Bite-sized alternative political analysis: Michael Jackson and the spectre of censorship
The facts:
The tainted legacy of Michael Jackson has become world news with the release of a documentary on the deceased artist. The documentary Leaving Neverland puts forward the case that Jackson sexual abused children. Leaving Neverland has most probably destroyed Michael Jackson’s legacy.
One political question that has come from the documentaries release is over the censorship of Jackson’s songs. NZME, which owns ZM, The Hits, Flava and Newstalk ZB, has made the decision to no longer play Jackson's songs on air. And similar moves are being taken by other radio stations nationally and internationally.
Analysis:
The big question is, can we differentiate an art product from its creator? And in this case, can we differentiate the musical legacy of Jackson, form Jackson the person? A problematic question, but nonetheless, people generally can and do differentiate an art product from its maker.
Some of the world’s greatest artists and authors have had tainted pasts and had questionable attitudes. For example, the English language’s greatest writer William Shakespeare has been accused of racism and anti-Semitism. Should his masterpiece, The Merchant of Venice, therefore be censored due to its alleged racist depiction of Shylock, the plays Jewish Character?
And what of film directors such as Roman Polanski and Woody Allan? Polanski was convicted of rape in America. And Allen has been accused of child sexual abuse. Should all the artistic work of both directors therefore be effectively banned?
And what of pop and rock stars who had relationships with underage girls, or have been accused of violence against women, or have been convicted of various crimes? In that case, we would need to stop listening to The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Elvis Presley, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, and a whole range of musical artists.
Perhaps we should equate an artist’s work with that artist themselves. If an artist is beyond the pale, then perhaps so should ban their artistic work. However, following this logic, media platforms, radio and TV would pretty soon start to look like media outlets in highly censorious countries such as North Korea and Iran. Is that what we want?
The concerns about Jackson’s legacy are legitimate. But if we support the effective censoring of his artistic output, we might suddenly find ourselves in a very unpleasant society where censorship is the rule rather than the exception.
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This political roundup by John Moore is an extension on the five-minute breakfast political roundup that John gives on Radio One Dunedin, Monday to Thursday at 9am.
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