Death doesn’t erase parts of a person that are more conveniently forgotten or “forgiven”.  As Elie Wiesel once said, only the victims [or hurt parties] can forgive. Leave the cleansing for G-d. Not that I want only to harp on the allegations or the bizarre physical transformations swirling around Michael Jackson. We just need to recognize the complexities of a person and then give that person his or her due. Because each of us is a jumble of good and bad impulses and acts. 

I think we idolize “winners”.  And our “winners” cannot have feet of clay or disappoints their fans, so they either fall from grace or their sins are overlooked.  Unless, of course, the erstwhile “winner” emerges triumphant from adversity and then we have an inspirational Sunday movie about it.