The entertainment industry regularly ignores a common sense lesson: you can’t connect with a mass audience by insulting a figure they revere.  Multiple reports indicate the upcoming film HABIT features Paris Jackson, glamorous daughter of the late King of Pop, as a lesbian Jesus and object of fixation for a drug-addicted party girl.

A petition by Christian believers to block the dubious film’s release has drawn nearly half-million signatures, and its box office potential looks distinctly limited. Adding to the irony: Paris Jackson, the film’s star, was raised from age 11 by her grandmother, a devout Jehovah’s Witness and mother of ten.

Meanwhile, another film – Disney’s filmed version of the musical masterpiece HAMILTON – has set streaming records and drawn near-universal praise with its sympathetic portrayal of rapping, dancing founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and George Washington.

An obvious conclusion: you can attract more filmgoers by respecting their values than by assaulting them.