What Michael tells us about our society

I’ve been thinking about this a lot, throughout the years really, but today am finally getting to the point of finding my overall point.  I’m going to say all of this in a way that indicts our society, but I know there are also people that don’t fit into this category below.  If you are a person that this doesn’t apply to, that’s outstanding!  I believe I am part of the group that doesn’t fall victim to this mentality, but I know this isn’t always the case.  Therefore, I’m going to keep the wording as is.  I hope it makes you think, and just maybe helps us speak up when we see these behaviors in others.

I believe that Michael’s public life and experiences shows a major problem with our society.  We live in a society that claims to value hard work and achieving everything you are capable of.  We are to reach for our dreams, because in America you can become anything with enough hard work.  Yet, when someone does reach the top of their profession and reaches true greatness, we tear them down.  We can’t let them maintain their greatness because this serves as a reminder of our own greatness that we gave up on.  Instead of allowing someone else’s greatness inspire, we use it to trigger our own inner judgment of ourselves.  Since that doesn’t feel good, we turn that judgment outward so we don’t have to actually pay attention to the reason why we feel the way we do.

Sure, you can say that it’s the press that tears down people like Michael Jackson, but the press couldn’t continue to spread the stories they do if we, as a society, didn’t buy them.  And it goes deeper than just buying stories.  Which stories we believe?  Why is it so easy to believe that a person who is otherwise such a bright, shining, gentle soul would have such a darkness to them that they would hurt children?

Our society, in general, has a problem with sensitive souls, especially sensitive males.  We cherish this in children, but if they carry that into adulthood…then there must be something wrong with them.  So what do we do?   We make a villain out of someone because we don’t understand.  So few of us carry our own innocence into adulthood that we feel there must be something wrong with someone who can.

I believe the way our society treated Michael Jackson points to a sickness that few want to admit to.  We fear greatness and success.  We fear innocence and purity.  We resist believing that goodness can exist on it’s own.  And because of this fear, we hinder our own growth as a society and as individuals.

I’m not saying Michael was a saint.  He was human.  But I don’t believe he hurt children.  And today I received an email on a list I subscribe to by Moses Avalon, an incredibly well respected and connected person in the music industry.  I want to share what he wrote because it makes sense.  I hope he doesn’t mind, since this did go out to a very large email list.  Note: This is not the full email, just the pertinent information. Note 2: I emailed Moses and sent him the link to my blog.  He asked that I simply add a link to his blog, which I wasn’t aware of before, so I’m doing that now.

Original Post by Moses

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Moses Avalon

Over my 30 years in the music business I’ve worked, briefly, with or for more than one member of the Jackson camp. I never met Michael directly. What I know of him personally is filtered through my interactions with both “his people” and Sony as a consultant/journalist and one of his siblings whose album I worked on back in the 1980s. So, my connection to him was nothing great but I did get insight through social osmosis.  I’ll share:

1) Michael was not nor has he ever been a child molester. The first accusation was part of an elaborate stunt to get his biggest creditor, Sony, to drop him and thus release him from having to pay back hundreds of millions to his record company. It didn’t work, Sony held on and I never found out if Michael himself was privy to the inner workings of this ridiculous strategy. The second molestation charge was a cheap extortion ploy with virtually no real evidence to support it. Michael loved children. He was a child himself in many ways. It’s true that he had children sleep in his bedroom. But his bedroom was bigger than most people’s entire home. (Over 1000 sq ft) So, it’s unlikely that this was anything devious.

2) It is highly unlikely that Michael intentionally committed suicide or even attempted to do so. He loved life despite his personal issues. He would not plan a comeback tour and then off himself. He would have considered that to be “rude.”

3) Michael was a shrewd business man. He played the naive artist in front of the camera because it helped his image, but he understood the business of music quite masterfully. Enough so to engineer and maintain the largest record-deal in history: $75,000,000 a year, for ten years–guaranteed–even if he doesn’t deliver a commercially satisfactory album.

4) Michael and his family did not get along. So what? That makes him quite normal.

5) Sony Business Affairs is glad that he’s dead. Michael was about $600 Million in debt to the music giant. They had little to no hope for recoupment. Now they will recoup both with music sales and INSURANCE. Yes, let’s not forget that they insured Mr. Jackson for big bucks in the event of an untimely death (as they do many of their acts). They will probably own a stake in the Neverland ranch when the probate smoke clears and turn it into another Graceland. They will, after a lengthy legal battle, surely get some of Jackson’s Beatles catalog, as this was collateralized into his record deal. (Sony will probably let the family keep the Elephant Man skeleton.) If you’re into conspiracy theories and you’re looking for a suspect who advanced Michael’s death, don’t look to his doctors. They made more with him alive. Look to Sony. That said, I don’t think record companies kill people with prescription drugs just to collect the insurance money. This isn’t the 1980s.

*end excerpt*

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There will still be people who find it easier to believe Michael was a child molester rather than being surrounded by people who wanted to make more money off him.  People have done far more for far less.  In any case, Michael finally has peace.  I feel for the few family and friends that truly loved him and are feeling his loss acutely.  I really hope we can look at this situation as a society and learn from it before we destroy another beautiful soul with the courage.  Finally, if you still find yourself believing he is guilty (though he was never found guilty in court) I just hope you’ll ask yourself why.  Why do you see the worst in a person, without knowing whether it is true?  Because really, this isn’t about Michael but about each of us and who we want to be.