Michael Jackson (103 page)

There was good reason for such concern about Michael’s state of mind, though it seems unlikely that Santa Barbara District
Attorney, Tom Sneddon, was genuinely worried about him. Michael is so fragile a person, the Chandler case almost sent him
over the brink; he became addicted to drugs and, if not for the positive influence Elizabeth Taylor and Lisa Marie Presley,
he might never have been able to recover. However, he did recover – and, then, paid Jordie millions of dollars to settle the
matter in order that he be able to move forward with his life.

Though Michael was able to put the other case behind him without admitting guilt – in fact, with many declarations of innocence – his
career never recovered; his record sales were never the same. There was hope that a 2003 CD, a greatest hits compilation called
Number Ones
, would help matters when issued in November. A single from it, ‘One More Chance’, a melodic tune with multi-layered and lush
harmonies, in the vein of some of his best 1980s work, seemed poised for success. In the UK, the compilation found quick acceptance:
Number Ones
debuted at the top of the charts. ‘One More Chance’ was also a hit. It’s clear that Michael’s British fans remain supportive.
He also has the support of legions of fans in most other countries, but not in America. In the USA, he may never be able to
rebound, especially now that he has been arrested. Indeed, in America,
Number Ones
was a huge commercial disappointment, nowhere close to being considered a hit record.

‘You have to stay strong,’ Michael’s aide told him on the day of the Neverland raid. ‘For your children, you have to be strong.’

Michael crumpled into a chair. ‘I’ll do the best I can,’ he said. ‘But…’ His voice trailed off as he buried his face into
his hands. ‘Oh, my God. What a shock. I can’t believe this is happening to me… again.’

Michael Jackson is always caught by surprise whenever something terrible occurs in his life. He never seems able to connect
the dots of unfolding misery back to his own impulsive actions and questionable judgement.

For instance, he had never recognized that for every disadvantaged youngster who visited Neverland Ranch, there would always
be a set of parents in the background. Some, such as those of his present accuser (and those of Jordie Chandler’s), might
be at war with each other in a battle that could involve child custody (as it has in both cases). Also, each child and each
parent was likely to have his and her own dysfunctional history, as well as aggressive attorneys. Since there was no way to
check the backgrounds of every child and every parent who entered his private domain, would it not have made more sense to
keep strangers out of Neverland? If he was so determined to host an amusement park for kiddies, could he not have maintained
Neverland for that purpose, but chosen to live elsewhere? The simple answer for Michael is: no. He must be around children.
He must have them in his midst. Neverland is a shrine to adolescence. There are statues of youngsters and photographs of boys
and girls all over the place. He’s obsessed with kids.

How long, one wonders, can Michael and his enablers continue to explain his strange behaviour by saying that he is compensating
for a childhood ripped from him by his career, his fame, his fans?

The duration of a person’s conscious childhood probably spans the years between five and eighteen. Michael became famous at
the age of ten. Not to be reductive of a person’s dysfunction in such a complex world, but if one insists upon harping on
the notion of a lost childhood, then it would seem that Michael ‘lost’ eight years. Michael bought Neverland in 1988. He has
lived there, surrounded by a dreamy and fake adolescence, for roughly sixteen years. Therefore, it would seem that he has
compensated for his ‘lost childhood’ two times over.

In truth, Neverland remains a monument to Michael’s confusion and conflict about childhood, and not how much he missed out
on it but, rather, how much he
misses
it. He clings to every vestige of youth with almost manic desperation, as if growing up would be the worst thing that could
happen to him.

The ride on the private jet, a Gulf Stream G-4, from Las Vegas to Santa Barbara on 20 November 2003, the day Michael was arrested,
was, of course, a difficult one. He was frightened and pessimistic about the future. ‘Why does everyone else get to be happy,
and I’m always thrashing through the mud?’ he asked.

Michael arrived at the jail wearing a black suit with his hands cuffed behind his back. He was photographed and fingerprinted
and handed over his passport; it took about a half-hour. He was charged with ten counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a
child under age fourteen, each count punishable by three to eight years in prison. Michael was freed on $3 million bail, which
means he had to come up with $300,000 – not a difficult thing for him to do.

Later, Michael would claim that he had been abused by police officers while at the station; they had even dislocated his shoulder!
It was unlikely that Jackson suffered at the hands of law enforcement; there were video cameras everywhere. When did the abuse
happen? He seemed fine when he arrived at the station, and was waving to people and flashing the victory sign when he left.
The bruise Michael displayed to
60 Minutes
correspondent Ed Bradley (on 29 December 2003) as evidence of handcuffs that had been too tight was so high on his arm it
had to be the result of some other occurrence. Some speculated that he had actually hurt himself during the caravan ride from
Santa Barbara to Las Vegas, while shaking hands with fans out of the half-opened window of his automobile.

There was something about Michael’s detailing of police abuse that felt impulsive in delivery, as if he hadn’t thought about
it in advance but, rather, made a snap decision in a desperate, anxious moment. It’s doubtful that he discussed it with his
attorneys in advance. Coming directly from Michael, the accusation of abuse truly was disconcerting. Everything Michael says
these days has to hold up under scrutiny; his credibility is on the line now, more than ever. It’s also doubtful that anyone
in his camp would dare take him to task for such impulsive behaviour, though. It is more likely that, after they were caught
by surprise, they scrambled to figure out how to handle it.

After the accusation of abuse made headlines, the police department retaliated by releasing a video in which it seemed Michael
wasn’t abused at all but, rather, actually treated well by the authorities. The suspicious allegation against the police made
things worse for Michael; it looked like a diversionary tactic and caused some of his critics to speculate as to why he would
need one.

A compelling image and one his fans want to believe is the notion of Michael Jackson hunkering down with his staff in a boardroom,
ordering people about, expressing his ‘outrage’ about whatever is going on that day, issuing edicts and pounding his fist
on his desk as frightened minions scramble about him. Actually, there’s little evidence to suggest that Michael is, at least
in the last few years, the calculated strategist his handlers describe as they spin his present situation in the press. In
truth, he spends most of his time with his three children, ignoring as much as he can the frightening details of his dilemma.

‘When he is forced to become involved in meetings with lawyers and accountants, he is often in a tense, sullen and uncooperative
mood,’ says another person who knows him well.

Perhaps it is understandable that Michael would just as soon not face his troubles, and maybe he’s lucky to be able to avoid
most of the details. He has many people in his employ whose job it is to shield him from the reality of litigation, as well
as the media coverage of the on-going molestation story. When he hears of a particularly controversial report – usually second-hand
since he does not watch television or read the newspapers – he is ‘appalled’ by it. Someone then writes a statement expressing
such empty emotion, and ‘exposing’ the untruth of the story. New people in his circle act as if we’re living in a parallel
universe, and that everything ever published or said about Michael or his family – including that which they have said and written
about each other in the past – occurred in some
other
reality, not our own. The only history the public is supposed to have with Michael is one that begins on the morning someone
in his inner circle appears on television to proclaim that all is well… and that we’re wrong-minded for believing, or even
suspecting, otherwise.

Unfortunately, coddling and indulging Michael serves to reinforce his own self-image of being a rich kid in a mean world of
money-grubbing adults and, thus, unable – or unwilling – to deal with his responsibilities and obligations. When he does give
a firsthand interview, he seems distracted, disconnected from reality. He expresses himself as if he’s never been around adults,
as if he has no social skills. He looks troubled, scared, sick to his stomach. He truly
is
childlike. However, it remains disconcerting to hear family members and reasonable-thinking, educated people describe him
that way as if it’s an admirable, even awe-inspiring, trait for a man in his mid-forties, instead of a troubling, worrisome
one. What can be done to help Michael Jackson? Certainly more than just approve of him.

After his arrest, Michael came forth to say, once again, that he would never hurt a child and the public is ‘crazy’ to think
that there is anything strange about his rapport with children. ‘I love children. I would slit my wrist before hurting a child,’
Michael told Ed Bradley in the televised
60 Minutes
interview. His eyes were wide and heavily lashed, the nose small and sharp. He seemed delicate, frail, almost like a geisha
girl as he sat so primly in his turquoise-blue silk blouse. His hair fell to his shoulders, a jet-black swoop that contrasted
with his whitish skin. Every now and again, someone would rush to his side, looking alarmed. He said he didn’t feel well,
he clearly wanted to wrap the interview up. He looked as if he was about to wilt under the pressure.

Later, his family members, in support of Michael, confirmed that he ‘loves all children’ and as Jermaine put it, ‘he would
never harm a child’.

Actually, the Jackson family’s defence of Michael’s obsessive love for children does little to help him. Rather, it tends
to make them look out of touch with society and with what is considered appropriate behaviour in the real world. Simply put,
loving children and not wanting to hurt them is no defence against child molestation. In fact, most child molesters express
great affection for their victims and feel that they are not hurting them. Most would rather ‘slit’ their ‘wrists’ than hurt
a child… and, horribly, they
all
end up hurting children.

‘People in the real world will always out-number them in their world where, it seems, anything goes,’ remarked one legal analyst.
‘They are not going to be able to beat us, or change our minds about what makes sense and what looks inappropriate when it
comes to kids and adults. They may as well join us in the real world, and maybe sit down and have a very strong talk with
their son and brother.’

‘After the
60 Minutes
interview, we looked at each other and said, “Holy Christ! That did not go well, did it?” says the former spokesman. “What
happened there?”

‘Michael has been around for so many years, one expects him to shine on camera. But people who know him well know that he
does not do that. Instead, he acts as if he’s never done an interview in his entire life.

‘He tries, God knows he does, and it’s hard for him. I saw it firsthand. He is sick before going on camera for an interview,
throwing up, so nervous, so upset, so filled with anxiety. Your heart goes out to him. You wonder how he ever ended up in
the public eye, and what an ordeal he has been through just to get this far in it.

‘After he’s on TV, his people have to do clean-up work to minimize all of the late-night talk-show criticism and joking, and
explain that
he’s
fine, it’s the
public
that has a problem. “Focus on the message” was always my tactic. “Forget the messenger”. He’s innocent of any wrong-doing.
I’m sure of it. Just stick to that truth and forget how much damage he’s done by trying to express such innocence on television.
Get him help? It’s not an option. No one is close enough to him to even presume to suggest it.’