The Empiricist

Michael Jackson was a genius. He was also profoundly misunderstood.

Sure, he was odd to the point of weirdness, but that’s not so unusual in the arts. Look at, say, Vincent van Gogh.
A key question that hung over Jackson for years was whether he was guilty of the molestation charges he defended in 2005. There was a trial, and according to a jury of his peers, he wasn’t guilty. That’s good enough for me. That should be the end of it.
We have courtrooms for a reason: so that society can make rational informed judgements about guilt and innocence. If public faith erodes in our court systems then we are in trouble.

But beyond that, the strongest case against him seemded to be that was that he was eccentric, and his behaviour was hard to fathom. He wore makeup and gloves, had plastic surgery, and spoke in a funny voice. Weird! But so what? We as a society shouldn’t criminalise eccentricity. There’s huge variation in human behaviour, and just because you or I can’t understand the desire to create a vast playground called “Neverland” and to make friends with kids doesn’t mean that someone who does has nefarious motives. Maybe he was just a socially awkward guy who liked kids.

At any rate, we should resist the temptation to demonise those accused of terrible crimes based on evidence we read in the news. The court system was undermined with the trial of OJ Simpson, which was widely seen as a miscarriage of justice. But while the system can not be perfect and never will be, trial by media is a much more dangerous alternative. That’s the road that leads to vigilantism, mob rule, and the victory of smear. Jackson was cleared; there was no substantial evidence against him; he was innocent.

Let’s let him rest with his considerable musical legacy.

Update: A delightful story and some relief from the tragic news of Michael Jackson’s sudden death:
Stevie Wonder, Good Guy

Update 2: After reading John Butler on Michael Jackson, I can see I’ve been too charitable. Being brilliant is no excuse for being a bad parent.