Máiría Cahill: Santised story of Michael Jackson’s life tells us a lot about what we choose not to see

New biopic about the undoubted musical genius left fails to acknowleseveral allegations of child abuse Michael Jackson during his civil trial in California in 2002. Photo: Getty Mairia Cahill He is an alleged paedophile, and yet you probably ignore that fact, because of the way his music still pulses through you. In traffic, you tap on your steering wheel in time to the beat. You replay him in your head in the shower. His music is stitched through your memories of weddings, hooleys and heartbreaks. Most of us push the more repulsive allegations of abusing little boys far into the recesses of our minds, because his musical talent was transcendent — a luminous, heart-thumping, intricate fusion of notes and steps that shaped the soundtrack of our lives.