Let’s Catch Up With MJ’s Kids

The last time Michael Jackson’s three children–Prince Michael, 16; Paris, 14; and Blanket, 11–were publicly present in any real way was in heartbreaking footage from their father’s funeral in 2009. Since then, the trio have popped up in the media sparingly: as pawns in the unfortunate custody battle that occurred last July, as tabloid fodder during Paris Jackson’s misguided Twitter rant about her grandmother, and as inconsequential page-filler in the ever-tacky Daily Mail. The past few weeks, however, have seen the kids back in the spotlight, and remarkably well-adjusted.

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In their early years, MJ’s kids were sheltered from the storm that was his  everyday life with a ferocity that would seem overzealous if they weren’t the children of the most high profile human on earth, ever. Jackson was mercilessly mocked for making the children wear masks in public to hide their identities, with much speculation over the long-term psychological damage this could cause. But considering the intense media scrutiny Jackson was under, masks seemed like a necessity, rather than the act of a nut-job. (And at any rate, kids playing dress-ups is hardly an out-of-the-ordinary thing.)

The 2003 Martin Bashir documentary, Living With Michael Jackson, was a stitch-up of the highest degree, which sought to show Jackson as a troubled, dangerous man. Bashir was widely lambasted for this yellow journalism, but the documentary had its desired effect: many dismissed Jackson, yet again, as a deeply disturbed man. Of the few truths that were actually revealed through the haze of dubious editorialising was that Jackson’s kids seemed, at this early age, like normal kids. There’s a cute scene where a five-year-old Prince talks earnestly to Bashir about how he didn’t like Star Wars Episode One as much as the other films in the franchise.

Despite Bashir framing the entire situation as sinister, the kids clearly loved the perennial Peter Pan that was their father. Of course, since that documentary aired, the three children have had to deal with the sudden death of their father and the blanket coverage that followed, with drug addiction rumours, an involuntary manslaughter trial, and–on top of grieving the loss of their father–the fact that his passing was the most publicly grieved and covered celebrity death since that of Princess Diana. You could excuse almost any behaviour from children that had to deal with this level of tragedy so early in their lives.

But over the past few weeks, the eldest Jackson heir, Prince Michael, has slid into the spotlight and revealed himself to be a disarmingly normal teenage kid.

PRINCE MICHAEL:

Sixteen years old and quite good looking in a Joseph Gordon Levitt way, Prince has begun a recurring correspondent role on Entertainment Tonight, debuting with an interview with Sam Raimi, Zach Braff and James Franco, and pulling it off with relaxed ease. He’s also dabbling in acting, and will appear in the season finale of 90210 this month, playing a trauma victim who bonds with series regular Erin Silver. Prince has revealed his eventual goal is to “direct, write and act” and, considering his linage and his grasp on the medium (Raimi and co. were apparently surprised by how knowledgeable he was about the industry and the technical aspects of filming), it would be less-than-surprising if he succeeded.

On Twitter (@princemjjjaxon), he has revealed himself to be a normal kid, letting the world in on his love of the new Bond film, Miami Heat, video games, Batman and Game Of Thrones, while teasing his little brother Prince Michael II (aka Blanket, @realblanket).

Importantly, his love of Star Wars doesn’t seem to have diminished.

PARIS:

Paris Jackson, meanwhile, is just shy of turning fifteen, and has revealed herself to be a pretty normal teenage girl.

She tweets at all hours about nothing of consequence (@ParisJackson), quotes Matchbox 20, Smashing Pumpkins and Runaways songs in equal measure (she has just dyed and cut her hair pixie-style like Lita Ford), writes passive-aggressive messages about the turmoil of teenage love, and seems to have just discovered the rite of passage that is Kurt Cobain.

She is also a varsity football fan, a cheerleader for her school basketball team, and is baffled by how short the middle school girls’ skirts are. (The Philadelphia Eagles cheer director thinks she’d make a great cheerleader for the Eagles.) She whines about long chipotle lines, details petty arguments with her brother (“seriously if he doesn’t stop blasting Clique on repeat imma kick his butt… he’s wearing it out. I hate when people ruin good songs like that…”), plays the bass guitar, and wonders if her “geometry teacher will be pissed when he receives my homework drenched in milk”.

In short, she’s trawling through the very minor/major teenage concerns that her father never got to experience. It may have been his death that took the spotlight off his children enough for them to enjoy these simple freedoms. Considering Michael Jackson’s entire arrested development can be blamed on him missing out on a conventional childhood, something he struggled to reclaim throughout his entire life, the fact that Paris and Prince are arguing over Twitter about the volume of her shower singing is a beautiful thing, indeed.

BLANKET:

And Blanket? Blanket’s just a normal 11-year-old kid.

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Nathan Jolly is the Editor of The Music Network, Australia’s number one music industry magazine/embedder of that video where Bieber raps.