This is it

We were, inevitably late arriving at the cinema. We sat down with a huge vat of Diet Coke and popcorn, because the coke was cheaper if we had a medium size than a small. Of course, we had to throw most of it away. Big girl daughter sat on top of me and I had to put my hand over her eyes for the entire length of Thriller. I have never been a big Michael Jackson fan, but, like everyone, I know all the songs.
He looked in quite good form, considering what happened soon after. It could have all been very ghoulish, watching someone’s last moments and knowing that most of the reason for releasing the film are about recouping some money, but the songs are so catchy and the production was big-time showbiz, with new videos for Thriller and other songs, that it kind of carried you along. Michael Jackson seemed to know what he was doing and what he wanted from each song and everyone seemed to comply readily, but you don’t really know what goes on in the background.
I knew the kids would pick up on him saying there are only four years left to save the earth. This is not fitting in with my upbeat messaging about bioengineering. Bonkers daughter asked strangely off-beam questions all the way home. “Why do so many people die on their wedding day?” she asked. Apparently, this was because half the people in the Thriller video were in bridal dresses. I think I tried to deflect this by talking about embalming and dressing people up in their best dresses when they die. She seemed to be happy with this explanation.
Someone who walked out of the cinema before us said she felt “robbed” because she had had tickets to his concert. That seemed a bit sad. After all, he was a person (although one who seemed very locked away in his own world) not just a performer. It’s really about a bit more than missing a concert, isn’t it?