ITC Rejects Complaints Over Michael Jackson’s Face

The ITC has rejected complaints aimed at Channel 5, that the documentary, Michael Jackson’s Face, was cruel and mocking.

The programme, which drew Channel 5’s largest ever audience for an original show (see Jacko Helps Five Face The Future), documented the changing appearance of the face of the pop star Michael Jackson and the possible reasons for his continuing recourse to plastic surgery. The show was heavily promoted by Channel 5 with a national poster campaign.

Thirteen viewers complained to the ITC about the tone and approach of the programme claiming it was cruel, mocking, disrespectful and derogatory. Some viewers felt that the programme was defective because it lacked a personal imput from Michael Jackson himself.

However, the ITC did not feel the approach was unfair and likened it to the contemporary tabloid coverage of Jackson’s apparent obsession with his facial appearance. The ITC commission also noted Jackson’s often eccentric behaviour and apparent promotion of himself as a spectacle. According to the ITC: “Michael Jackson is a public figure whose life and career is already very much in the public domain.”

The issue of the private lives of public figures has been a hot topic in recent weeks following the string of allegations made against various television presenters. The viewing figures for Michael Jackson’s Face and the tabloids’ continued obsession with high profile indiscretions shows that the public’s appetite for celebrity revelations remains undimmed.

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