Does death absolve MJ?
It is amazing how often and how easily humans turn turtle. Public condemnation of public figures is quite as permanent as having friends in politics!
But the outpouring over pop legend Michael Jackson’s death really took the cake. For much of the last 15 years of his life, Jackson had been pushed into an ignominy corner with humiliation, self-doubt, loneliness and isolation as his only companions.
Ever since the paedophilia charges accosted MJ, and he so infamously dangled his child out of a highrise hotel window to a panting public down below, he had become pariah.
Shorn of his Neverland ranch, which he had famously built for reliving his childhood by providing great entertainment to children, shorn of public adulation and shorn of even his very own skin, the MJ lost not just his millions but also his reputation, receding into the crevice of a rented accommodation.
All through this, there was rarely a kind word that came his way; not many all over the world dissociated him from the horror tales of child groping he was stuck with.
But, he was buried in a blaze of glory, all gold-plated and with great singers giving him a great tribute. Did that mean, in death he was forgiven his misdemeanours? Or did it mean, public love returned without rhyme or reason?
Actually, both are true and both equally incredible. We have a habit of making fallen legends rise in their graves, after we push them into it. Be it MJ or any other like him, the story remains the same.
When MJ died of whatever he was ailing of, he was alone with no visitors at his door. His rehearsals, of the 50-part show that was to be his swan song, was being done without any fan frenzy with even doubts of it ever becoming a hit.
His bankruptcy was the worst kept secret of the world. And, despite the molestation charges being dropped after an out-of-court settlement with the so-called victim and his father, his reputation was already zilch. No one ever forgave him when he was living. And then suddenly, after he died, no one ever seemed to have had a grievance against his alleged misdemeanour.
So, did he die a clean man? Did he not do the child thing? If we go by the argument that his music was greater than his personal flaws, then his music should have reigned over his living years, which was not the case either.
All those singers who sang in praise for MJ were nowhere near him when he was suffering. All those dark years when he was facing the music instead of making it. All that pain-killer haze in which he engulfed himself. If they had believed in him when he was alive, he would not have not made music for 10 years.
If one goes back in time, Princess Diana’s death was much bigger, came as it did in an unexpected accident. All her living days, she had been staple for scandals, criticism, adulation and condemnation for her ways. In death, it was all forgotten and she was the people’s princess, a legend who had died young.
The outpouring for Jackson was unabashed, unquestioned and without a pause. No one explained why this big metamor-phosis in perception came only when the legend died, struggling and unsung in the prime of his life.
One wonders why MJ’s father should have been criticised for trying to cash in on his son’s moment of death? After all, wasn’t the entire world doing the same thing, in their own different ways — forgetting their alienation of an icon just because he was no more. Wouldn’t it have been a more done thing to have helped him out of his predicament when he was alive, rather than making a statement on his behalf after he was not there to care or benefit from it? Either he was a paedophile or he wasn’t. The world treated him like one when he was alive. So why give an offender a salute in the coffin?
But the outpouring over pop legend Michael Jackson’s death really took the cake. For much of the last 15 years of his life, Jackson had been pushed into an ignominy corner with humiliation, self-doubt, loneliness and isolation as his only companions.
Ever since the paedophilia charges accosted MJ, and he so infamously dangled his child out of a highrise hotel window to a panting public down below, he had become pariah.
Shorn of his Neverland ranch, which he had famously built for reliving his childhood by providing great entertainment to children, shorn of public adulation and shorn of even his very own skin, the MJ lost not just his millions but also his reputation, receding into the crevice of a rented accommodation.
All through this, there was rarely a kind word that came his way; not many all over the world dissociated him from the horror tales of child groping he was stuck with.
But, he was buried in a blaze of glory, all gold-plated and with great singers giving him a great tribute. Did that mean, in death he was forgiven his misdemeanours? Or did it mean, public love returned without rhyme or reason?
Actually, both are true and both equally incredible. We have a habit of making fallen legends rise in their graves, after we push them into it. Be it MJ or any other like him, the story remains the same.
When MJ died of whatever he was ailing of, he was alone with no visitors at his door. His rehearsals, of the 50-part show that was to be his swan song, was being done without any fan frenzy with even doubts of it ever becoming a hit.
His bankruptcy was the worst kept secret of the world. And, despite the molestation charges being dropped after an out-of-court settlement with the so-called victim and his father, his reputation was already zilch. No one ever forgave him when he was living. And then suddenly, after he died, no one ever seemed to have had a grievance against his alleged misdemeanour.
So, did he die a clean man? Did he not do the child thing? If we go by the argument that his music was greater than his personal flaws, then his music should have reigned over his living years, which was not the case either.
All those singers who sang in praise for MJ were nowhere near him when he was suffering. All those dark years when he was facing the music instead of making it. All that pain-killer haze in which he engulfed himself. If they had believed in him when he was alive, he would not have not made music for 10 years.
If one goes back in time, Princess Diana’s death was much bigger, came as it did in an unexpected accident. All her living days, she had been staple for scandals, criticism, adulation and condemnation for her ways. In death, it was all forgotten and she was the people’s princess, a legend who had died young.
The outpouring for Jackson was unabashed, unquestioned and without a pause. No one explained why this big metamor-phosis in perception came only when the legend died, struggling and unsung in the prime of his life.
One wonders why MJ’s father should have been criticised for trying to cash in on his son’s moment of death? After all, wasn’t the entire world doing the same thing, in their own different ways — forgetting their alienation of an icon just because he was no more. Wouldn’t it have been a more done thing to have helped him out of his predicament when he was alive, rather than making a statement on his behalf after he was not there to care or benefit from it? Either he was a paedophile or he wasn’t. The world treated him like one when he was alive. So why give an offender a salute in the coffin?
Published July 12, 2009, Sunday Pioneer http://www.dailypioneer.com/188473/Does-death-absolve-MJ.html
Comments
Post a Comment