New Pittsburgh Courier: After a riveting documentary that revisited some of the alleged crimes by R&B superstar R. Kelly – even before his high-profile arrest on child pornography and other sex-related acts – a major social media movement got underway to #MuteRKelly and #CancelRKelly.
Now, a possibly equally explosive documentary about the late Michael Jackson has led some to wonder if it’s time to “#Mute” or “#Cancel” the late King of Pop.
4 comments:
I find it frustrating that people overlooked both R. Kelly and Michael Jackson's crimes for so long just because they were able to pay enough money to keep their victims quiet. I am glad that these documentaries were made and that people are now boycotting their music, but these trials were highly publicized when they happened. I think there needs to be some recognition of how complicit the general public was in keeping their careers alive much longer than they should have been. I do not agree with separating the art from the artist. The average person should not do any of these things so if I have to boycott everyone in the industry to make a change so be it. I think I would rather boycott half of the music industry than allow one group of people to hold such power and be able to abuse others whenever they want with no consequence.
This article really shocked me. Given the title, I was immediately confused as to what they meant by “cancel jackson”. I personally, was unaware of the allegations against Jackson concerning sexual assault. Maybe I’m out of the loop, but I truly had no idea that this was ever an issue or something against him. It’s scary to know the the men being molested, and as children, were too afraid to speak their truth while Jackson was alive. It was only after his death that they felt comfortable addressing what had happened to them. Within the industry we have seen this happen time and time again, and more so in the recent years. It terrifying to think that just because someone is idolized by so many that their power gives them the right to do what they want. People who sexually assault are not people who should be idolized. The fact that they are, and the entire public can be unaware about it for so long, is wrong. The victim should have more power than a celebrity or someone who is deemed as “great”.
This is yet another example of people choosing when to ignore a story. Just like with R. Kelly, these allegations have been public for several years, and people chose to ignore it. I simply cannot believe that the general public wasn't aware of these allegations prior to this. As a person who was still a kid when these allegations were made public, I was still aware of them, which means that most everyone else should also be aware of it. I hope that this is a step in the right direction, but something tells me that this is just yet another example of people only being offended by something once the general public draws attention to it and points it out. I hope that we have indeed reached a point where our knee jerk reaction to allegations like these is disgust and "cancel" movements, but I think that as a culture we are too ingrained into the music we love to allow our conscience to take the reins.
Yikes. This is the only thing that was going through my mind when reading this article. When discussing Michael Jackson and R Kelly, it is highly important to acknowledge that these people have been accused publicly for these things in the past and the public has refused to stop listening to their music, has continued to support their artistry, and has refused to acknowledge any of their wrong doings. I'm kind of confused as to why all these articles are saying things like "its not that easy" and "it pains me to hear this", when really it isn't that hard to discontinue support for someone you don't even know. Leaving Neverland analyzes Michael Jackson on a level that most of the public has not experienced before, and I think that the two men that came forward have an immense amount of courage to come out and tell their truth after knowing that there would still be articles and people that will continue to support and forgive their abuser.
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