Faced with the aggrandizing media spectacle that’s ensued since Michael Jackson’s death last week, I can’t help but wonder if we aren’texperiencing some kind of collective cultural amnesia. The sudden,overly reverential elevation of Jackson’s body of work and life these past few days is an odd turn to say the least, and in that sense a fitting end to the highly unusual life of very peculiar — and yes, uniquely talented — man.
For many of us, what we felt upon hearing of Jackson’s death and what we’ve felt in the days since are things much darker and more complex than the endless coverage of celebrity tributes and inconsolable fans would suggest. But I’d wager that if Jackson supporters and Jackson defamers can agree on anything, it’s that time has not been kind to ‘The King Of Pop’. Much like another King — Elvis Presley — before him, Jackson achieved an almost unfathomable level of fame early in life and then rapidly collapsed beneath the psychic weight of dwindling record sales and his own overindulged eccentricities, in the end retreating to his own iteration of Presley’s Graceland, Neverland Ranch. Since that fall from superstardom in the early 1990s, any media attention directed at Jackson has arguably had more to do with his legal woes, prescription drug addictions, odd
behavior, and ongoing physical metamorphosis (which the singer publicly attributed to treatments for Vitiligo and Lupus, though there’s little doubt that Jackson engaged in extensive retooling of his facial structure by way of plastic surgery), than it had to do with his fading musical talent. And I don’t deny that talent was there — it was, clearly. I’m just not entirely sure how to go about reconciling my appreciation for the music of the Michael Jackson of the 70s and 80s with the pity and confounded revulsion I feel for the Michael Jackson of the 90s and 00s.
That segmenting of the man… I of course realize it’s a convenience, an attempt to disassociate his art from his curious and at times downright disturbing life, marred as it was by bizarre publicity stunts, outlandish affectations, and, in particular, a troubling obsession with children and childish things, which taken together served to make accusations of pedophilia seem all the more credible. The questions, suspicions, and halo of guilt lingered around Jackson long after he settled out of court with the 13 year old boy who publicly accused him of molestation in 1993 (reportedly to the tune of $22 million dollars). It’s understandably difficult for many people to believe an innocent man would pay that kind of money to someone who falsely accused them of anything, let alone something as reputation-shattering as pedophilia. And so some of us can’t help but feel that tension pulling at us, making the unrelenting media frenzy that seems hellbent on ennobling Jackson retrospectively practically unbearable. It’s almost as if the hive-mind of the media actively wants to convince us that the past 15-20 years of dissipation, questionable behavior, and creative irrelevance didn’t happen, and that we should all just pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, wash our brains together, and drink the damn kool aid already. But comments like these from a post announcing Jackson’s death provided a much different point of view:
I know he was talented and all that other stuff but to me once you sexually abuse someone that does overshadow the other stuff. I also think that he probably had a sad life and I am trying to focus on that and the music today. That said. It is hard to do that and I am struggling.
I feel as though it is fine to be sad that a part of our
childhood is dead. Still, I guarantee if one of our kids was hurt by
this man, it would infuriate any one of us if the world mourned his
death this way.I’m not sure how I feel about this – he was a fabulous
entertainer and he had a screwed up childhood that we can blame Daddy
Jackson for – thanks Dad. But he was also accused of some heinous
activities with young children and the issues surrounding the birth and
the raising of his own children are questionable.This is surprising. But, somehow, I can’t seem to mourn the death of a multimillionaire pedophile.
Yeeeeah. And in all honesty I’m still trying to figure out just what I feel about all of this, what to make of all of it. But I will say that earlier today, as I was going through clips about Jackson in preparation for writing this piece, my daughter — who had not the slightest idea of who Michael Jackson was — asked what I was writing about. So in response I told her to come sit next to me on our couch, and I played this for her:
And really, what I felt most while watching that with my daughter was overwhelming sadness. It was easily the first time I’d seen the video in 10 years, and watching it gave me a startling jolt of nostalgia mixed with the strange sense of freshness that something long lost but unexpectedly rediscovered bears. I wasn’t prepared for how handsome he is, or was, rather. How indescribably magnetic. In a way, I’d forgotten about that Michael Jackson. And as I watched I couldn’t help but feel for the young, talented man Jackson was — the one frozen for all time in that video, unmarred by terrible accusations, drug addiction, and the generalized trainwreck of his later years — and think to myself that his two-decade-long degeneration from that bright star into what he eventually became is, indeed, something worthy of our collective sadness.
he was a fabulous dancer and a solid singer.
the rest? not so much.
sad for his kids. that's all I can muster.
A few weeks ago an 8th grade student of mine was talking about how Michael Jackson could do that cool tipping over thing while keeping his body straight. I don't know how he even knew about that, but I immediately pulled Smooth Criminal up on YouTube and watched it with him. I went through a strange mix of emotions, too. I generally shrug and think it's no big deal when a celebrity dies–it doesn't change my life any, does it? But sharing this with that kid felt a little like you describe. I too was surprised by how good his performance was, all these years later. And I was also blown away by how deep in the memories of my childhood was that video and that moment when he does that cool tipping over thing near the end of it. What…hm… what's the word? power? he had to have those moments seep into our generation's collective subconscious. But his memorable performances all happened so long ago, though, it's like the Michael Jackson who was responsible for them had already died.
Its time to put those FALSE allegations about michael Jackson to rest. There was no evidence that Michael Jackson ever abused anyone. It was all a hoax perpetuated by the media. If you bothered to research the cases and you would see that Michael Jackson was conned by 2 scum bag families (Chandlers and Arvizos). He was an easy target because he was widely considered to be a freak, had always had a strong love for children, and admittedly formed unusual relationships with some children. However, there is no evidence that these relationships were ever sexual. I base this on the fact that Michael befriended hundreds of children, and invited thousands to Neverland. Yet he only had 2 accusers. Both of their parents were more interested in money than justice.
In 1993, the police spent more than 2 million dollars investigating Michael Jackson and still couldn’t find evidence. Tom Sneddon (DA) traveled the world looking for victims and couldn’t find any. They interviewed over 50 children whom he befriended and couldn’t not convince any of them to make similar allegations.
The Chandler’s filed a civil lawsuit before the cops could finish their investigation. They then agreed to settle it for 15 million dollars http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0616041jacko1.html. After that, they no longer wanted to cooperate with the police. The way that case ended is more damning to the accusers than it is to Michael. Go read the settlement and tell me how it could have prevented them from cooperating with the police in 1993. The settlement is available online and outlines the reason why Jackson was making the payment. A lot of corperations agree to settle lawsuits out of court. It is not an admission of guilt. In fact, Jackson claims he’s innocent in the settlement and the accuser’s parents agree to sign it anyway to collect the money. The settlement does not prevent them from testifying in court. This proves that the parents were only interested in only money. Thus, the case was a successful extortion and nothing more. In 2005, Jordan Chandler left the country so he would not have to testify in the Arvizo case. He was 24 years old. If he was really molested he should have been willing to testify to help put his molester in jail.
The Arvizo case was even weaker than the Chandler case. That case had more holes in it than swiss cheese and should have never been brought to trial. If you think your child has been molested would the first thing you do be to seek out the same lawyer who got the 15 million dollar from the 1st boy who accused Jackson of molesting him? From the lawyer you discover that the law has changed. If you wanna make your allegations, you HAVE to go through with the criminal case first. Thats exactly what the 2005 accuser’s mother did before taking her son to a psychiatrist and the police.
The mother of the 2005 accuser was a wack job liar, with a history of making false sexual abuse claims for money and was welfare fraud. The boy himself had a history of taking acting lessons to help his mom with her scams and lying under oath for his mother. Also, he told so many different stories its impossible to believe that anything he says is true. He wasn’t even sure whether Michael molested him before or after the Bashir interview. He originally claimed it was before. However, the cops found out that Jackson was not at Neverland during that time period, so their was no way he could have molested Gavin during the time frame. Gavin (boy) then changed the dates to after the Bashir interview when he actually spent time with Michael Jackson (why would Michael molest Gavin when he was under investigation for molesting him???). Then their were the many inconsistencies between what the boy originally told the police and what he told the jury. The boy was 13 when the abuse allegedly took place and 15 during the trial. He was old enough to know what did or did not happen to him. He also denied on 4 separate occasions that Jackson ever molested him before changing his story to molestation. Then there are the family’s kidnapping and conspiracy claims which were baloney.
During the 2005, 3 young men testified that they shared a bed with Jackson when they were children in the early 90s around the same time as Jordan Chandler and they were NOT abused. The prosecution’s shady witnesses had claimed Jackson molested the boys. The boys themselves showed up to deny it. Ironically, Gavin Arvizo (boy accusing Michael in 2005) never shared a bed with Michael. According to court transcripts he slept in the guest room. Jordie again was a no show.
For more information read, Aphrodite Jone’s (a reporter who was certain Michael Jackson was guilty before the trial but changed her tune after investigating the EVIDENCE) ‘The Michael Jackson Conspiracy’, Geraldine Hughe’s ‘Redemption’, and the GQ article by Mary Fischer ‘Was Michael Jackson Framed?’.
If you’re not interested in all this stuff, then just be quiet and leave the man alone. There is a multitude of evidence that the man was being conned in both cases. There is no evidence other than the testimony of uncredible witnesses with financial motivations that Michael Jackson sexually abused anyone. These false allegations need to be brought to rest. There is no reason for these scams to be included in his obituary. He should be remembered only for his music and humanitarian efforts, not false allegations. http://www.thesource.com/2009/06/the-source-remembers-michael-jackson-humanitarian/
Exactly what you said, Susan. These people need to do a little READING and investigating instead of just taking what the sensationalized media says for the truth. These accusations destroyed Michael and caused him to try to numb his pain even more – who wouldn't have been able to sleep after being so betrayed by a family you had been trying to help for several years. Look at how the Martin Bashir tape was edited to make MJ look bad – Look at the Maury Povich story that came out comparing the tape Michael's videographer taped at the same time Bashir taped his documentary and see exactly how things were edited out. It was a total set-up, but the media never reported that, did they? Only the bizarre, crazy, UNTRUE stories get media attention. They build these superstars up only to tear them down. Did Michael have issues with his looks – yes and could have used therapy and rehab if his family hadn't been such leeches and he hadn't been so many people's cash cow, but a pedofile? No – I don't believe for one minute he would hurt a child.