For all those readers who have more important things to do with their lives than keep up with the Michael Jackson trial (may we see a show of hands, please?), Tina Brown today brings us the sort of witty summary that will help you impress your friends at this weekend’s cocktail parties.
Here’s her take on the proceedings in Santa Maria, California:
The strange thing about the Michael Jackson trial is that the supporting actors are more interesting than the star. The weirdness of the King of Pop is so overexposed that no new revelation can shock. Either Jackson is a complete lunatic who slept with young boys and didn’t fondle them or he’s a complete lunatic who slept with young boys and did.
The current case, writes Brown, “makes real crime junkies hanker for the exotic of the normal.” Like the BTK killer, for instance.
It’s hard to know if Jackson will one day be seen as a repellent relic of celebrity culture, or another Oscar Wilde or Vivaldi, an artist persecuted for something or other we can’t recall.
But enough from us. Tina says it better. And it’s guilt-free reading — meaning, unlike the trial and coverage it’s generated, Brown gives us some substance.
–Susan Q. Stranahan
Susan Q. Stranahan wrote for CJR.