We went to the movies tonight to see Michael, a bio-pic telling the early days of Michael Jackson, and it was pretty good! It doesn't get into any of the scandal and focuses on his early career, and I think it was pretty well done all up and the lead (played by his nephew Jaafar Jackson) really worked well for the film. And of course, at least for someone of may age-ish or a bit older who grew up with his music, there is definitely sentimental connection with the soundtrack.
I think that the focus on his brilliance is a good reminder that despite all the rest, he was an incredibly talented individual who shifted the way the world consumes music. And as the movie points toward the eventual trajectory tied to his early childhood and relationship with his father, it is another good reminder that brilliance is often coupled with some kind of offset traits that are well away from the norm.
What is a counter-factual argument, is that without the treatment he had when he was young, perhaps he both would have never become the superstar he became, but he might also have not been such a strange and twisted individual either. Maybe he would have just been a normal guy, living out his life in Gary, Indiana - being a nobody.
My wife doesn't agree.
She thinks that the sort of treatment (beatings) he would get from his father added no value to his life other than trauma, but I think that there is likely a lot of drive that he had that was there because of that treatment. It seems to me, that a lot of brilliant people tend to have very difficult origin stories with circumstances that they had to overcome in order to achieve what they eventually did. If I remember correctly from something I read some time, a lot of the people who are very successful in some skill, have a parent that drives them hard, and one who supports them.
A pusher and a protector.
It is an interesting observation in today's world, where many parents want to be friends with their kids, but also want what is best for them. But if what is best for them isn't a parent who is a friend and instead someone who challenges them to be better, to push harder, to improve themselves, than the parent is actually a hurdle to the child's growth.
The parent is not what is best for the child.
And no, success isn't just fame and fortune, because it can encompass many different kinds of situations and skillsets. But the thing with learning any skill is that no one can learn it for another person. A parent can't learn for the child, and a child can't learn if they are constantly sheltered from the experiences they need n order to learn.
As I was saying to the family that were here the other day, learning to be brilliant at something isn't fun. Learning a skill to begin with can be fun and it can get a person up to an okay level, but to be brilliant takes dedication to repetition and often discomfort, pain, boredom, and an acceptance of very slow progress. Because the better we get at something, the harder it becomes to get better again. At some point, no matter how hard one trains, the improvement is miniscule.
And maybe to be able to push through into brilliance takes a certain kind of person with a mindset that allows for it. And maybe, while some might be born with that innately, perhaps difficult childhood experiences and people who get pushed hard are able to get into that same frame needed to keep on training, practicing, learning and overcoming day after day. Staying safe and protected by the parents, might run counter to developing certain kinds of brilliance.
While I don't think beating children is the way to develop high-level skillsets in most people, hardship can sew the seeds for growth. But, that same hardship can also generate a host of other reactive conditions, which might be the case for many of the brilliant people who excel in one or two areas, but fail hard in others. Michael Jackson might be one of the very public examples of developed brilliance coupled with other broken frameworks that made it difficult for him to navigate his life, especially under the public pressure he faced.
Anyway, this all aside, it was a decent movie and what was interesting was after the movie ended and the credits rolled, no one left the cinema. Everyone stayed until the last song finished and the lights came on. Love or hate the person, it is undeniable that Michael Jackson, despite all the many flaws and problems, was an incredibly talented person and made some brilliant music.
And while the movie was full of music, it only scraped the surface.
Taraz
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