It's come to my notice radio stations in New Zealand are removing the music of Michael Jackson from their playlists, and I've also just read the producers of The Simpsons are removing the episode wherein Homer Simpson meets a man who believes himself to be Michael Jackson. This is of course in the wake of the Finding Neverland documentary, which dealt with allegations of pederasty supposedly committed by the late King of Plastic, er Poop, that is, I mean to say: Pop.
From the final sentence of the above paragraph, you're probably surmising I'm not a huge fan of Jacko's. You would be right: I'm not. I always considered him a pasty, plastic-faced weirdo who should have been nailed to a tree for giving us that horrific song The Man in the Mirror ('I'm looking at the man in the mirror...' Oh, are you just? Can you actually see a reflection? I thought ghostly things didn't reflect). That being said, I've always enjoyed watching footage of him performing because he was a phenomenally talented man, and I'm mature enough to admit that, even if I am not a fan of his oeuvre.
But what I am even less a fan of is the unqualified and absolute stupidity shown by the aforementioned bodies who have made a decision to remove the music/episode. Can I please point out two things:
1. Michael Jackson was acquitted of sexual offence charges in 2005 in a court of law after due process. Give him that courtesy; and
2. The allegations raised in the aforementioned documentary cannot be substantiated and tested, given Jackson is deceased.
I have no idea if Michael Jackson is guilty of the offences. I do think he was as weird as fuck. Being weird as fuck is no reason to not play music. Nor, in my submission, are any allegations of impropriety. One must separate the art from the artist.
Just because the creator of the work is depraved does not mean the work should not be enjoyed. Oscar Wilde was in the habit of picking up ten-year-old rent boys, a common practice of his societal circle at the time, but a repugnant idea to all of us. Do we stop producing his plays? I sincerely hope we never do.
Think about this:
1. Let's stop playing Led Zeppelin because they were pretty awful to women, and banged underage groupies.
2. Let's not play David Bowie any more because he was banging an underage groupie.
3. Let's stop playing MOST of our classic artists because odds are they were banging underage groupies.
4. Let's stop playing any of the fantastic music produced by Phil Spector because he's serving a sentence for second-degree murder.
5. Let's stop playing music produced by anybody who has ever done anything morally objectionable, ethically questionable, illegal, or downright stupid.
Okay, let's turn on radio. Oh, the Osmonds. Okay. Hey, they're playing another Osmonds song. Oh, man; here comes ANOTHER Osmonds song! I'm getting sick of this, so let's change stations. What the fuck! ANOTHER Osmonds song? Is that all anybody's going to play now? I'm changing stations; what's one that won't play Osmonds? Ah, here we are. Let's all listen to some nice, smooth, easy-listening... static.
This article articulates precisely what I have been thinking since seeing the doco and hearing of the consequent fall-out around the playing of Jackson's music. Further, where is the line drawn, will these radio stations banning his music, still play The Jackson 5? Or only 4/5ths of it?
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