I never imagined it would be such a big deal. I mean people die all the time, right? And as one of my facebook friends from America wrote, “He died a long time ago.” That’s her point of view.
But here, in Australia, there is a different take on his passing. It happened during the news shows in the morning and they all ran MJ reels and remembrances. Before they got newsfeeds from America I saw a newscaster pull a photo of Michael and him taken years ago right out of his briefcase. It was folded and faded, as the camera zoomed in he struggled talking about the day he met Michael.
By noon, the Gold Coast Bulletin put out a special collectors issue. At the Oasis Center on Broadbeach Michael's songs were being piped in over the intercom and in most of the stores. People I talked to all wanted to talk about it. “It was my mom’s first concert, she is home crying.” “I think it is sad that he had to die for us to realize how great he was.” And on … and on…and on…
Even when I think back to some of the very first conversations that I had in Australia they were about Michael Jackson. One person challenged me, “What do you think of him? Was he a …?” I remarked at the time it was a pretty strange conversation. It ended up pretty emotional and it was only about MJ. So what gives?
Well, I would say that a lot gives.
I was on the Gold Coast Australia the day that Michael Jackson died. And here it is a very big deal.
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