...Did you ever look at both sides of the coin? I mean *really* look closely, or have you always taken it for face value?

Every person, old and young, has two sides to their 'coin'. You could use a mirror for the analogy too - one person on one side, and another person on the other. Both sides are part of the same person, it's just a matter of how you look at it.

A person can be fun and serious. They could be messy at home and neat in the office. They can be efficient and wasteful.

They can be Good and Bad.

Some folks have issues with a person having two sides that are at odds with each other. Especially when that person is a celebrity. Celebrities often have an "image" to uphold - glamorous, or wealthy, or always smiling and happy, but those are masks that they wear for the public.

Being famous is hard work that is filled with great pressure. Marriages fall apart if they even happen at all. Children of celebrities are either kept out of the spotlight, or they're in the spotlight and not happy about it.

Note: The following is now going to be filled with not such a nice topic, and will contain some of my own biased opinions. Consider yourself forewarned.

I was listening to a talk radio station recently, and they were talking about the recent charges leveled against Michael Jackson by a grand jury. Many people who called in were supportive of Jackson because they believed he couldn't possibly be associated with anything as dark and nasty as these charges claim. They believe him innocent... because of his music.

It's got such a catchy beat...
It's so positive...
It's on the top of the charts...
It's got such a resonant message...

He can't possibly be a bad person because his music is so good. It's the old conundrum of not being able to separate the artist from the person.

Think about it - what do you picture your garden variety child molester as? Some older, paunchy guy with thinning hair. Or someone greasy-looking. Someone who looks like they belong in jail, or have been there most of their lives. A Dark and Evil Person, right? Not someone as young and clean looking as Michael Jackson.

Not someone as talented as he is! (Yeah, sure, right... catchy music I'll buy into, but I can't listen to his music without thinking about what a freak he is.)

Here's a point of fact for you: Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a cultural icon for the Nazi movement - he was an Anti-Semite, but had passed on before the movement truly was born. Wagner's music (after his death) was played during rallies in support of the Nazi movement. Wagner's first publisher and many of his artist and philosopher friends, however, were Jewish. At the time Wagner lived, such separation of person and artist could happen. The media hadn't taken hold to revere, or revile, someone and their beliefs - it didn't exist as the sensationalistic money machine that it is. If Wagner lived today, or had been alive during Hitler's reign, we probably wouldn't consider him as great a composer as he is.

Now, I'm not trying to compare the artistic excellence of Wagner to the pop stylings of Jackson. They're in totally different leagues that are light years away. But their issues are similar - Wagner is now respected for his compositions, and the anti-Semite feelings are but a footnote for the historians that many people don't even know existed. Before that talk radio show and a little bit of research afterwards, I didn't know that about Wagner either.

Jackson has a huge issue that he's facing right now that could follow him forever if proven true. This is the second time that he's been accused of molestation; the first time just faded away with an out of court settlement when the charges were dropped (read: the accusers were most likely bought off). He's dropped two lawyers now and is on his third. Conspiracy charges involving child abduction, extortion and false imprisonment circle around his head. A collector in New Jersey has turned over pairs of Jackson's underwear (what he was doing with them in the first place, I simply do not want to know). There's those documentaries from last year that has Jackson stating that he has sleepovers with children and that they're sweet and innocent.

I don't want to know Jackson's definition of "sweet and innocent" either, because I have a feeling that I'll throw up on my desk, and honestly, I just *got* a new keyboard and would like to keep it that way for awhile. I don't think Jackson can buy his way out of this one considering all the rumors about his empire being in ruin, that he's on the edge of bankruptcy.

Despite my opinion, however, we must remember that Jackson is innocent until proven guilty, under the letter of the law by a jury of his peers. It could turn out that in reality, he's perfectly innocent and this is just another ploy by a bunch of people who are out to get a quick buck by hoping he'll pay them off to make them go away. There's a couple of problems with that - first of all, Jackson will look VERY guilty if he pays them off to make this go away. Another problem lies with all the strange things that Jackson has done over the years (Neverland, the chimp, the surgeries, the constant Peter Pan personality) that everyone questions the reasons why he has done them. Another lies in the media - they've grabbed hold of every little piece of this case that they can and have blown it up to great proportions. Yes, the case is being tried in the media. I think they should have left the indictments sealed until court convenes on the case.

Then there is one more problem - the substantiated evidence that *is* out there is mounting and it doesn't look good for ole Wacko Jacko. Personally, I think he's going to end up in jail this time...

...and then what is he going to think of the 'man in the mirror'?