Category: life and death

michael & the big bad media

i’ve always been a huge fan of michael jackson, even when he turned white and sorta whacko, just because at his peak he was so f*cking sensational — the greatest entertainer yet that this planet has ever seen, bar none.   when he died and his music videos were all over cable tv and the internet, i was only too happy to wallow and be dazzled anew by michael’s magic.

not that i could forever ignore the usual bad press that he continues to get from big bad media with small minds that just can’t get over the cosmetic changes — as if michael were the only one — or the drugs, or the sexual ambivalence — as if, as if — and of course the child molestation allegations — never giving him the benefit of the doubt, guilty until proven innocent.

the pedophile tag broke michael’s spirit.

MJ’s career saw his thrilling and spectacular rise from the Jackson 5 stardom in the 1970s to cultural mega icon in the 1980s. The two decades that followed were not as bright as they proved to be a disaster for his personal life and public image. In the 1990s, while he was no longer as big a cultural force as in his “Thriller” days, he did continue to sp(in) out hit singles and albums; however, a child molestation charge in 1993 marked his gradual falling out with the American audience appalled by his supposed indiscretion with minors in his Neverland ranch in California.He reportedly agreed to a settlement initiated by the father of the alleged victim to a whooping tune of over $20 million. Ten years later, he faced another child molestation charge, this time brought to court but which ended up in the singer’s acquittal. The stress he suffered from the trial and the negative publicity the 2003 accusations brought forth reportedly got MJ hooked on prescription drugs.

but what if none of it was true?   what if the boys just made it up?

Since Jackson’s passing the Internet has been all a-buzz with reports that Jordan Chandler, the boy who accused Jackson of molestation in 1993, has recanted his story for the second time and is seeking forgiveness for the allegations he made against Jackson. Curiously, this latest developmenthas yet to be confirmed or denied by any major U.S. news organization. The lack of mainstream media scrutiny has fueled speculation about the media’s lack of motivation to publicize the story. “If the media discloses that the accuser lied about being molested, it clears Michael’s reputation. If the charges are removed from his public record, Michael Jackson will achieve a level of martyrdom that no other person has achieved”, that’s a widely voiced response to the quiet storm brewing online and in the streets.

can’t help wondering how it might have changed things for michael, and the world, if those malicious charges had never been raised against him, or if the media had been less credulous, less eager to believe the worst, never mind sales and ratings.    maybe michael would still be around.

ted in tears, ted in trouble

so why did the police behave so badly when they found out about ted failon’s wife trina?  i think because they were mad as hell that the shooting had not been immediately reported by the family or the hospital or their spies.  mahigit tatlong oras na ang nakalipas nang malaman nilang itinakbo ni ted sa ospital ang duguang si trina.  ibig sabihin, walang nag-tip sa pulis, they’re so out of the loop, ano ba yan.  siyempre, napahiya sila, and they took it out on ted and trina’s sibs and the househelp.

so why were the police so unbelieving that it was a suicide, preferring to treat everyone as a suspect?  because the crime scene had been tampered with by the time they were notified.  this is where ted has some explaining to do.  according to reports he was in the hospital for an hour or so and then he went home, i suppose, to be there for the young daughter karisma.  so had the househelp cleaned up na the bathroom by the time he got home?  or did he himself give instructions to clean up, to spare the daughter, thinking that since it was a suicide, no crime had been committed, the house was not a crime scene?

whatever actually happened, those were huge mistakes on ted’s part, not notifying the police immediately and not instructing the househelp to stay away from the bathroom (at the very least).  was it obstruction of justice?  it would seem so, but not for reasons of guilt, rather for the sake of the daughter, which should count for something.

for now i don’t believe ted killed his wife. but i can believe that trina took her own life.

i have a friend whose wife committed suicide a couple of years ago.  it was also over huge money problems that she wouldn’t share with her husband, she was supposed to know what she was doing. she also locked herself in the bathroom then slit her throat and stabbed herself several times in the chest.  it was also the husband who found her, and who removed the knife that was still buried in her chest so he became the prime suspect and was brought to court.

my friends and i were shocked and distressed.  knowing the husband as we did, we couldn’t believe he could have been so vile and violent. on the other hand, knowing his wife as we did, we couldn’t believe that the situation was so hopeless, or that she had no other way out but to die, and so violently.  in the end the forensic evidence of suicide was convincing; the court ruled that the wounds were self-inflicted, my friend was acquitted and finally allowed to grieve in peace and start over with the kids.

this trina etong case brings it all back. and only now do i see how much worse it could have been for my friend and his family had he or his wife been a public figure.  as neither was, the media were only mildly interested, and the police were  coldly professional had no axe to grind.  it helped too that my friend got himself very good lawyers.

ateneo after-amiel

ateneo is in a real bind.    atenista the 10-year old 4th grader amiel alcantara who was killed in campus.   atenista rin  the kid(s?) of theresa torres na nakadisgrasya kay amiel.

of course obligado ang ateneo na alalayan both the family of the victim and the family of the victimizer.   the family of the precious amiel because, hey, what a terribly painful death and what a painfully grievous loss, which could have been avoided if ateneo’s traffic & sundo system weren’t so messed up.   the hapless single mother and her kids because, okay, it was an accident, malinaw na hindi sinasadyang matapakan nang mariin ang accelerator at hindi agad nakuhang mag-preno.

the ateneo community is clearly on damage-control mode.    official statements ask for prayers and privacy for the affected families pending an investigation.   an atenista blog prays for healing and asks that the community

… take a conscious effort of going beyond the graphic details of his death. While the tragic circumstances force us to focus on this aspect of his death, we also like to form a more optimistic image in the minds of many of our young impressionable students.

but how can healing happen if the community is asked to gloss over the graphic details of amiel’s death on grounds that negative images are not good for impressionable minds?   that’s like shifting to denial mode, escaping from reality, hardly behavior worthy of a highly regarded educational institution.

amiel’s family should not be expected to forgive and forget for the sake of ateneo and the community.   “malalim ang sugat,” said pepe alcantara on anc.   for such a wound to heal, both ms. torres and ateneo must pay.   it doesn’t help that ms. torres is out on php 42,000 bail.

ms. torres has finally apologized, and rightly so, but that does not make her any less blameworthy for amiel’s death and she must suffer the consequences.   kawawa naman ang mga anak niya, yes, but it’s no excuse to let ms. torres off the hook.   that would send the wrong message all around.  ateneo will just have to help the torres family deal with the situation.

the fact is, if ms. torres had behaved like a mother should, attending to her kid/s instead of taking the driver’s seat, the accident would not have happened.   there is also talk that she had a cellphone  in hand just before she accidentally stepped on the gas — if true, then this is a good time as any for a law criminalizing texting or phoning when one is at the wheel, if only within campus for starters.

as for ateneo, parents have long been concerned about the children’s safety but the admin has been deaf to complaints and petitions.   now they gotta pay.   besides settling with the alcantaras, it’s time to give up lots of nice openspaces to parking lots and, maybe, as an atenista mom suggests, make that entire area in front of the grade school a pedestrian area.

no room for evasion or ambiguity here.    amiel’s tragic death must be faced squarely or there will be no healing, and no end to the bad karma.