We Are the Weirdoes

Tuned in to Court TV, I listened as Michael Jackson was found not guilty on all counts. With the Jackson 5 quietly playing on my laptop, I thought back to the days when Michael was African-American and appeared to be normal. Now innocent on molestation, conspiracy, and alcohol charges, he is white and weird. I was stunned as the words “not guilty” were read 14 times, but moreover, I came to the conclusion that we, though not including me, are the weirdoes.

With every verdict, a woman released a white dove, and another person held a sign that read “Michael, on behalf of mankind, we’re sorry.” For these Jackson worshippers and others who deify the King of Pop, their idol returns to the Neverland Ranch a free man.

It is scary to think that the hundreds of sign-toting fans who waited for hours outside of the Santa Maria, California courthouse are in fact your future jurors. What these future jurors fail to realize is that a difference exists between Michael Jackson, the entertainer, and Michael Jackson, the man. He is no longer the man who once “thrilled” us, and the jury refused to brand him a “smooth criminal.”

As fans moved the party from the courthouse to the gates of the Neverland Ranch, a man who shares his bed with children was placed into both Hollywood and legal history. For a singer who has been in the celebrity limelight for decades, a part of his fan base was undeterred by the accusations that were at hand.

Those people whose lives are mesmerized by celebrities often fail to separate the human from the celebrity. Stripping Michael Jackson to a no-name, accused, child molester, we would be far from releasing doves into the air.

Celebrity lovers immortalize stars forgetting that these icons are as human as the rest of us. Not even celebrities are immune from the mental suffering that plagues mankind. Yes, celebrities make mistakes like the rest of us, but there should be no difference between a celebrity’s mistake and your neighbor’s mistake.

The Michael Jackson case is evidence that a percentage of the American population have their priorities in disorder. The King of Pop may be free, but our servicemen and women are still chained to the soil of Iraq. Three dollars per gallon of gas looms in the future. The Aids crisis in Africa worsens as U.S. aid has not yet met expectations. Should we release a dove when a human being dies in Iraq or Africa?

While fans waited patiently in the afternoon heat for the fragile Jackson, family members of servicemen and woman wait patiently in their homes for verdicts on the lives of their sons and daughters. No one is knocking down the gates to the white house.

It is no surprise that Michael Jackson’s superstar status brought out the masses to support him in his time of need. If enough people can rally for an acquitted child molester, let’s hope we will see the same vigor taken to the streets in protest of other credible current events. We can listen to the album “Thriller” as much as we want, but it will not help pay for gas. Michael may be free but can he help my unemployed uncle find a job in a country whose job market floats oversees?

Maybe the parents who allow their children to sleep with Jackson are to blame. Maybe Jackson himself is the only one to blame. Regardless, on behalf of humankind, I apologize for us.