Michael Jackson: the latest conspiracy theory

In the wake of the recent tragedy of pop icon Michael Jackson's passing, already conspiracy theories and far-fetched rumors have surfaced. His death was confirmed by the LA Coroner's office as the result of  an overdose of Propofol.  Manyh think that he wasn't fit to do the tour that could have resuscitated his career.  Yet there are those who say he was energetic and ready for his comeback tour, then he strangely comes down with heart failure? Then the argument that his career was permanently etched by the 1984 burning he sustained while shooting a Pepsi commercial. Then allegations of prescription drug abuse and questions about his sexuality only serve to stir in even more mystery into the mix. Already there is an all-too familiar rumor along the internet that Jackson employed a look-alike to double for him as he was to embark on his world tour, eerily similar to the 1966 urban legend that Paul McCartney died and was replaced by a body double. The legend goes on to speculate that many clues about the switch are to be found on the cover of the Beatles' album Abbey Road. Oddly enough, both celebrities were once good friends (even recording a duet together) despite Jackson's purchase of the publishing rights to most Beatles songs, meaning that Michael would receive 50% of any royalties generated by Beatles tunes owned by Northern Songs (a company formed in 1963 by the Beatles manager Brian Epstein and music publisher Dick James).

As with any high-profile celebrity death, doubt tends to supercede the unsettling reality that a star is indeed no longer among the living. Conspiracy is a place rife with unfounded speculation and baseless-if-not-crazy theories supported by questionable evidence. Consider the 1977 (supposed) death of Elvis Presley, who many are already comparing to Michael. There are theories far and wide: one infamous claim that Elvis faked his death to enter into Witness Protection, also eerily similar to another famous celebrity death conspiracy, that of Tupac Shakur. There are people today who still believe that Elvis and Tupac are alive and are in hiding somewhere.

Then again, some theories are debatable yet worth looking into, as in the case of the 1994 shooting death of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. His body was found by Veca Electric serviceman Gary Smith in a spare room above the garage of Cobain's Seattle home. Since then the decision is split between those who feel he committed suicide (citing his mental instability, health problems, family history of suicide, and excessive drug use) and those who feel Kurt was murdered. The conspiracy/ homocide theory was established mostly by Tom Grant, a private investigator hired by Cobain's widow Courtney Love initially to locate the troubled rock star after his stint at a rehab clinic. Grant cites inconsistencies like the infamous suicide note, while it does seem to paint Cobain as a jaded artist who was done with life, Grant is of the opinion that it is really a note written by Kurt to declare his intention to divorce his wife and turn his back on the music world. Grant goes on to claim that the last few lines of the note that truly entail suicidal intent were not written in Cobain's handwriting. Other discrepancies throw doubt like the shotgun placement, the suicide attempt in Rome reported after Kurt's death, and more notably, the claim from Nick Broomfield that, while filming his documentary Kurt & Courtney, interviewed the Mentors bandleader El Duce, who said that Courtney Love offered him $50,000 to kill her husband. El Duce passed a polygraph and asserted that he knew who killed Cobain, yet had no hard evidence to back it up, and died days after his interview in a fatal collision with a train. Others point to the fact that Courtney Love and her band Hole started to gain fame in their own right after the tragedy, that her husband's death was the best publicity anyone could ask for.

When people as admired (or despised) as celebrities are, there is a tendency to deny that said celebrity has passed on. It is as if with the rumor, they have found new life or immortality, and a legend is spawned. Other notable celebrity death conspiracies like Andy Kaufman, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, and of course the ill-fated Kennedy dynasty only prove that sometimes people either cannot let go or dismiss what is generally considered the "truth" by mainstream society.  You as the reader must judge for yourself what is fact and what isn't.  Truth sometimes depends on what viewpoint we want to take.

Seldom has a public figure been more widely mourned than Michael Jackson. From across America throughout all nations in the world, it seems as if the world is less brighter than it was before. There are already opinions that announce this great tragedy as the end of an era, yet another sign that this world is falling apart. The grief will undoubtedly last for a long while, healing from Jackson's bereaved family will take strength and time to overcome it. The thing one must understand is that when someone is thrust into the spotlight as Jackson was, there is a subtle loss of both privacy and identity. In other words, celebrities basically live in a bubble surrounded by agents, lawyers, bodyguards, paparazzi, sycophants, stalkers, close-knit friends, etc., all looking to gain something from a superstar's fame, no matter how insignificant or considerable. There's a reason why they're called public figures, in a way, their lives don't really belong entirely to themselves anymore. In the case of Michael Jackson, there are those who embrace everything he did with admiration, understanding, and love, and there are those who regard him with indifference or disdain concerning his eccentricity and the allegations of child molestation. He was a human being like the rest of us, with faults and virtues like any other falliable creature. He was not perfect, yet the public were glued to almost every moment of his life. In death, he somehow loses his humanity and becomes more an idol to those who loved or hated him.

Sincerest condolences to the Jackson family, the loss of anyone special is an arrow through the soul. Yet the danger lies in letting the grief overpower oneself, life must go on and hope is all we have to combat it. Hope for a better day, hope for remembrance, hope that your loved one is in a better place than this one.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Ed McMahon

Sources Cited:

http://newsflavor.com/entertainment/is-michael-jackson-really-dead/

http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/jackson.asp

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kurt_Cobain

http://www.scamtypes.com/did-elvis-presley-fake-his-own-death.html

More coverage on the death of Michael Jackson
http://www.examiner.com/category-michael_jackson.html

http://www.examiner.com/category-farrah_fawcett.html