Who are these white folks?
An unfortunate by-product of Reality TV is that it often makes something out of nothing. It creates drama where there is none. But if viewers look closely, they may realize one or two things. The offspring of celebrities either choose to chill in the shade of famous relatives or drag around in the shadows of a burdensome dark cloud. The Jacksons: Next Generation, a Lifetime production featuring what seems like an army of children sired by The Jackson Five makes the pros and cons of being a celebrity kid embarrassingly clear.
Why some celebrity children feel that their parents’ purpose in life, which leads them to become world renown singers, must be their destiny as well is beyond comprehension. Sure it may be in their genes to carry a tune. But it may not be their purpose to wow the world with song. The world is filled with people anointed to sing who will never have the world success that the regularly tone-deaf Taylor Swift experiences. Tito Jackson’s sons, Taryll Jackson, Taj Jackson, and TJ Jackson, have approached middle age wishing on the Jackson Family stardom. These young people seem to be burdened by the looming shadow of family success. All they do is whine and cry and procreate with paler people and show up occasionally in studios trying to bang out the one song that will catapult them to Michael Jackson status (which everyone but them seems to know is never going to happen).
Other, lesser known children of celebrities seem to be burdened by family success as well. They suffer all sorts of identity crises trying to wear shoes too big for their feet or their talent. Always dragging around in someone else’s shadow is difficult for even us so-called common folk. But why a child of a celebrity, who has the means and every opportunity to truly find out who they are, would choose to try to make platinum lightning strike twice must be as frustrating to the parents who indulge them in the expression of their watered down talent as they are to the public they are thrust upon.
