The Michael Jackson biopic Michael has quickly become one of the highest-grossing biographical films of all time, spearheaded by the singer's vast and intense fanbase. Arts writer Derek McArthur wonders if it has all become a bit of a cult, ignorant of the facts surrounding the singer's life.

Is Michael Jackson disgraced or untouchable? Last month’s huge success of Michael, the biopic that covers the glory years of his career, has put the untouchable side of his image back into the spotlight, and his fans are doing what they can to keep it that way.

The movie’s success has ferociously ignited Jackson’s defenders, those who believe he was not a paedophile, and that anyone who opened a legal case against him lied for a payday.

It does not matter to obsessed, rose-tinted fans just how many obvious context clues he gave us, how many testimonies or witnesses exist to suspicious behaviour, or just how endless the list of situations Jackson initiated to get close to young boys was - everything relating to Jackson and children is all innocent, all virtuous, and questioning it is simply hate placed upon the gentle soul of a genius.

It is sheer delusion towards the facts of the late star’s life. Hordes of people are currently acting out cultist behaviour in the aftermath of exiting the cinema screen, burying themselves in the pop culture myth surrounding Jackson. That it’s all repressed child-like wonder from the psyche of a damaged yet special........

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