Michael Jackson's Fans

A study in delusion

Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash

"My fans truly are a part of me, we share something that most people will never experience.”

-Michael Jackson, 2001.

Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, I would often spend time at my grandparents’ house in Encino. On the short drive, my family and I would always pass one house that stood out to me: there were people sitting outside with handmade signs. I started to notice that it didn’t matter what time of day my family and I were arriving or leaving; there were always people there. With signs.

When I asked my father why, he told me that the house was Michael Jackson’s home. The people waiting outside all day and all night were “fans.” I was about four years old. This is one of my first memories of where I’m from.

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