The thing with MJ is that he is so whack you'd almost believe he would be the only man who enjoys the company of underage boys in a non-sexual manner.
Oh, the irony that it should be us, the resident racists, who would resist a lynch mob of a Black man.
I used to be quite convinced of MJ's guilt, wouldn't listen to his music, until our dear @raven24 posted some material to the contrary.
Since then I remain undecided, maybe this documentary will change my mind, maybe I'll find it one-sided activism.
I wouldn't let any of my kids come anywhere near this man, that much is true. But also, as tough as it can be, the principle of innocent until proven guilty exists for a reason. There is no nastier and dumber saying than 'where there is smoke there is fire'. 25 years of unproven allegations remain unproven allegations.
What does disturb me is how a convicted rapist such as Mike Tyson is now a cult hero, gets offered roles in light-hearted comedies, is a hero in some circles of anti-feminism movements.
All good points. As a private school middle school teacher, I’ve taken kids on overnight trips in the past. Parents had to trust their kids with me to send them on the trip. However, IMO this is a very different situation than what parents were doing with MJ. Parents of my students know that there are always multiple chaperones on these school sponsored trips, multiple kids in a room with each chaperone, and we were never alone in a room with a kid...by design. Kids were always buddied up with another kid and almost always in a group. Also, when we were in hotel rooms on these trips, I was always on the couch and the kids took the beds. MJ was alone with these kids and in the same bed and the parents knew that was the plan. I would personally never let my kids do something like that no matter who the sponsor was nor would I ever share a bed with another kid even if it meant I had to sleep on the floor...which I have done. And the only time I would ever hold a kids hand would be if I was shaking it or during grace with all of us holding hands around the table to pray. I just don’t see how anything else could ever be viewed as ok whether it was back in the 80s or now...and yet apparently it was ok for some people. I always found that to be disturbing even when I was a kid myself. I don’t know if Michael was guilty or not. It sure seems that way. But imho, the parents of these kids should be ashamed of themselves for knowingly allowing their kids to walk around holding hands with a grown man and sleep in his bed. That situation seems extreme enough to make them partially responsible for whatever happened. JMO.
Oh, the irony that it should be us, the resident racists, who would resist a lynch mob of a Black man.
I used to be quite convinced of MJ's guilt, wouldn't listen to his music, until our dear @raven24 posted some material to the contrary.
Since then I remain undecided, maybe this documentary will change my mind, maybe I'll find it one-sided activism.
I wouldn't let any of my kids come anywhere near this man, that much is true. But also, as tough as it can be, the principle of innocent until proven guilty exists for a reason. There is no nastier and dumber saying than 'where there is smoke there is fire'. 25 years of unproven allegations remain unproven allegations.
What does disturb me is how a convicted rapist such as Mike Tyson is now a cult hero, gets offered roles in light-hearted comedies, is a hero in some circles of anti-feminism movements.
I don't care for his music. Rubbish. Except for the Thriller album. Plus I think he is a nutter. I also do actually think he is a nasty deranged pederast. For that reason alone I dislike hearing his music, because I don't want to be exposed to anything produced by a child molester.Don’t worry, the irony isn’t lost on me.
In all seriousness, I was horrified by the documentary, and Oprah’s interview. They made me question what I thought I knew.
So, I went back and over a few days spent hours rewatching interviews with MJ and with people who knew him. I rewatched This is It.
I thought about all of it. I realized that I still believe in his innocence.
He’s so childlike and delicate and just didn’t understand why people could see something wrong in being close with children.
Contrary to Merlin’s misleading post, there are many interviews of friends who spent a lot of time with him, and allowed their children to be alone with him. Not to mention, he was acquitted when he went to trial. He never returned to Neverland due to how he felt it was violated by the police and the allegations, and we all know how much he loved it there. That doesn’t scream “guilty” to me.
People here can say it’s willful ignorance or whatever makes them feel better about themselves, but when you look at all of it, there’s just as much reason to doubt the allegations as there is to believe them. Therefore, no one can be certain of what happened, and his amazing legacy does not deserve to be destroyed.
He gave so much to this world, in so many ways, and especially to children.
This is one ( maybe the only) subject where Raven and I are in complete agreement.lol.
I mean, Weinstein’s essentially been taken down at this point. Woody Allen is on his way out as well.
Weinstein apparently did have a documentary, though it doesn't appear to be particularly well known or popular. It's called Untouchable, recently released (to limited audiences I think). Thankfully there aren't many people who need convincing that he did what he's accused of.
I realize your self-centeredness knows no bounds, but....
Interesting move...but if I'm honest, that just makes me want to watch it now whereas before they pulled it I really had no interest. Go figure.
