Beware the MJ People
I recently had the pleasure of being a repeat guest on Talking Simpsons, a podcast devoted to, you guessed it, the television program The Simpsons.
The Simpsons is my favorite television show of all time despite, or perhaps because I have not watched a new episode in about twenty years with the exception of ones I had to watch for charticles for Fatherly and Rotten Tomatoes.
The episode I was on to talk about could not be juicier, sadder or more controversial. It’s so controversial, in fact that it has been taken off of HBO Plus. That’s because the episode in question is “Stark Raving Dad”, a vehicle for guest star Michael Jackson that was a bona fide pop culture event at the time of its release but plays much differently now, particularly after Leaving Neverland.
When I was asked to be a guest on this particular episode I immediately said yes despite knowing that just by talking about Michael Jackson publicly in a less than glowing fashion I would put myself on the radar of the MJ People.
The MJ People are a sizable aggregation of Michael Jackson super-fans who define themselves by their unconditional, soul-consuming love for the late King of Pop.
If someone like myself or the hosts of Talking Simpsons talks about Michael Jackson being an alleged child molester, the MJ People swoop in to defend their hero and provide what they see as clear-cut evidence of his incontrovertible innocence.
I have no interest in re-litigating the case of The People Versus Michael Jackson but the MJ People live to argue that Jackson couldn’t possibly be guilty of the charges against him even if they seem very plausible.
I am not at all surprised by the ferocious intensity of Michel Jackson’s fanbase. Growing up in the 1980s, Michael Jackson was, to me at least, the biggest pop star and entertainer in the world.
He wasn’t just an almost preternaturally talented singer, dancer and performer: he was a God among men, a philanthropist and a defender of children the world over. Verily, he was goodness and innocence personified.
Fans didn’t just respect MJ or love him: they worshipped the pop star. Jackson may have been the biggest star in the world for some time but he was also undeniably a cult act whose cult would do anything for him.
Jackson’s cult has only gotten more intense and aggressive in the thirteen years since the singer’s death. They see it as their sacred duty to celebrate his life and work and protect his image.
I was understandably not too excited about the prospect of becoming a target for the MJ People’s rage but I got off relatively easy. I got tagged in a handful of tweets apoplectic over Talking Simpsons treating Jackson as a possible/probable pedophile when he was, as the MJ People are VERY eager to point, found innocent in a court of law of the worst charges against him.
But I did not get doxxed or receive angry emails from Jackson fans.
I’ve noticed that there is a lot of overlap between MJ People and The Johnny Depp Army, a similarly obsessive and pathologically loyal group of super-fans obsessed with defending Depp against allegations of domestic abuse and attacking Depp’s ex-wife and primary accuser Amber Heard as the anti-Christ.
The MJ People and the Johnny Depp Army are both convinced that the beautiful, impossibly talented man-children they grew up worshipping couldn’t possibly be guilty of anything bad, particularly something like child molestation or domestic abuse.
They share a child-like faith in Depp and Jackson that time cannot diminish. It’s hero worship, pure and simple, and it can be a little unnerving, particularly if you find yourself on the receiving end of their incandescent rage towards anyone who would dares to criticize their heroes.
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