AIBU to be shocked by public celebration of Michael Jackson?

[2021x]

Now the MJ film is out my social media feed is flooded with people doing the dances and talking about the movie etc. My local cinema is holding special events and screenings.

I personally have no doubt that he was a predatory paedophile. All the signs are there, especially how he talks about how he would never hurt a child and sharing a bed with them is the "most loving thing you can do in the world". He manipulated the world into thinking he had a "child-like persona" but was able to manage a music career worth millions... which someone who is naive would never be able to manage.

I also do not judge people who enjoy his music. It was very popular at the time, and would be associated with all types nostaligic memories. I listen to problematic artists all the time, but I don't pretend that they weren't abusive.

AIBU to be astounded that any business/media outlet would be seen dead even associating with him let alone celebrating such a horrifically abusive man.

I saw this film this week. It's how the film was portrayed. A kid who was not allowed childhood friends, which is why he stayed childlike, beaten by his father, controlling relationship, breaking away from the Jackson 5 his father forced them to be in. Going it alone
The film only showed his life up till 1988 the bad album, all the other stuff has not been shown.

So it's a story of a child forced to perform, not allowed a childhood & escapes the brutality of his father and forms a successful career & escapes his abuser.
There might be a part 2.

Holy shit! I never heard that 😦

michael was targeted because he was raising awareness of the problem he was accused of. Yes he was innocent and there is an accusation that the two accusers are paid actors. There is very little solid proof for or against him

How did he raise awareness aside from by openly behaving like a pedophile?

How does a paedophile behave? Is there a textbook they refer to that you know of?

Like MJ, if they could get away with it.

So every paedophile that’s ever existed acted like he did? Except (for example m) I don’t recall anyone else building a ‘world’ like Neverland, do you? There is no cookie cutter one way they behave.

Raising awareness what utter bollox🤣🤣🤣🤣

Raising awareness by example

No, not every pedophile. I've said earlier in the thread that there is a type of pedophile who behaves this way (or would if they could) and they speak about children the way Michael does and think that relationships between kids and adults should be legal and that it's other people who are the problem for not seeing how beautiful it is.

The North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) claimed him as one of their own when they published a piece called 'remembering Michael Jackson' and said he paid the price for loving the forbidden.

There are other pedophiles who just want the sexual thrill or power trip or whatever it is they get out of it and they don't want relationships with the kids.

Most paedophiles don’t have the budget to build themes parks to attract children. But they do give children gifts/money/alcohol/drugs. I’m surprised you’ve never heard of grooming.

I was a die hard fan. It upsets me so much that my local radio station plays so much MJ on loop (going to write in). My friend was recently defending him and saying he was definitely innocent, he was just child-like, and I had no words.

Errrrr

Sleeping with children?

Epstein had an island

Saville had fame

Fayed had Harrods

However most aren't billionaires and use sweeties

For someone totally not a paedo he spent a lot of time with "close friends" who were unrelated prepubescent boys, including having sleepovers with them....but of course that is totally regular behaviour, no cause for concern...

Can you imagine?

”my 10 year olds football coach likes to have the boys to sleep over at his house. Sometimes just one, sometimes a few at once. That’s totally innocent right?

He’s quite immature and behaves quite childishly for a 35 year old man”

I am not a MJ fan, so I have no skin in this game

I thought he was a bit weird and having children over for sleepovers was highly inappropriate
However, because of this thread I have gone and done some research about the whole case
I will say with hand on heart that I am not convinced that this man is guilty of the charges against him .

Do you really not find anything remotely abusive about a grown man telling a pre pubescent boy that if he loved him, he’d sleep in bed with him?

Astonishing.

Based on 2015 allegations from lawyers representing accusers in civil suits, it was claimed that Michael Jackson paid as much as ($200) million in "hush money" to silence up to 20 potential victims of sexual abuse over his career.

It's not in question that he had inappropriate relationships with kids and a complete lack of boundaries.

However, that's not illegal, even if you think it should be.

The issue that is at question is whether he had a sexual interest in children or engaged in sexual activities with them. No-one knows if he did but I believe people who say, and indeed, swear on oath, repeatedly in many forums over many decades before and after his death that he did not more than I believe them when they suddenly say that he did when it's financially useful for them to do so. I just don't believe any form of grooming is that powerful.

It will be up to the court to determine if the Cascios and their co-accusers really were brainwashed and then de-programmed 30 years later or whether that actually sounds like poorly written sci-fi.

What are your credentials when it comes to child sex abuse and grooming? You seem to be very secure in your knowledge…

I'd say, that's extremely weird and it sounds like that man is not at all abiding by the professional standards expected of someone working with children.

The police should investigate to ensure nothing illegal has happened (which they did, and years of investigation uncovered nothing conclusive)
The professional body he is part of should remove him from their staff immediately
The parents should be investigated by social services for failing to adequately safeguard their children and willingly sending their child on sleepovers with adult men (in return for gifts and money)

I'm more shocked that the Epstein files still haven't been released unredacted and that the evil pedophiles and abusers have STILL not been arrested.

One rule for one and one for another.

I don't have anymore credentials than any of the other arm chair psychologists who believe him to be guilty. Like anyone else on the outside, I've heard the stories, looked at the information available and come to a conclusion which is my opinion. I don't know for definite and neither does anyone else.

I have some knowledge of grooming and paedophiles and was involved in delivering training to professionals on protecting children from online sexual exploitation, but nothing in depth relating to contact abuse. I was also a victim of CSA and was in denial about it for a while, but there's a big gap between not considering oneself a victim and confidently saying over and over again that things that happened did not happen. However, my experience will vary from others, I'm sure.

The court will have psychologists who will analyse the stories and decide if it's believable or not and that will be what counts.

This is the thing. Some men now say nothing happened. Some children (now men) say things happened but got paid off, one had his mother involved in a similar money grabbing case. Was he inappropriate? Yes sure in some cases. But he’s not alive to defend himself now.

Grooming is illegal in many places, even if it didn't lead to sexual acts, preparing the child for the sexual acts through grooming is enough, Maybe it wasn't illegal at the time.

Of course people will say that they couldn't prove he committed sexual acts, or prove that he was preparing them for it but if it was any other person doing the same things no one would doubt it.