On Nov. 7, Conrad Murray, who was Michael Jackson’s doctor before Jackson’s death, was convicted of involuntary manslaughter against Jackson. Coupled with the verdict was a recent documentary on Murray and his relationship with Jackson called “Michael Jackson and the Doctor: The Fatal Friendship.” Though Murray was the subject of the documentary, what really drew people to watch it was to learn more about the King of Pop.

It seems like the King of Pop and his legacy cannot rest in peace even after his departure from the music world. People, however, are inevitably drawn to the idea of him and his greatness and always want to learn more, even if their curiosity turns into prying.

The ironic thing is that by focusing more on the details of his life, we pay less attention to the thing that made us interested in Jackson in the first place: his music. It seems like our perception of Michael Jackson is constantly changing. First we saw him as a boy, then a young pop star and eventually the King of Pop. Through the years we saw dramatic changes in his appearance and the emergence of allegations against him for child molestation. And finally, before his comeback tour, he died suddenly  and shocked the world yet again.

Even after his death, we learn more about him. For example, after a Pepsi commercial in 1984, Jackson’s hair caught on fire. Since then he had taken medication to ease the pain. Over the years, his medication intake increased and eventually led to his unfortunate death. Through the whole painful process, he was determined to keep performing.

Before his death, Jackson suffered physical pain and insomnia, yet many commented that he worked harder than anyone else on stage with him. All this shows that up until the very end, Jackson was dedicated and passionate about his craft. Even through pain and negative media, he still wanted to perform for the love of it. No matter what else we learn about Jackson, people inevitably give him deference because he was not only talented but driven, and truly deserved the title of King of Pop. Though our prying into his personal life usually yielded frivolous details, in the end, we come to a more complicated understanding of Jackson and admire him more for his ability to endure pain and his passion for music.