Michael Jackson in 2005. (Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
Opinion editorial by WBZ NewsRadio political analyst Jon Keller
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Yesterday’s tenth anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death prompted a lot of public discussion of one of our chronic moral dilemmas – what do you do when someone you admire turns out to be seriously flawed?
With Jackson, it’s the child molestation claims he was acquitted of in court, but persist.
Who doesn’t recoil from the sexual exploitation of a child?
But does that mean you can no longer enjoy his music, or have sympathy for his tortured life?
Lots of people who grew up loving Woody Allen movies were disgusted by his relationship with his much-younger step-daughter.
There may even be some Trump supporters who are given pause by the sheer volume of women who claim to have been assaulted by him.
And I’m pretty sure I’m not the only Big Papi admirer who’s hoping the salacious gossip about him turns out to be false.
None of us really know these people.
And there’s an epidemic in our culture of so-called “confirmation bias,” where people believe what they want to believe, regardless of the facts.
Practice it in real life, and you’re setting yourself up for a fall.
But celebrity worship is basically make-believe.
That’s why Michael Jackson fans will always love him, no matter how unworthy of it he might have been.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday mornings at :55 minutes past the hour. Listen to his previous podcasts on iHeartRadio.
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