"Summertime, and the living is easy..." which George Gershwin wrote for the musical Porgy and Bess in 1935, is still the tune that comes to mind as I slip into a summertime state of mind-a gentle lullaby that is both somewhat melancholy and very comforting. Hot dogs and ice cream, air-conditioned movie theaters and hot sand at the beach, slowing down, sitting back, watching white puffy clouds roll lazily across a cerulean sky.
If only I could stay there.
Instead, I keep getting pulled back into the Michael Jackson morass-the quagmire of abuse, the swamp of addiction, the muck and mire of unbridled greed. Joe Jackson appeared on "Larry King Live" and denied ever beating Michael. Like Bill Clinton swearing he never had sex with "that woman" because they never had intercourse, Papa Joe swears he never "beat" Michael. Of course, he believes that disciplining with a switch or belt is not a "beating," which requires a stick. Certainly a fine line of distinction, meant to justify in his own mind and to the world that he was not an abusive parent.
And then there are the upcoming battles over custody of Michael Jackson's three children, the battle over his final resting place, the battle over his will. It's gonna be a long hot summer for the host of people involved in the aftermath of his death. And although Jackson fatigue is setting in for some, for many others it tops the news of the health care crusade, the economic struggle, and the actual wars.
On another celebrity-dealing-with-abuse-allegations front, Chris Brown released his so-called "apology"-a video mea culpa that struck me not as a heartfelt apology to Rihanna (the woman from whom he must now maintain a 50-yard distance for the next five years) but as an apology to his fans for goofing up and, hey, please still love me and buy my records. The two-minute video was, after all, put out by his record company.
Since I do so much work with both the victims and perpetrators of abuse, I find these celebrity examples helpful in having people understand that we do need to talk about it, bring abuse-whether physical, sexual, or emotional-out of its secret hiding places, out from behind the façade of justifications and unripe apologies, and into the open.
Right now, though, the sun is hot and some nice cold melon sounds really good.
