India, June 25 -- The recent Netflix documentary on Michael Jackson - Michael Jackson: The Verdict - has reopened a debate that has been running for more than three decades. That, in itself, is not unusual. What is unusual is that, after all this time, we still seem unable to decide what to do with Jackson, 17 years to date after his death.

In communications, reputations tend to settle with time. The details may remain contested, but the broader narrative usually becomes clearer. Heroes become more firmly established in public memory, while villains seep into cautionary tales. Jackson's image has resisted that process. Thirty-three years after the child abuse allegations first entered public consciousness, every new documentary, intervie...