10.20
Michael: Martyr or Magician?
Better known as, “Dead Men Don’t Tell Tales.”
By: Rhiannon | MJHD Forum Moderator
Four months nearly have passed since the world lost sight of Michael Jackson. Yes, society’s own prodigal son. We “knew” him without knowing him, we loved him and he loved us more. And randomly out of nowhere he made a quiet exit, curtains clanged shut and the house lights came on. As we all struggled to adjust our vision in the days and weeks in the immediate aftermath of June 25th two divisive groups emerged.
The first of these, although timid of their own sanity, were the group who just didn’t buy what they were being told. They watched, they observed, they dug a little deeper into the mystery.
The second came along after. Their thoughts were around before, but they didn’t coagulate into a solid group until recently. They watched the beforehand, observed the beforehand, but had no mystery into which to plant even the shallowest of spades.
I am, of course, referring to the now two vocal groups of individuals seeking both “truth” and “justice” for Michael today; hoaxers and the murder conspiracy theorists. Between the two a sudden power struggle has inexplicably erupted, as one side seems to can’t see the other’s viewpoint to save their life (no pun intended). To be fair, the inconsistencies between both theories justify their own possibility. I’ve used this example before, and for equality I will apply it again here, as far as Michael Jackson and his “death” are concerned, we exist in a quantum reality. Example: I set a box on a table in front of you. If the box is marked “HAT” then you might logically assume that there is a hat inside the box. But in a quantum reality at the present moment in time there is a hat in the box, and there is also no hat in the box. Each possibility is true until one crosses into the plane of our reality, which is to say; until you open the box both must be assumed to be true and untrue.
Which is basically a fancy way of saying, until Michael shows back up or enough time and events pass to prove he’s not showing back up, we must imagine that both are true. That said; don’t allow discouraging thoughts to worry your pretty little heads. We’re going to employ the old grade school problem-solving method of compare/contrast to weed our way to the most likely result.
Health
There are as many stories for Michael’s health in 2009 as there are stars in the sky. Multiple visits to doctors’ offices, rumors of cancer, rumors of lung disease, rumors… rumors. One side claims they watched him slowly go downhill to 108 pounds (an awful exact guesstimate if I might observe) as he only seemed to become worse and weaker. However, judging from what we’ve seen thus far (that we can confirm thus far is actually Michael) he is alarmingly thinner than he has been in years. Since the last time he performed I’d say. As we age, our lean muscle mass declines as humans become more sedentary as they age. How many ripped 80 year-olds do you see? Not many. So if we just assume Michael knew what he was doing and following his normal rehearsal habit, he dropped his usual pre-tour weight but without the lean muscle from his 30s, we would be apt to assume something sinuous might be going on. While I say he is thinner, I do think he was healthy. Any busy parent or workaholic who forgets to eat, will know exactly what I mean. So since there is no conclusive proof that Michael was in ill health, we must by logic assume he was in good health for a man his age.
Advantage: Hoax
Addictions
Continuing on from the same line of thought I had previously, if you are one of those workaholics and you also battle with insomnia, you’ll know why many people might’ve assumed he was being drugged. I can prove this (not that you know me) from my own life experience. I totally am on the same creative biorhythm as Michael. I have my best ideas and most productive inspirations between midnight and 6am, with a huge burst of it usually around daybreak. This wasn’t a problem when I worked as a radio DJ on the graveyard and morning shows as I could skew my day around my natural stasis. Now that I’m a member of the Monday – Friday workforce professionals, I still haven’t changed and stay up all night long at least once per week, I’m awake until 2 or 3am on work nights unless my body gives out from exhaustion. And the weekends? Let’s just say I rarely see sunlight. The days after the nights without sleep are rough. Though I feel that I am peaking creatively and mentally, I often come across as erratic, hyper, goofy, and drugged up. I’ve even been asked a time or two what I was on, and if I could share! Sleep deprivation is actually considered DUI in some American states, because it’s effects on a person are the same as being intoxicated from alcohol or substance.
While Michael has admittedly fought vices in the past, I will go out on a limb for him and say I see no such thing out of him this year. What I see is an overtired genius at his creative peak pushing himself to some unfathomable (to us) goal, while also being a single father to three children, and dealing with every other thing life was throwing at him. And frankly, he did it with more grace than most anyone could muster. And to say he had relapsed into his addiction is to turn a blind eye to the sober and lucid determination and drive he clearly demonstrated.
Advantage: Hoax
Doctor Murray
To the conspiracy theorists, he’s the fall guy for murder. Murder by contract. Sent in by the execs that were after Michael’s fortunes. However, multiple people from label, AEG, and family have stated Michael knew Murray before hand and hired him specifically himself. But that could just be their “spin” on it to “clear them of wrongdoing”. Unfortunate for the hoax theory this would also explain why we haven’t seen nor heard a word out of him from day one.
So here’s the hole in that. Murray’s newest lawyer for his baby-mamma drama is a mere back alley no name from Vegas. His email address links back to a yahoo account. Doesn’t sound like these ill-conspiring executives really care for keeping their scapegoat well defended, do they? That wouldn’t make sense for a murder conspiracy. You’d expect him to somehow magically be represented by some of the best legal teams around. I mean, if he’s “innocent”, after all. Which if a corporation is powerful enough to bring down a man like Michael they can be powerful enough to buy their own trial. However, no one has stepped up to spin the story in the direction of Murray’s innocence. Not a one person from any camp has fessed up to actually having known and met Murray except for Jermaine.
In this case, I still must request he be proven to exist before I can buy that he’s a murderer. Propofol might kill people, but fictitious doctors do NOT.
Advantage: Draw.
He Was Worth More Dead Than Alive
This is a ridiculous statement. Any adult carrying a life insurance policy is worth more dead than alive. I can understand the complex intricacies of Michael’s situation and the many many nefarious hoodlums and hangers-on that flocked to him like moths to a flame (burned by the fire… sorry, Janet moment) would certainly give ample room to motive for such a twisted scheme to have actual credibility. But how credible? Michael had been in the business for forty-five (count ‘em) years. I imagine if someone were going to off him for personal or professional or monetary gain, they’d have done so long ago. And if it were some devilish plot from unnamed Walter Yetnikoff wannabes, they’d have timed it much better than three weeks before his concert were to start. To suggest he was killed by a plot, suggests there was also a plot to kill him. Which would denote that his death would have been planned and organized down to the detail for biggest impact and biggest shock value. Knowing rock & roll tragedy as well as I do, the night after his first performance would have not only been more heartbreaking, but way more untimely, and tragic. And believe it or not, would have sold far more merchandise as now they could also market the “final show”. Not have to patch one together from rehearsal footage. It is by logic of knowing that the chain of events doesn’t feed into a money making scheme as what could have been, I must then conclude that logically there was no conspiracy to kill him by Sony, AEG, or anyone. Unless of course, there really was, and Michael found out. Then he took this knowledge and planned his escape before they could get him. Plus, who out there actually believes Kenny Ortega could be an accessory to murder? Because that’s what these conspiracies inadvertently suggest.
Advantage: Inconclusive, most likely hoax.
Hoax – 2, Conspiracy – 0, Tie – 2.
Time has left us with two options going forward. Murder, or a mystery. The one thing we don’t know is who is the man behind the curtain? Is he back there pulling ropes and pouring more liquid hydrogen in the fog machine? Is he setting up the mirrors for the next phase? Or is there even a man behind the curtain anymore at all?
This is where the subtitle helps, dead men don’t tell tales. That might be some old cliché. But, clichés are clichés because they are the constant things that have stood the test of time. In observing the continually unfolding storyline (and it’s such a well crafted one) we have the literal interpretation of a dead man telling a tale.
…But dead men don’t tell tales.
This must mean there’s no dead man.
Join the forum discussion on this post - (25) Posts