sad, it is also hard to forgive or cast aside. Even worse, Jackson wasted what many tonight are calling a seminal and special talent. Most of us will never be able to sing, dance, or write music like Michael Jackson. We will never know the thrill of entertaining hundreds of thousands of fans all at once. We will never have a world eager to touch us, see us, or own our face on a lunchbox. Yet, Michael Jackson's talents earned him that opportunity ... for a while. But his death leaves us wondering ... what happened? What could have happened? Someone with his talents, abilities, and financial status could have done anything in his life, but he decided to live in hotel rooms, collect statues, and carouse with young boys. In some way it is reflective of the message in CITIZEN KANE - a young man leaves behind his most valued possession in order to compile a great legacy, only to end up alone in a pile of junk. Michael was all alone at the end of his life, surrounded with the meaningless pursuits that had crowded out his truly magical gifts. It is so easy to get carried away with the everyday that we lose sight of what we could be or what we could accomplish. Michael Jackson certainly lost sight of that, tarnishing his early brilliance with many years of foolishness that left his potential unfulfilled. It is a sobering thought for those of us left behind, those of us who might be squandering our own goals in life for the temporary ... the transitory ... the momentary. We only have one shot at this silly little exercise called life. Do the right thing, do it as well as you can, and do it right now. Or, as Michael once sang, don't stop 'til you get enough. The time might come sooner than you think when enough simply isn't.