‘Michael’- Tiny rant about a movie I flat out refuse to go and see

Written By Benne van der Velde

Children are self centered creatures by unfinished design. Children can be so, so cruel. Ask any bullied kid? Ask me. Children lie all the fucking time. Stone cold too, no matter the amount of evidence piled up against them? Many a parent with empty cookie jars can attest to this. And don’t even get me started on all the ‘playing dokter’ I know I did as a kid. I’m sure I was the only one. Ever. So when I hear Michael Jackson fans play the ‘innocent like a child - just a big kid’ card when wanting to explain his very intimate… friendships with pre-teen boys, I can’t help but get bit… twitchy.

You were an adult, Michael. A broken one, sure. The greatest entertainer probably ever, yes. Genius, most certainly. But, being broken is a reason, not an excuse? In case you might have wanted to make excuses during your life time. Which you never did, because in your obsessive ‘friendships’ with these children you were completely self centered. And heartbreakingly cruel. Although we might never know beyond doubt wether or not you ever got physical with them, the way you chose your favorite, drowned that unfortunate kid with obscene amounts of attention, gifts and the madness of your fame, only to take all of that away again just like that when they seem to reach a certain age is all the fucking emotional abuse I needed to learn about. Period. And I certainly don’t need to go and see your fucking ‘Greatest Hits’ flick if I want to learn much more about your personal life? Or your creative process? … No! Fuck that! … Am I TRULY the only one that feels The Family/production company releasing the statement that they couldn’t include scenes about the allegations BECAUSE of clauses in lawsuits filed by the very now man that made those allegations is one last giant fuck you to those guys??? Guess I am! Seeing that the movie is a monstrous success. Again, if I wanted to listen to your greatest hits I’d pull out the cd’s I have, after having playing the albums until they broke, after listening to the tapes until those broke, or the ‘Moonwalker’ movie and all the videoclips I must have seen a million times? Me, I don’t even have to be one or the other when it comes to you, Michael. I know full well the millions of devotees you still have will keep the family business soaring for at least a decade or 3. And it appears it’s either completely pure or ‘He the devil!’ when it comes to opinions about you. There is no middle ground. I grew up utterly dumb struck by your genius. Must have been, what, 10, 11? What I would have done to meet you…! Spend time with you. Imagine that coming true… I know your music and brilliant concerts by heart. A heart you broke, completely, so fuck you very much you broken, sad… human being. Cheers.

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Benne van der Velde

After thoroughly enjoying the Dutch slam poetry scene in the early and mid 2000s (with wins in 7 cities and eventually a place in the Nationals of 2012) and performances at the Lowlands-, Uitmarkt- and Parade festivals a/o, Benne successfully made the transition from the stage to paper by signing his first publishing deal in 2005. Since then 4 publishing houses (kleine Uil, Douane, Nadorst and Stanza) released volumes of his poetry. For a 5th (Passage) he co-edited an anthology of satirical/pamphlet poetry with fellow poets Daniel Dee and Alexis de Roode.

As a member of the artist movement ‘Het Ongeboren Idee’ he helped to organize (and was part of/presented) cultural lo-fi festivals, exhibitions, making a movie, monthly poetry stages in his hometown of Vlaardingen (Poezie in De Steeg), Rotterdam (De Poetsclub) and Nijmegen (Late Letteren Live) + a talent show for bands.

In 2002 and 2003 he studied ‘writing for performance’ at the vocational university of the Arts in the city of Utrecht (HKU) and as a result saw 3 of his theater plays make it to a stage. Writer Hiekelien van den Herik and he co-wrote a knight spectacle play complete with real choreographed sword fights, men in heavy plate armor and more great stuff like that. Theater-/enactment group Ridderspoor performed said play in 2004 and 2005 at Het Archeon, during De Kasteeldagen and at an Elfia-fantasy fair. He also gave numerous poetry and rap workshops at schools and other institutions. There were a lot of collabs too, for example voice-over work for a Rock Opera, a monumental art project for which he partnered up with the artist Erwin Adema and thrice alongside the R.J.S.O (The Rotterdam Youth Symphony Orchestra).

Benne has been an editor for several literary magazines (Krakatau, Renaissance and Op Ruwe Planken), at one time he and his wife owned a secondhand bookstore, he’s been the official poet laureate for his hometown of Vlaardingen and released his first and only Dutch rap-EP in 2011. In 2012 he rapped his way into the finals of Art Rocks. An EP with songs in English followed in 2021. A year later he started translating Dutch musical and lyrical classics from Dutch into English, and vice versa. Some of his short sci-fi and fantasy stories have found their way to medium related websites, magazines and anthology’s.

According to the poet himself rewriting his own poetry, lyrics and prose in English somehow feels like the next logical step in his career, a way to open up to the world at large. Which is both exhilarating and terrifying. So far several of these translations have been published in Bebarbar, Hare’s paw, Festivalforpoetry, Punt Volat, The Dewdrop, The Dillydoun Review and Months to Years a/o.

In everyday (some claim real) life he worked as an industrial tank cleaner, in pest control, on a garbage truck, driving a forklift, in a chemical waste facility, on a Ferry and 10 years as a bartender in a cannabis bar. At the time of writing this resume he can be found at home or in the hospital battling throat cancer. He’s been off the Herb since 2008, has a wife, 2 dogs, mild anxiety issues and likes to read every sci-fi and fantasy classic he can find.

www.linkedin.com/in/benne-van-der-velde-8b17a7296

The poet/lyricist and author Rob Chrispijn: ‘Benne writes sentences that stick; clean, dark and intense. This way a poem lasts!’

The poet Philip Hoorne on the website Poetry rapport: ‘There’s a genius hiding in Benne van der Velde, those are the Good Tidings of today. Amen.’

https://www.doubledutchmagazine.com
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