The Unsolved Controversies Of Michael Jackson

Inspired by Serial, The Jinx, and O.J. Simpson: Made in America, Crime and Culture finds Wren Graves taking a closer look at the artists who were involved in lurid offenses, using their stories to ask broader questions about our culture at large. For the inaugural installment, we go back to the early ’90s, when Michael Jackson became entangled in a molestation scandal that changed the way the world saw the late King of Pop.

“A lot of kids starve, Michael,’ I reminded him. ‘A lot of kids are poor, they become addicted to drugs. A lot of kids don’t live in mansions with servants. A lot of kids have it a lot worse than you did. In fact,’ I said, maybe feeling a little too self-confident, ‘I think you had a pretty good childhood. You travelled. You had friends. You did what you wanted to do, didn’t you? You performed. You entertained. It was fun. I think you miss your childhood, yes. But I don’t think you missed out on it.’

Michael stared at me, angrily. ‘No, it was horrible,’ he countered. ‘I had a terrible childhood. All of that performing. All that recording. The fans took over my life,’ he said, pointing at me. ‘I never got to play,’ he complained. ‘It was awful.’”

— Michael Jackson: The Magic, The Madness, The Whole Story, 1958-2009

“So which is it? Innocent? Guilty? Somewhere in between? We’ll never know, and that’s why Michael Jackson’s story is important.”

“There is a tendency with true crime to want to play amateur detective; to pull out our magnifying glass, put on Sherlock’s hat, and reach our own conclusions. “Truth will out,” says the Bard, but that’s not actually true. Facts have a habit of slipping through the fingers. The media is inconsistent, and it is possible to be well-informed and still be wrong.”

“Michael Jackson is guilty. Michael Jackson is innocent. He’s both at the same time, an antidote to convictions and certainty. We must content ourselves with being stuck in the dark, tripping over unanswered questions, surrounded by all that we do not understand.”
READ THE FULL STORY HERE: The Unsolved Controversies Of Michael Jackson and decide for yourself. Or let him finally rest in peace.
(Source: Consequence Of Sound written by Wren Graves)