Michael Jackson: Good Riddance

Michael Jackson died a few weeks ago. To me, it was an interesting footnote, but I didn’t really care. I was more upset about Farrah Fawcett dying. But I was amazed to see the outpouring of love towards him in the days that followed. Amazed, because it seems completely misplaced. I know people are respectful of the dead, but we can’t ignore the truth: Michael Jackson was a horrible person. He was an extremely talented musical genius, but he was also a horrible person.

First and foremost, he was a child molester. I know people like to say he was acquitted, and that proves he wasn’t a child molester. Actually, all that proves is that has good lawyers, and the prosecution botched the case (for more analysis on the trial, see my earlier post: Michael Jackson is a Child Molester). Enough information came out of the case to take away all doubt in my mind that Jackson is a child molester. I expect, over the next ten or twenty years, children who were molested by Jackson will start speaking out, and we’ll have the true picture. In the end, I think Jackson’s real legacy will be as the most successful child molester who ever lived.

Some people are even making the argument that Jackson is a greater entertainer than Elvis. That, to me, is a ridiculous and ultimately pointless argument. First of all, the definition of “greatest entertainer” is meaningless. Are you talking greatest in terms of artistic ability? Creativity? Marketability? Financial earnings? The two artists lived in completely different eras and had completely different skills. More than that, Elvis has been dead for decades and created a legacy post-mortem, securing his place in history. Jackson’s been dead two weeks. There’s no way we can judge his legacy right now. Especially if more molestations come to light.

Michael Jackson was also a certifiable nutcase. He was clearly a plastic surgery addict, and (in a related story) a liar who repeatedly lied about everything from his plastic surgery to his treatment in jail. He called himself Peter Pan, but he was really psychologically stunted, and probably a treasure trove of untreated mental illnesses. He was a spendthrift who was making millions a year, but still managed to spend millions more than he earned until he ran out, then lived on gifts and handouts (like free cars and even houses) like a bum, and committed bank fraud by using fake names to get more when his credit ran out. Speaking of white-collar crime, he was also a drug addict who took Oxycontin, Demerol, Zoloft, and a host of other drugs . He broke the law to take ten Xanax every night by convincing doctors to fill the prescriptions in their names. Hardly the kind of person we want our children looking up to.

I know I’m not the only one who feels this way, because the keywords “Michael,” “Jackson,” and “sucks” have gotten me a ton of hits since his death. Once the shock wears off, I hope the world will go back to hating and making fun of MJ the way he deserves. Listen to his music, but ignore the man who created it. He doesn’t deserve your love.