Will Michael Jackson's legacy survive the 'Leaving Neverland' documentary?
The answer appears to be a complicated combination of trust and denial by parents who were star-struck themselves by Jackson and his generosity in booking fancy suites and transportation for the families while he went off alone to sleep with their children. "I always get what I want," one mother in the documentary quotes Jackson as saying to her. Indeed, many fans worldwide indulge and even worship superstars like Jackson in a way that can easily encourage a star's worst instincts -- and a deep sense of denial among the rest of us.
Or, as Oprah declared, "Celebrity supersedes criminality."
My biggest surprise in watching the Neverland documentary is how much it disturbingly echoed Lifetime's "Surviving R. Kelly" documentary, which preceded recent sexual abuse charges against him in late February.
In 2008, Kelly was found not guilty of child pornography charges connected to an alleged videotaped encounter with a 13-year-old girl. But the singer, whose real name is Robert Kelly, was indicted Feb. 21 in Chicago on 10 charges of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of four victims, three of whom were underage. Kelly has been released from jail on $100,000 bond.
In both cases, we again see celebrities facing renewed allegations of sexual misconduct after years of gossip and rumors. But this time we are in the #MeToo era, and the headwind that alleged victims used to face in trying to be heard largely has been replaced by a tailwind that helps them to be heard.
This does not mean, as the Jussie Smollett alleged hate crime hoax in Chicago should teach us, that all complaints are valid. Everyone is still entitled under our system of justice to be considered innocent until proved guilty. But alleged victims also have the right to have their complaint taken seriously.
Should we now boycott the artistic creations of controversial artists? I, for one, cannot hear the music of Jackson and Kelly and the comedy of Cosby without also feeling that a sense of revulsion has replaced my former sense of delight.
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(E-mail Clarence Page at cpage@chicagotribune.com.)
(c) 2019 CLARENCE PAGE DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
