T he release of Michael has triggered what can only be described as mass hysteria in some quarters. I looked on in bewilderment as the reception to the film seemed to entirely erase child abuse allegations against the artist, as well as launder almost every aspect of his life beyond that. This week, I look into what seems like a new generation’s discovery of Jackson, and his rehabilitation through a strange online obsession. A tainted figure Forceful denial … a still from Leaving Neverland, a documentary by Dan Reed. Photograph: Sundance Institute First, a disclaimer: I have not seen the movie, nor do I intend to. Reviews so far have been in almost universal agreement that the film is bad; a filmed playlist in search of a story, cliched, bland, and bowdlerised , an estate’s attempt to scrub clean the life story of a star who has been multiply accused ... of child sexual abuse. ” But it’s not just the reviews that have put me off.…