After it was announced that Antoine Fuqua will direct an upcoming biopic of Michael Jackson starring Jackson’s nephew Jaafar Jackson, all the usual suspects had a predictable tantrum.
Many people seem to forget the best thing about America is knowing where to draw it. And that line is right here. innocent until proven guilty.
This line appeals to me. That line is very appealing to me. It makes perfect sense to me. It’s a big, red, thick straight line that nobody can miss — unless they Choose to.It isn’t nuance that makes this line so great. It means exactly what it says… Until the state proves you are guilty, you are innocent, and can therefore move about the cabin until the captain turns the seatbelt sign on.
What else do I love about the big, red, thick straight line? I’m able to avoid the mental exhaustion that comes with playing Solomon. I am able to freely move around the cabin while someone else judges.
The State used all its resources and power to try and prove Michael Jackson was child molestation and rape. It spent many years trying. The State was unsuccessful. Therefore, Michael Jackson is innocent, and that’s all there is to it. That’s how it works. That’s how it should work. That doesn’t mean you are not entitled to your own opinion. Yes, I have my opinion. But opinions don’t matter. What matters is that Jackson was found not guilty, and that’s that.
You might say, He did, however, pay out millions to his victims.
That is all I’ll say. That was, other than mixing up with drugs.If I had been speaking to him, I would have said that. The payoffs don’t prove his guilt. He is still innocent until it is proven. Therefore, regardless of anyone’s personal opinion, no one should be looking to have this movie blacklisted.
Dan Reed wants to blacklist the film. Reed directed You can leave Neverland, a very flawed documentary detailing Jackson’s alleged abuse of two boys, and wrote in the Guardian that he’s angry because, “No one is talking about ‘cancelling’ this movie, which will glorify a man who raped children.”
He goes on:
What the total absence of outrage accompanying the announcement of this movie tells us is that Jackson’s seduction is still a living force, operating from beyond the grave. Jackson is loved by his many fans, the media and older generations who have grown up with him. It appears that they are ready to let go of their unhealthy relationships with children and simply listen to his music.
This is what I will say to them: Even if your many accusers don’t believe, even if the vast police investigations and massive payments made by the government to stop legal proceedings are troubling. How do you explain that Jackson, for decades, spent innumerable night alone in bed with his young sons? Was he alone in his Neverland bedroom with no alarms? This cannot be tolerated.
Simple answer. Jackson admitted that it had happened, that it was incorrect, that it was part of his legacy and that it will be a part of that. A true biopic will reflect that. A biopic of the boys should include Macaulay Culkin (child star), who claimed they had spent a lot of time with Jackson but nothing ever happened.
Is this the culture we want to live in…? It is a place where everyone can be themselves. All allegationsDeep-six an individual, his achievements, or his art. It is even more absurd when the deceased person is involved. We are supposed to memory-hole him. You should erase him from history. That’s what does it mean? This is where it leads. No more movies about Josef Stalin, even though erasing history does, in a very sick way, honor Stalin’s legacy?
Jackson could have been convicted, but what is wrong with making a film about his life? Why did we stop telling bad stories?
We’re becoming a culture of censors and babies, of people who are too quick to judge because they either want to feel virtuous by going along with the crowd or because they are too lazy to look at the facts (see: Allen, Woody). People don’t like being challenged, prodded, made to feel uncomfortable or having their beliefs questioned. We’ve raised a generation of Eloi 800,000 years before H.G. Welles predicted. Heaven save us, if the Eloi face any kind of world war or Great Depression. If they can’t handle a Michael Jackson biopic or being misgendered… What a bunch of babies.
The full article is available here here
