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So much for not speaking ill of the dead.
More than half of Bill Whitaker's obituary on CBS covered the "increasingly reclusive and odd figure" that Michael Jackson cut in his later years. Whitaker insinuated that Jackson was uncapable of fathering his three children…he reminded us of balcony infant-dangling…the $20m settlement of a child sex abuse lawsuit…his assertion that having young boys in his bed was "very right, very loving"…his prosecution on molestation charges. NBC's Peter Alexander asserted that Jackson became "the biggest star with truly international status ever brought to trial on a serious felony charge" and, outrageously, did not even bother to add that it ended in acquittal.
On the other hand…
ABC's Brian Rooney dropped the "self-styled" qualifier and came straight out and dubbed Jackson King of Pop. That must certainly chagrin fans of Elvis Presley--the King himself--and Lennon & McCartney. Rooney pinpointed the making of this superstar as the moment when he made "his famous moon walk for the first time on Motown's 25th anniversary special." NBC' Alexander reminded us that Jackson started off when he was just a child: "The rest of the Jackson Five sang and moved but Michael, the youngest and clearly the prodigy, was the one who moved you." NBC's Lester Holt gave Jackson the credit for inventing the music video--"he really jump started the genre"--and ABC anchor Charles Gibson closed his newscast with an extended clip from a Thriller dance sequence.
CBS' Whitaker mused that the onetime child star identified with Peter Pan "the boy who never grew up." He told a sad tale: "Somewhere along the way Jackson went from the King of Pop to Wacko Jacko. Some say it started with an accident during the filming of a TV commercial that burned his scalp severely and led to a dependence on prescription painkillers." He called him "a curious figure, who leaves behind a legacy of staggering musical genius--and stunningly bad judgment."
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