The Michael Jackson Tragedy: Enough Already!

When "King of Pop" Michael Jackson died at age 50 on June 25, 2009, it seemed that a president, prime minister, or pope had passed away. Or that Andrew Jackson had risen from the dead.

For the last several days, television stations and newspapers throughout the United States have been running massive coverage of Michael Jackson's passing. Radio stations are featuring marathon sessions of his songs. This national obsession is both understandable and unwise.

Mr. Jackson's talent was undeniable. According to a June 26, 2009 New York Times obituary, Michael Jackson sold over 750 million albums worldwide. His 1982 "Thriller" was the best selling album ever, according to The Times. Jackson's "Moonwalk" revolutionized dancing, and the small screen version of "Thriller" marked the beginning of the video age.

Michael Jackson's career had been declining for many years. At the time of his death, the faltering icon was planning a series of 50 concerts to be performed in London through 2010. Sadly, Jackson's children never got a chance to see him perform.

According to The Times, the concerts were expected to earn Jackson $50 million. However, that would have barely put a dent in his monstrous debt, which, according to the New York Post, is $500 million.

A significant source of the red ink related to the upkeep of his "Neverland" Ranch, which Mr. Jackson promoted as a children's amusement park. Another reason for Jackson's debt was his legal bills stemming from civil and criminal lawsuits in which boys accused the pop star of molesting them.

Michael Jackson paid a reported $23 million settlement to one of his accusers in a 1993 civil suit. In 2003, Jackson was a defendant in a major criminal action in which he was accused of molesting a cancer patient. Jackson was acquitted, but his reputation remains tarnished.

The youngest member of the storied "Jackson Five" singing group, Michael Jackson began performing at the age of ten and quickly became the group's biggest star. Fueled by the wildly successful "Thriller," Jackson's solo career reached its zenith in the early 1980s. Although its details were not made public until over 10 years later, the 1993 civil molestation suit coincided with the beginning of Jackson's downward spiral.

In his early solo years, Jackson cultivated a wholesome Peter Pan image, which appeared increasingly pathological as the molestation accusations leaked out. We'll probably never know whether Michael Jackson was a child molester, and, if so, how many boys he injured.

Our legal system has declared Mr. Jackson "not guilty," and a civil settlement is not evidence of legal liability. Still, it is hard to not suspect Michael Jackson of wrongdoing when he paid $23 million for one person's silence. In addition, it has been widely reported that other civil molestation suits against Michael Jackson remain under court seal.

The criminal molestation case raises similar suspicions. Our criminal justice system gives the accused a host of legal protections on the assumption that government prosecutors have vast resources, and, therefore, a tremendous advantage over a defendant. But that's only true when he or she is an unknown person of modest or no means. When the defendant is wealthy, famous, or backed by powerful people, the tables are turned and the prosecution is disadvantaged.

Michael Jackson was an international figure with access to hundreds of millions of dollars, legions of fans, and a large contingent of expensive lawyers. Prosecutors are notoriously overworked and underpaid. It's not hard to see why most celebrity defendants escape criminal conviction.

Adding to the suspicion of molestation were Jackson's comments broadcast during an infamous 2003 interview with Martin Bashir. During that interview, Mr. Jackson described his practice of sleeping with young boys at Neverland as "charming."

Another troubling aspect of Michael Jackson was his increasingly bizarre appearance. Over the years, Mr. Jackson transformed from a handsome, brown-skinned young man into a middle-aged, pale person with a mannequin-like face and a nearly non-existent nose.

Jackson's defenders say that his light skin was due to the makeup he wore to hide his vitiligo, a dermatologic condition that produces white blotches. However, it's much more likely that Jackson's ghoulish pallor resulted from numerous cosmetic procedures. In recent years, Michael Jackson was barely recognizable as a human being.

In trying to perfect his looks, Jackson destroyed them, a clear indication of serious emotional disturbance. Add to this picture Mr. Jackson's insistence that his children wear veils in public, and you have a portrait of an extremely odd individual.

Michael Jackson is the latest in a long list of celebrities who have either died or greatly suffered because of their self-destructive behavior.

Billie Holiday died in her 40s after years of alcohol and drug abuse. Charlie Chaplin bedded one Hollywood starlet too many, a mistake that embroiled him in a sensational 1943 paternity suit that permanently damaged his reputation, even though he was acquitted. Fatty Arbuckle, a professional rival of Chaplin's, was a defendant in a 1920s rape and murder trial that put his career into a permanent nosedive.

Michael Jackson is often compared to Elvis Presley. The comparison is valid. Jackson was the "King of Pop," Presley the "King of Rock-and-Roll." Both men died relatively young-Presley was only 42. Both suffered declines in popularity in their later years and abused drugs.

In a June 27, 2009 article, The New York Post reported that Mr. Jackson abused a host of prescription drugs, including Demarol, a powerful narcotic painkiller. The article quotes a former Jackson video producer as saying that Mr. Jackson had been abusing Demarol for over 20 years. According to the article, the producer prophetically warned that Jackson would die before he was 50 if he didn't change his ways.

Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson share another connection: Mr. Jackson was briefly married to Elvis's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.

But Mr. Jackson is unique among deeply flawed stars in the depth of his strangeness - he told Mr. Bashir that he was Peter Pan - and that Jackson was a suspected pedophile. There is something particularly repulsive about the image of an adult, especially a powerful one, sexually abusing a young child.

Although I was never a fan of Mr. Jackson's, I respected his artistry. But after the molestation accusations surfaced, I could never bring myself to watch or listen to him perform.

Many Michael Jackson fans will prefer to remember him when he was untainted and at the height of his powers. I respect, but do not concur, with that view.

My favorite entertainer is Al Jolson. Jolson, who died in 1950, was a vicious Hollywood competitor, and his boorishness was legendary. Yet I love Jolson's music. Despite my having serious problems with his character, I can listen to Al Jolson because he was never accused of molesting children or committing a crime.

Jolson also had redeeming qualities that eluded Michael Jackson. Unlike Jackson, Jolson put his life on the line to entertain soldiers. During World War II, an aging, ailing Al Jolson performed in combat zones, sometimes singing to a couple of soldiers in a foxhole. Jolson refused rank and special privileges. Forty years later, Michael Jackson, protected by an army of handlers, was performing in ornate, phoney-looking military uniforms.

Mr. Jackson gave vast sums of money to charity, an admirable action. But it's easy to write a check. It's much harder to risk mortal danger.

The most disturbing aspect of the public adulation of Michael Jackson is that people of similar stature who were beyond reproach are rapidly fading from collective memory. When was the last time you heard anything about Danny Kaye, Audrey Hepburn, or Paul Newman? These people put enormous sweat equity into improving needy young peoples' lives.

Danny Kaye and Audrey Hepburn were UNICEF goodwill ambassadors. They traveled the world to aid impoverished children. Paul Newman founded a food empire that has donated over $250 million to charity, and his "Hole in the Wall Gang Camp," to which he was greatly devoted, continues to serve countless sick children.

I'm particularly touched by Paul Newman's story. At the time of his death in September 2008 at age 83, Mr. Newman had been married to the same woman, actress Joanne Woodward, for 50 years. That's an extraordinary achievement for a Hollywood actor. But Mr. Newman never considered himself a star. His unpretentiousness was especially endearing.

The contrast between Paul Newman and Michael Jackson couldn't be greater. During his criminal molestation trial, Jackson held court atop a jeep outside the halls of justice before a throng of wide-eyed fans. Can you imagine Danny Kaye, Audrey Hepburn, or Paul Newman engaging in such behavior? Of course not.

And let's not forget the beloved Bob Hope, who performed for American soldiers in every conflict from World War II to Desert Storm and was married to his wife Dolores for almost 70 years.

This country has enormous problems. Michael Jackson's death isn't one of them. Iran is burning, the economy is stalling, and North Korea is nuking. Why mourn a weird and possibly criminal celebrity?

I remember listening to the humorist Steve Allen being interviewed on a radio show in the early 1990s. I was never a fan of his, but he made an observation on that program that continues to haunt me. Lamenting the cultural degradation of modern society, Mr. Allen said that as time passes, fewer and fewer people on the planet will recognize good character. In 2009, millions mourn Michael Jackson as a demigod, and Steve Allen's prediction has become reality.