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Michael Jackson - Source: Reuters
Somewhere between the hysteria of the diehard Jackson fans outside the LA courthouse, the triumphalism and pseudo-religiosity of the Jackson family, and the impassivity of Dr. Conrad Murray's face as the verdict was read out, you'll find the truth about Michael Jackson's death.
The fans, having anointed their hero as a god, cannot believe that he would harm himself, much less others.
"I just immediately started crying when he said guilty," sobbed one, "because I'm happy that he finally got justice because people said so many negative things and made it like he killed himself. But he did not do that. He would never do that."
As for the Jacksons, it seems that the singer's mother Katherine, charged with raising his children, is the only member of that clan to not be mired in self-congratulation and self-service.
They were happy to feed at the trough of his reputation and talent, even when it must have been manifestly clear that he was deranged by drug abuse, losing perspective, and threatening to lose much more.
Surely they must have called at some time and heard the voice the prosecution played from Conrad Murray's cell phone, the wheezing, rambling gasp of a drug addict.
Conrad Murray's inert features as the verdict was being read betrayed little suggestion that he imagined he would walk out of the courtroom a free man.
If anything that mien is a prison face: betraying nothing, unfazed.
Perhaps he formulated a similar expression when, deep in debt, he became Jackson's personal physician in return for $US150,000 a month, and discovered that the goose who was laying these golden eggs, also needed a powerful anesthetic to sleep.
Absent from this is the one person that could have given us the truth -after a suitable period of drying out.
I mean Michael Jackson himself. Perhaps he might've assumed some blame for how things ended.
Perhaps he might've spoken convincingly in Conrad Murray's defense. Perhaps he might also have said, "You bastard, you should have called 911 sooner."
Fame in the U.S. is a bubble. For all that we hear about celebrities becoming more like us, celebrities of Michael Jackson's level were aliens who lived in earth, but somehow didn't habit it.
They travelled inside the bubble. That's why death means so little to the income stream.
Last year the dead Michael Jackson earned $213 million, more than most of us would make in numerous lifetimes.
But just as the bubble of fame insulates those within from some of the unpleasantness of ordinary life, it pushes back against the measures of ordinary life.
It allows narcissism and money to triumph, in place of responsibility and clarity. It warms, then cools, then contracts.
On June 25, 2009, aided by Conrad Murray, but not without a little help from himself, the bubble around Michael Jackson finally burst.
Some will say it took until today to finish bursting; I'm not so sure.
To read more Tim Wilson opinion click here .
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Post new commentdear oh dear said on 2011-11-08 @ 18:13 NZDT: Report abusive post
There has to be a scapegoat -- and poor doc Murray was in the firing line. Nobosy would ever blame Jackso -- or his family for his poor health. the other money hungry Jacksons are probably the most sad because the gravy train has passed on and they might have to work for a living!!!. Quick - breakout more propofol!.