Posted by Niall O'Dowd at 6/26/2009 1:46 AM EDT

Michael Jackson never had a chance. As surely as Irish child abuse victims were tormented and had their lives destroyed, Michael Jackson, too, never had a chance at a normal life.

His father Joe destroyed his life putting him on stage at just six years of age and never allowing him to live the normal life every kid is entitled to.

Joe Jackson was rushing to his son's side today as the news broke, as was his mother but it was all way too late. I hope they take responsisbility for what they did to their dead son. Back in the 19th century PT Barnum used to show people with monstrous physical deficiences as part of his freak acts. The Jackson parents turned their son into one .

From the age of just six Jackson was never out of the limelight. He was too good a meal ticket for his parents and other band members. Stories swirl that they beat him to keep him in line when he rebelled.

So he became a freak and the media did the rest. The cute as a button kid who performed with the Jackson Five became a freak show as he tried desperately to live up to the image that his parents and later fans wanted.

He mutiliated himself, trying to change his skin color, getting so many nose jobs he was no longer recognizable , falling for every passing fad in an attempt to keep up. The media hounded him at every turn and he played up to it often.

His sex life was a constant source of controversy but how could you expect otherwise for a kid who was never allowed to grow up in his own time. Clearly his sexual attraction to young boys was drawn from that nightmare of stunted sexual growth.

He had no inner life, it was all left on stage and what a performer he was but at what a price. The papers loved the Wacko Jacko' image and pursued him relentlessly. His Neverland ranch turned out to be a fiasco with allegations of child abuse . His children were heading down the same dreadful path he had gone down, the way he made them wear masks in public, just another freak show for the media to suck up.

Curiously I think of Marilyn Monroe,another fragile flower who wilted in the white heat of media frenzy. Like Marilyn, Michael Jackson never had a chance but we are left with some wonderful moments of his stage persona, especially in Thriller, which are unmatched by any other performer. The Jackson moonwalk has become part of history now.

Sadly, when the stage lights dimmed there was not enough for Michael to hold on to and he hurtled into the dark side. His death is another tragic story of how the media machine can ruin a relatively young life,taken way before his time.

You were a real Thriller, Michael, its your family that led you to your early grave. You are now in a better place.