Yes, if only they were merchants of light. I think you’re right that such a reality show you imagine–kind of like “The Biggest Loser” from the weight loss world–could be successful, but it would depend on several factors that wouldn’t likely apply here.

First, I think the Biggest Losers agree to humiliate themselves only because it’s the one shot for their 15 minutes of fame. But MJ had plenty of fame already. (Imagine how miserable it would be to attempt to go out in public–you couldn’t really do anything outside your house without being accosted by everyone).

The second factor, upon which real recovery from substance dependence depends, is a genuine conviction (to oneself mostly, but also to the world) that I am utterly powerless over my addiction. The First Step: “We admitted we were powerless over our addiction – that our lives had become unmanageable”. Would MJ be allowed to admit, and did he have the humility to admit, that conviction? How many people die because they cannot take even the first step? I’m not sure I could (but I abuse no substances other than nicotine, and I’m not prepared to do so even for that!).

“Because the golden goose must be kept alive. (Even for the media who aren’t in his inner circle–they’re still trying to make money off him, even postmortem).”

I wrestle with the self-evident nature of your comment. It seems right on its face, but limiting, too.

Which caused me to wonder, does media exploitation have to be the kiss of death? Many in media needed to recoup their investments in the media-product, Micheal Jackson, but the maudlin, dark plot that ends with the celebrity’s death needs not be the only way. Instead of running a 24/7 televized orgy of mourning, bookended and riddled with groveling advertisers, scavenger-like looming over the event of MJ’s death, couldn’t CBS’s, or MSNBC’s, or the NYT’s creative corps hatch a positive, recovery-oriented fairy-tale ending for their pet?

It seems salacity demands death, but need it? I’m just a gardener with dirt under my fingernails and a working internet connection, but even I, if tapped, could envision a coherent, concerted and profitable, televized pageant lasting for many years that focused laser-like on our beloved celebrities’ pathologies, coaxed them to seek comprehensive treatment – from accupuncture to ahyurveda to 12-step programs, and then heralded every step the celebs took towards renewing their health.

Think about it…
1. Oprah (a celeb with her own publicized dieting compulsions) could have done monthly updates on MJ’s progress. Ka-Ching!
2. Trendy advertizers and political evangelists would have paid BIG BUCKS to see their products and policies pitched alongside MJ’s latest calibrated “baby step” towards recovery. Ka-ching!
3. People, Time, Newsweek and Rolling Stone could have made the media project, “Michael Jackson, His Fight” a regular monthly feature, and charged advertizers a premium for siting their ads before, in and immediately after the piece. Ka-ching!
4. And even MJ’s set backs, like a report of his sipping NyQuil regularly in the mornings, or a sighting of him chumming with an old dealer, or a National Enquirer piece calling him “unhealthily obese,” could be spun to produce an enervating suspense that brings viewers back day after day, week after week, to see if Michael would win the latest battle, or lose ground to temptation. Ka-ching!

If his media friends were merchants of light, the positivist approach would have guided their campaign. But, folks, the more I see the more I’m convinced, if allowed the full the length of their leashes, people like those MJ trusted to “handle” his life, money and public relations will lead all of humanity to very dark ends.
-Steve

[10] And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.

[11] And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

[12] And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.

[13] And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.

[14] And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

[15] And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, [1] and to his servants.

[16] And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.

[17] He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.

[18] And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.

[19] Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;

[20] That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.

[21] And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.

[22] And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

[1] And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel.

[2] Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.

[3] And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

1 Samuel 8:4-9

[4] Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

[5] And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

[6] But the thing displeased [1] Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.

[7] And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

[8] According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

[9] Now therefore hearken [2] unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

arthur walks by.the main character says”there goes the king” the guy with him says”how do you know” the main character replies” he’s the only one not covered in shit”

as to richards’s comment:

And you just know that they’ll get away with it. Somehow the guys at the top of the creep meter always do. Don’t ask me how, but they do.

these were the kings of old. some good some not so good. the book of judges in the OT is known as the evil period. there is a refrain that goes like this. every man did what was right in his own eyes. and they all did evil in the sight of the Lord. at the end of it the people call out samuel to get them a king. samuel says…something to the effect;… this is not a good idea. you’ll regret it. but they insist.

hmm…. I’ll have to get chapter and verse.

Because the golden goose must be kept alive. (Even for the media who aren’t in his inner circle–they’re still trying to make money off him, even postmortem).

Probably as important as the monetary benefits to the inner circle, are the ego benefits to those surrounding an icon. “If this star wants me to be around him, I must be important”. It’s intoxicating to bask in the glow of an icon, and very hard to give this privileged position up. It’s also very hard to risk excommunication by the megastar if you point out anything he doesn’t want to hear. So the hawk-like predators surrounding him intially come, in time as the situation deteriorates, to be replaced by buzzard-like scavengers when the situation becomes pitiful.

A child—-and I can’t help but think that for MJ normal development would be impossible after his first number 1 hit, unless he had a very wise, protective, and loving family—-can’t be wise enough to protect himself from all the predators and scavengers. In time he was separated from all of his earthly wealth (monetary and existential).

Those reported needle marks in the chest at autopsy make sense–intracardiac epinephrine injections occasionally restore a heart rhythm. Kind of like a Hail Mary pass in football.

…with all of his media handlers, and all of his media appearances, and all of his media money, and all of his media friends, why did no one in media ever report Michael Jackson’s deteriorated condition to the public?

As a group, our media fashion themselves the eyes and ears of our nation, going so far as to dig doggedly into Alaskans’ birth records, or amplifying American soldiers’ deaths in-theatre, or fudging climate science – all to serve “our greater good.”

They’ve told us that detainees were “tortured,” Bush “lied,” the surge “failed,” and Sarah is, too, “lying” about Trig. But, when it came to reporting news that may have saved the life of their favorite pet, they gagged.

Why? And what message lies therein for the rest of the media’s “kept” menagerie, politician and civilian alike.