Michael Jackson: A pop icon

Yes

2 of 7

by Alcomum

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"Oh my God can't believe what I saw when I turned on the TV..."
Michael Jackson ft Janet Jackson, Scream (HIStory)

An icon must have phenomenal success, the ability to attract and entertain, and longevity. The first two albums I was ever given as gifts on LP (I know - I'm so old) were True Blue by Madonna and Bad by Michael Jackson. I recorded both of them onto tape (remember tapes?!) and played them constantly over and over. I recorded every video that was released as a single, tried to learn every dance routine (not easy, but I was very committed) and performed them every day with my friends, in my bedroom, in the garden... I always liked to dance.

By the time I was in my late teens, I was involved in an amateur dance group in the church I went to. We did a lot of performances at other churches, youth clubs, charity events and the like (embarassingly some were held in public, including in Belfast City Centre at times, and I think there is probably video footage of it still lurking somewhere...) The guy who did all the choreography - a very talented dancer, even still - was a Michael Jackson fanatic. He had actually previously made some money working as a lookalike. He was a very good teacher, and could take the most impressive looking, complicated moves and break them down making them easy to learn. I loved it. I learned to play drums around the same time. The first song I learned to play? - Billie Jean. Every drummer's staple, bottom line beat.

When I turned 20 in 1995, I was still getting Michael Jackson music bought to me - someone got me HIStory: Past, Present & Future as a gift. I danced the bridge part from the Scream video (the bit where Michael and Janet dance together) until my knees were actually bruised. If you know the video you will know the part I mean. Very, very cool.

In short, I do not really recall a time in my life when Michael Jackson's music was not present. Or when I didn't think he was amazingly talented.

And that remains the case.

I couldn't believe it when I heard of his death this morning. I have spent much of today watching news and music channels, and I am still shocked. I knew he had not been in the best of health, and I had doubts about his ability to pull off the gruelling schedule of concerts lined up for the rest of this year, but a heart attack? At 50?

I have also spent some of today being astounded at some of the comments I have seen on Facebook, Twitter and on the news websites, crying "paedophile" and the like. Christ almighty, wake up and smell the coffee. Michael Jackson was clearly a very unusual individual. He was called "Wacko Jacko" long before there were ever any allegations of impropriety levelled against him, simply because he was, well, weird. He has always done things that have raised the eyebrows of the common (evolved) man. But people who are still chasing clouds thinking they are smoke from a very real fire are kidding themselves. And what a day on which to do it. The man is barely cold - have some decency.

And DON'T bother moaning at me "decency? well he was hardly decent. what he did was disgraceful", blah blah. Not one single allegation levied against Michael Jackson has ever stood up to any scrutiny, including the scrutiny of a jury presented with evidence accumulated by a bigger investigation team than has ever been employed in any mass murder case in US history. Every witness has proved to be not sufficiently credible. And the many investigators involved could not adduce sufficient evidence to justify a conviction, not just of indecent assault but other related, lesser charges.

Michael Jackson's biggest mistake, in my humble and retrospective opinion, was settling the Jordy Chandler case back in 1993. Cases settle every day - it is an integral part of the legal system. And, while I can only speak from my own experience as a lawyer for the last 10 years, cases tend to settle for strategic, business and financial reasons. Not because "the employer did it" or "the accused did it". Sometimes they did. And in those cases you can bet the lawyers will insist on including every conceivable confidentiality clause known to man so that you or I will never find out.

Cases only settle with agreement on both sides. No wronged party can be forced to settle a case. And no one in their right mind who went to the trouble and expense of bringing a case in the first place would settle if it they weren't getting what they wanted out of the case. So no one is going to convince me that Michael Jackson "paid off" Jordy Chandler to hide his own guilty conduct. It has been said many times that the family were always and only ever after money. Not justice for the alleged crimes against their little boy, who later accused his father of hitting him on the head with a dumbell.

But I do think it is a shame the case did not run. If it had, then that might well have been the end of all this child-abuse talk. Instead, Michael Jackson basically wrote "meal ticket" on his forehead.

And that, it seems to me, is what has happened since. People have sold stories (not just voluntarily given information to the police) about witnessing Michael Jackson abusing boys. Those boys include MacCaulay Culkin and Wade Robson, neither of whom needed "paid off" as they were successful in their own right completely independently of Jackson and both of whom - while fully admitting to being at the "sleepovers" that people seem so freaked out by - dismissed the abuse allegations as complete nonsense.

But then why did he pay all that money? The $23m was peanuts to Michael Jackson at the time. And not as much as he would have had to pay his own legal team to run the case. And he always maintained he thought a trial would generate too much adverse publicity given the unsavoury nature of the allegations. So he had financial, strategic and business reasons to offer a settlement. Like in any other legal case.

And from that, people won't let it go. Despite him since having been charged, tried and acquitted of similar allegations. Despite the same "system" allowing him to get and maintain sole custody of his own 3 young children. Personally, I was more freaked out when he dangled Blanket over a hotel balcony in Germany a few years back. But again, shocked as I was, no harm was actually done.

It is a shame that on this day, when fans and admirers of Michael Jackson should be allowed to absorb the shocking news of his death and remember his life, there are people who have to drag up the past. And rewrite it by ignoring every single fact that has emerged in the last 16 years with the exception of "kids slept in his bed - paedophile".

I agree that the sleepovers described in Martin Bashir's documentary sound weird. To me anyway. But we already know Wacko Jacko was weird. Where was the harm? No "evidence" has ever stood up. This was not some dirty old anonymous millionaire who could get away with blue murder, preying on orphaned young boys. This was the biggest megastar known to this generation harking back to his lost childhood and having his mates sleep over. Openly. With their parents's full knowledge and consent. On many occasions. Those parents knew him. They made the call that it was ok. Many times. I see no reason to question their judgement. And anyone who wants to suggest they were "paid off" to allow their children into an environment they were uncomfortable with has clearly never been a parent, and shouldn't be.

I have 2 sons. My 7 year old says he doesn't want to talk about Michael Jackson dying anymore because he might cry. But he would like all Michael Jackson's songs downloaded onto his ipod tomorrow please. Good luck with that, I say. My 4 year old has been glued to MTV all afternoon singing and dancing to Michael Jackson videos and waiting for Thriller, or as he calls it "the Halloween song", as that is his favourite.

That is Michael's legacy. Music and dance that appeals to and inspires people of all ages, nationalities and colours. From Mowtown and R'n'B greats to my 2 little white boys in their living room in Northern Ireland. That is, quite simply, amazing. And to be regarded with some awe.

Michael Jackson may be gone, but he will never be forgotten. And may he rest, at last, in peace.

"If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself then make the change."
Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror (Bad)

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