I am not drinking beer this week but the cryptid captors required that I write about beer.  Those assholes gave me no leeway on this, and said that I didn’t want to end up like Swiss.  Honestly, it was either that or I had to defend Michael Jackson.  So they get nothing remarkable.

This is my review of Northcoast Scrimshaw Pilsner.

Let’s get something straight, I am not defending Michael Jackson.  If any of these allegations are true, then he is burning in Hell for all eternity.  That’s fine by me.

The problem is, in his time the allegations turned out to have little empirical evidence.  This article here from NPR goes through a timeline of all of the allegations.  Ever single one failed to produce anything more than an allegation.  Some where the police investigated and found no physical evidence, another where the prosecution couldn’t move forward because one boy could not testify.  Even one from his sister La Toya that she eventually walked back.  He also had several come to his defense him from the allegations both then and now.

Thankfully, this is a country where due process of law still matters, right? … Hey! …. Stop laughing!

The problem here socially, is the attempt to silence Michael Jackson and remove him from the culture.  Here there is a lack of precedent.  One might point out R. Kelly was also accused of similar crimes, also acquitted, and radio stations are also not playing his music, effectively depriving him of his livelihood.  The difference here is scale.  R. Kelly made a couple songs a few of us can name off the top of our heads.

Michael Jackon in the other hand, has the highest selling album of all time.  Thriller, released in 1982 sold over 100 million copies and counting. He has a unique ability to transcend time, and continues to influence artists even today.  Want an example?  Here’s Bruno Mars…Notice a resemblance?

Can they really unperson somebody that big?  They‘re certainly going to try…

At the beginning of the year, I made the decision to no longer play songs by Michael Jackson during my DJ sets. I choose to believe that, in the wake of the HBOdocumentary “Leaving Neverland,” you cannot separate the art from the artist when it comes to using your public platform.

I humbly disagree.  Its just music.  He might have been human garbage while he was alive, but he is dead.  He is not being punished, his kids are; as far as anyone knows, none of whom have committed a crime. His contributions to culture are immense enough to not have an analogue.  R. Kelly can’t say that.  A few banned authors ? Maybe but nobody is burning books.  The Roman Catholic church is arguably behind thousands of atrocities, but nobody is going to burn the Sistine Chapel or throw out the Gregorian calendar in response.  Too big perhaps?

Perhaps the only analogue with as much cultural significance and the focus of naked censorship because of moral outrage is John Wayne.  But then, it doesn’t matter if either produced something that others can love within the context of their time, or within their art form.  Neither is allowed to influence culture anymore, because that culture no longer respects freedom of expression.  And that’s bad.

What isn’t bad is Northcoast’s take on the Pilsner.  It is done competently, but unremarkably.  If a safe bet is what you are looking for, this is probably it.  Here’s another safe bet to go with it.  Northcoast Scrimshaw Pilsner:  3.5/5.