The Weeks Review

Elegant Pop Culture Freak Gathering

MICHAEL JACKSON:
The King of Pop Culture Freaks

I've said little or nothing about the Jackson child molestation case because, well, I really don't care. Not that I think that child molestation is not worthy of my passion (I think that it should be punishable by life imprisonment, at the very least,) I just find it difficult to find much to get worked up about in this particular case.

But, since I have the words "cultural opinion" in the masthead, I guess I am obliged to make a comment on this case.

To begin, I really enjoyed Michael Jackson as an entertainer. He was an enormously talented young man whose early music I still enjoy to this day. His personal descent to what we see today should be a cautionary tale to aspiring icons, as well as the general public that seems to condone behavior of celebrities simply because of their status as celebrities.

The defendant if a freak. Sure, it can be argued as to how he became this way, but the fact that he's a freak is pretty much undeniable and it's clear that he's irredeemable in his freak status. At the very least, he has an unnatural obsession with young boys and this obsession has led him to actions which, even if they were wholly innocent, are extremely incriminating to even the casual observer. The bubble of "yes Michael" bobbleheads with whom he surrounded himself allowed his behavior to become increasingly bizarre over the years and I have no doubt that this behavior included child molestation.

He's also a freak magnet inasmuch as everyone who gloms onto him and everyone with whom he chooses to surround himself are either on the outer fringes of normalcy or certified freaks themselves. Simply look at the photo above - if you don't find this collection of "celebrities" at least a little disturbing, well, you have probably already stopped reading this.

The plaintiffs, particularly the parents are freaks. They are grifters and con artists that probably used their own children as bait in order to extort money from Jackson. In doing so, they have probably sentenced their children to a life in the freak show we know as popular culture. There will be books, and made-for-TV movies and their 15 minutes of fame will be guarateed. Certainly, I feel deeply for the children who were sold into Neverland slavery by their parents, but aside from expressing indignation over this fact (which I do), there's simply nothing that any of us can do to remedy that situation.

Who will win? Well, in the end, the freaks will win and we all will lose. Personally, I would hope that Jackson will not come out of this unscathed and will be found guilty of something. Unfortunately, the trial has assumed a carnival-like ambiance and a carnival is a freak's home turf.