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Published 11/20/03 in The Post-Star newspaper Dethroning the King of Pop COMMENTARY By STACEY MORRIS It looks like a longtime ne'er-do-well might finally be brought to his knees. And he won't be able to Moonwalk his way out of the latest wave of scandal this time. Michael Jackson has been on the lam in plain sight, thanks to the staggering celebrity that's protected him for the past 10 years -- since the first charges of child molestation were brought against him by a 12-year-old boy. Tuesday, the news broke that a warrant is out for Jackson's arrest on "multiple counts of child molestation." I can only hope this will put to rest a cycle of self-indulgence and destruction the singer has been perpetuating for who knows how long. In the interest of time and space, I'm going to take the liberty of assuming that most of you can concede that there's enough billowing smoke here to say there might be a spark or two causing it. Like the fact that Jackson is a middle-aged man who, for years, has surrounded himself with young boys like Kid Rock and Rod Stewart surround themselves with busty blondes. And if Jackson were that enamored with perpetually living a second childhood, do you really think he'd pull out all the stops to become a single parent? He may be a consummate entertainer, but his theatrically shrewd Peter Pan persona has lost its final shred of mystique. Besides, there are more important issues at hand, like the possibility that Jackson has done some serious psychological damage to children. Ask anyone in the field of mental health and the reply will be almost universal -- it's a long and painful climb out of the emotional abyss brought about by sexual abuse. "It's part of your history ... something you'll always have to deal with," said Annette Crawford, a Glens Falls-based clinical social worker who's been in private practice since 1984. It's not uncommon for new clients to approach Crawford for help with the desperate proclamation that they've gone crazy. "Victims of sexual abuse go through intense emotions," she said. "Some are afraid of the dark or being alone, they cry without warning and are afraid to be touched." According to Crawford, the healing process of someone who has been sexually molested as a child is "circular, not linear." In other words, the flashbacks to trauma might never completely end. "You'll be OK for a while and another wave comes, triggered by something like marriage or having a child that reaches the age where your abuse started." Crawford likens the continual process of recovery to a car needing periodic check-ups. Her professional experience has shown her that male victims of sexual abuse fare worse than females, because of societal conditioning. "Men who have been abused usually don't come forward because they feel they can handle it on their own," said Crawford. "It can set up all kind of traumas in a man's life because in our society, men don't look at themselves as victims; they have a hard time dealing with guilt or vulnerability." So let's forget for two minutes about the Jackson family's showbiz legacy, the slick music videos and mind-boggling ranch/amusement park that's now doubling as the alleged crime scene. There's potentially a trail of victims here, with their own long haul ahead of them. And still, fanatics are blinded by the seduction of show-business veneer. An Associated Press photo taken Wednesday showed a mother and two teen-aged children in Las Vegas (the site of Jackson's supposed whereabouts) holding hand-painted placards proclaiming the star's innocence. And which inane TV producer deemed it reasonable to bestow a humanitarian award on the singer at the Radio Music Awards last month? Fame and obscene wealth have, up until now, formed a pretty impenetrable shield around Jackson. Hopefully, it will now dissolve to let the truth stand on its own. "I tell my clients there is life after abuse," said Crawford. "But you have to work through it so it doesn't impede your entire life." |