Be it twitter, facebook and even on the now in pubs and clubs across the UK, there is a growing belief that Conrad Murray isn't totally responsible for the death of Michael Joseph Jackson.Firstly, I think beyond a shadow of a doubt that he should share in some of the blame of the demise of the self proclaimed King of Pop..... but does nobody else think there should be more people in the dock for turning a blind eye to the obvious long term demise and eventual death of one of the worlds most famous or more accurately 'infamous' pop/celebrities and his eccentricities.
For years, outside of his very loyal fan base, Michael Jackson was looked on as a bit of a odd character. Often referred to as Wacko Jacko, his antics were a million miles away from that of a well rounded individual. It's easy to listen to Michael condemn Martin Bashir's documentary 'Living with Michael Jackson' as inaccurate and misleading, but I spent half the show loving MJ and the other half wanting to fly over and sit him down and tell him about the real world. You know the one where you need to drop the act and consider that all your actions are not healthy and a lot of those around you are only around you as they are on the payroll.
We're always reminded that father Joe was an evil man, Michael told us about his childhood constantly and it's been well documented. Michael would often talk about how adults had let him down. But as an adult I don't see why Michael couldn't learn as we do that adults are human and humans constantly let other people down. That's just life and a lesson you learn as an adult. It's part of growing up. Ahh, maybe there lies the problem. Michael was a child, even at 50 there was no normality in his life. His children sadly stand a better chance of having some form of normality in their lives without him than with. They will learn how adults deal with things, but only if their guardians live in the real world. Which in this tragic tale is hard to imagine. It's worth noting that the world only saw their faces after their fathers death. What father, who professed to want to bring children up normally would hide the away from the realities of life. Hiding them from the hungry press was one thing but hiding them from the reality of a proper childhood was another.
It's also hard to come to a conclusion as to whether building the Neverland Ranch was a philanthropic dream, childhood fantasy or just egotistical ambition to be controversial and newsworthy. The animals now long moved on and the rot setting in. In reality the rot had settled in as early as 2007 when foreclosure proceedings began. The result is reported to be that Jackson sold 'part' of the estate to Fortress Investments. The arrears are claimed to have totaled $24,525,906.61 and according to wikipedia accounts for three months arrears. That's a $1bn dollar a year lifestyle....consider that for a moment. The average person will earn around $30,000 a year. That's about 15 minutes at a burn rate if you are Jackson. Where is there any normality in that when he sang about changing the world, but in reality just made those around him wealthy, in most cases buying their respect as it was quicker than earning it.
The reality is that Jackson the icon was unstoppable, but he needed protection from the reality that this obviously clever and talented individual was lonely and ultimately scared. Living a life where everybody around him served a purpose to protect him from himself.
Part 2 Michael Jackson vs the inner junkie - coming soon