Bad people die. Bad people can create good things.
In case you were in that special kind of coma where you only miss big news events, like in an SNL sketch or a stupid movie, then here’s some shocking news: Everybody totally forgot that Michael Jackson dangled his baby off a ledge and bought his way out of a child molestation trial.
Oh, and Michael Jackson’s dead. That’s probably important to the story.
The outpouring of love for the now-deceased King of Pop is a little baffling to me. On NPR this morning, I actually heard a reporter ask if “we” had messed him up so much that he molested kids.
Uh…no. No we didn’t. “We” bought his records and went to his concerts and mostly let it slide that he had his whole face removed. “We” didn’t make him a pedophile.
Here’s the thing — it’s OK to talk about what a great musician and dancer he was. Why? Because he was a totally great musician and dancer.
But he wasn’t a saint. Not even a little bit. And dying doesn’t change that.
You know how Jim Morrison was a drunk and an a-hole, but The Doors made some great music? Or how Ty Cobb was a drunk and an a-hole, but he was a great baseball player? Or how I’m a drunk and an a-hole, but…wait…never mind.
The thing is, it’s OK to appreciate the art and not the artist. If you can’t seperate the two, then I’d leave them both alone and move on.
Michael Jackson, I’ll miss your music, which holds up really well 20-plus years later. But you, personally? Not so much.
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Comments
OK, let’s remove that from the argument for the moment (though I think the multi-million dollar settlement says something) — can we at least agree that he was a baby-dangler? I mean, the man endangered his own child, for funsies.
Consider that point as having been conceded. I think that if my parents had had a crowd of thousands following them around during my childhood, we would have had several of those moments of my own upon which to ruminate. Glass houses.
Does this blog have an RSS feed? It should, because I want to read it but I am too lazy to bring myself to click upon the link at regular intervals to see if it’s been updated.
Greg,
Michael Jackson was tried by a jury of his peers and acquitted of all charges despite acting like a nitwit for a lot of the trial. I make no claims as to his guilt or innocence but our justice system exists to either punish wrong-doing or exonerate the accused. It’s not perfect but it’s what we have and not one of us knows the truth, whatever our instinct might say.