Saturday night, Carrie and I went to see This is It at the IMAX. We got there early, expecting crowds. Instead there were probably 50 people in the Imax theater which I attribute to Halloween. The good thing is we were able to get a perfect seat right in the middle and Carrie only had to climb a few stairs.
The movie starts a little slow, making me wonder just what it was going to be. But it quickly got more interesting. They show a few minutes of how they auditioned dancers and it was insane! They were of course amazing. Watching the rehearsal footage was really more like sitting in the audience during a show run through. There are still some kinks, but minus the costuming and pyro, it’s the show you’ll see the next day. I felt like I had a good feel for what this tour would have been, which makes me quite sad. It was going to be amazing. His voice is still pristine at 50. His feel when he dances is solid. I enjoyed watching him interact with the musicians. He got one of the hottest female guitarists ever – Orianthi. Check out her myspace page, her guitar work is just sick and makes me happy!
Overall, I just found myself marveling at a man who was so sweet with everyone. He wasn’t feeling the bass line, which was critical in a funky song, and he ended his request for more of it with ‘it’s all about love’ or ‘god bless you’. Seriously, he didn’t raise his voice, get angry…He even apologizes about having to conserve his voice so he isn’t singing out in rehearsal. But the dancers are so into it, he can’t help but push a little more to give them a performance. I hope everyone watches this and sees his spirit. There’s nothing dark in it, he’s just a bright and shining light that makes you want to be better.
I find myself still very affected by his death. I can’t figure it out. Some of it is simply that he was so bright, and he went out when he was reaching a higher level of brightness. Another aspect is because we know just what we lost, at least with this tour, and who knows what else he would have given us. And third, he doesn’t get a chance to reclaim his name. I don’t believe he ever hurt a single child because he is the most compassionate, caring, loving person I’ve ever witnessed and he wouldn’t do something that knowingly hurt a child. He knows what it’s like to have sex pushed on you at a young age, and he’s keenly aware of how other people are feeling. So it just doesn’t add up. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was a straight man with no tendencies toward pedophilia. I believe he was a very sensitive child who faced abuse in many ways and learned some weird coping mechanisms, but he did find a few people in the world that he loved and loved him. And now, thankfully, he is surrounded by nothing but love back Home. I just hope he can come back before long and bring his spirit back into our world. We still need it. And in the end, I guess that’s why Carrie and I have to be successful with music – because the best and brightest have been leaving us lately so we need to carry on their legacy of inspirational music.
I don’t claim to know why the Universe works the way it does. I don’t know if there is one central intelligence that is dictating everything, or if there are just smaller committees that work with a subset of people to work out their lives and situations. Maybe this was just a gift for MJ to finally have peace and get us to create that peace ourself in our own lives and spread it.
Anyway…this needs to be released on DVD soon. I hope they have more in it that didn’t fit so we can see as much as possible. I think I may need to use this as inspiration. I’ve never lived my life literally spreading love everywhere I go. I wonder how that works?
