Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Smooth Criminal

The recent guilty verdict of Dr. Conrad Murray has given me reason to pause... Not so much the verdict itself (which was and is just), but the public reaction to it.

Seemingly getting lost in the mix is Jackson's own culpability in his untimely demise.  Yes Murray was a well-paid and willing accomplice, but Jackson knew what he was doing, he knew it was wrong, and despite paying a doctor to assist him in his rather posh drug habit, he did bring it upon himself.  Murray, while guilty, was an accomplice and not the murderer that many Jackson fans paint him to be.

What bothers me about the reaction is the perpetuation of the buck-passing, "it's always someone else's fault" mentality.  In the end no one "won" this case and the unfortunate biggest loser in this case was any semblance of personal accountability.

Jackson was largely martyred in his passing for the immense talent he showed in life.  The voices condemning his actions, his own hand in his demise were muted if not silenced by the voices that lifted his legend onto pedestals at the expense of any semblance of Jackson's accountability for the actions that led to his death.

And now those same voices are cheering his "murderer"... While it's good that Murray is being held accountable for his role Jackson's passing, referring to him as a "murderer" is an insult to personal accountability.  Jackson was his own murderer... Murray just provided the means and "supervision" that allowed MJ to commit his crime.

4 comments:

TAD said...

Plex: This is a tough one. Have you seen MJ's posthumous movie THIS IS IT? The movie really turned my head around about MJ. He was certainly working awfully hard 4 that European tour he had lined-up. He was INTO IT -- involved, intense, on top of things at every moment. Not at all the weirdo the media liked to portray.
I thot he was a little skinny -- he always was -- but he was so INTENSE I could believe he'd want something to help him sleep....
Here's the thing: A doctor's also supposed to tell a patient NO when the doc knows the patient's getting into extreme areas. That's a doctor's job. That's part of what he gets paid for. Course MJ probably woulda just gotten the stuff from somewhere else. And Elvis's doctor also got hung out to dry after EP's death....
Keep posting the thought-provoking stuff....

Vegas Linda Lou said...

Agree, agree, agree! Well put. Is there no such thing as personal accountability anymore?

Bar L. said...

Michael was an addict and a very disturbed person. Personally, I've been a fan of his since I was 9 years old (he was 9 at the time too) and have been very saddened by many of his choices and bizarre behavior over the years (note: I do not believe he molested any children and have a documentary to recommend that shows why).

As an addict, and insomniac, Michael would do anything to get his drugs, just like all addicts do. They steal, lie, rob and sell to get their drugs.

Since Michael had money he paid someone to provide his drugs to him.

Conrad Murray chose to accept money to illegally administer dangerous drugs to Michael, and then was negligent in watching over him! For $150,000 a month you'd think he'd at least do his job well.

So I agree with the verdict, which was not murder, it was manslaughter. Of course he didn't murder him - he'd lose his high paying job!

Yes, Michael had a part in it just as all addicts do. But he's not hear to hold accountable for his actions because Murray was not monitoring him that night.

Bar L. said...

PS, have you seen "This is It"? You should watch it.