It’s also true that Michael was a very “soft” man–he was very interested in nurturing others. Today, we’d hold him up as an example of “being woke” and “shedding toxic masculinity” and what-the-fuck-ever, but in his own day he was considered weird for it.
Like–all he ever wanted to do was parent. He had three kids and loved the shit out of them (and have you seen how his kids are doing lately? Seriously, he did right by his children). He honorary-adopted kids like Ryan White, who got HIV at the age of 11 due to a bad blood donation in the days before adequate HIV blood testing. He hung out with kids who needed a friend, a role model, in the insane blender that was Hollywood, and gave them space to do something we now know is absolutely vital: be kids.
I think the greatest tragedy of all is that all he ever wanted to do was love kids. Just–love them. Be a parent, a mentor, a friend. And because he was a man, he was treated as a freak for the exact same things we would say would make him “a wonderful mother” if he were a woman.