This news is not Earth shattering. It will not change the world. It might be said that this is much ado about celebrities. It is Hollywood hype, or is it?
Initially, my interest in the Michael Jackson case was embarrassing to me. I told myself that show-biz news is not significant, and yet, as I reflect upon it, I realize that it is. What happens here is what happens elsewhere. All of life can be considered a psychological and sociological study. This particular incident is a sad one, for it says much of human frailties. We work so hard to be wise and wonderful and then, we stumble. Listening to the jurors justify their verdict is case in point. Situations such as this may serve to teach us of ourselves. Therefore, I present my thoughts on the Michael Jackson scenario. I invite you to offer yours.
It might be said that the Michael Jackson trial is more than a miscarriage of justice, it symbolic of much more. The results of this trial may speak to what we as a society have become. The Jackson hearing might be considered a microcosm of America. The details address issues such as marketing, money, and the mindset of an international public. We seem to have become a society based in reality television. In this forum, nothing is real. People go public so that they may have their fifteen minutes of fame. What is image is not merely an illusion; it is what we wish to be, to identify with, and what we believe we will become.
Reality programs are so popular because we relate. We see ourselves in the place of others. Experiences are part of a competition, and individuals are the actors, directors, the judge, and the jury. We all might be the next “American Idol.” We await our chance.
Courtrooms are circuses. Celebrity clients are not on trial, those that attack them are. Icons are made more human. They have faces and they have flaws. They feel, and jurors can identify with them. Those that attack a famous personality must be at fault. It matters not that the public figure has long verbalized that he did engage in what is a precursor to the crime he is accused of. That Michael Jackson thinks, “Sharing a bed with young boys is the most loving thing I can do,” is not enough to convict. A strong belief that Michael Jackson has molested boys in the past does not influence a juror’s decision. What does affect the finding in this trial is personality.
Judgments are made based on feelings, not fact. The jurors’ feelings about the victim, his mother, and of course, Michael were the most influential. In today’s courtrooms, justice is purely a concept. Fairness is not the filter, if it ever was. Celebrity criminal cases are all for show, they are televised worldwide. Lawyers and defendants put on quite a performance.
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