Also. Michael Jackson is amazing. Before Topaz I knew very little about MJ: I knew MJ was a pop artist who sang about love and monsters, who had vitiligo and was accused of child molestation. I always respond pretty defensively to suspected child molesters, so that I remember looking up and reading what MJ had to say about it. I felt the truth in zir words and felt that this was an accusation leveled because MJ was rich and vulnerable (looking different, being black, actually giving a shit about kids unlike most adult cis men). That's no proof but the facts about this kids' dad drugging him to get the initial 'confession' and later attacking the kid to the point that the kid pressed charges make me feel even more sure (and pretty suspicious of the dad). There's an unsubstantiated report of the kid apologizing and confessing that it was a lie that his dad made him tell. And all of the other allegations which don't actually focus on taking care of any child. It's more of the same myth of the black male rapist racist shit.
Anyway, Topaz introduced me to the fact that MJ was a radical social justice activist. A lot of celebrities pick a cause and herald it: it's good for business. However, only paying attention to one cause is a glaring sign of Missing The Point. But MJ cared about children, about environmental destruction, about racial hatred, about domestic violence, about rape, about sex workers, really about anyone who suffered, and was extraordinarily good at packaging meaning in pop-y songs to reach so many people. I weep because we don't have anyone like that now, no one with that much reach who actually cares.
