MovieChat Forums > Leaving Neverland (2019) Discussion > I'm still at a loss for words...

I'm still at a loss for words...

posted 6 years ago by CinemaDemon989 (1286)
9 replies | jump to latest

I mean, seriously, for whatever reason, this documentary disturbed me to the core. I always thought Michael Jackson was an interesting and unusual person. Something about him just always managed to intrigue me. But after watching Leaving Neverland...I just don't know what to think anymore. Now I realize that the controversy stems from the credibility of the accusers in this documentary. Some people seem to believe that they're telling the truth, while others don't. I must say, throughout the documentary, all their stories seemed believable, detailed, and genuine. I was really skeptical at first, but sadly, I'm convinced. And if they're lying, than I gotta admit that they're excellent super convincing liars. I don't want to be one of those people who put on the blinders, go into denial, and defend Michael all due to favorability purposes. But at the same time I have to acknowledge that Michael is dead, he doesn't have the ability to defend himself against these claims, and that we're basically just taking the word of two individuals. The whole situation is just weird.

[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I'm no longer at a loss for words, but it has disturbed me far more than I ever dreamed it would.

I know what I think. I've been doing a lot of research on MJ and his family, and a picture is finally emerging that makes sense. Finally! I'd bought into the same thing everyone else did: poor kid who hadn't been allowed to have a childhood, extremely abusive father and codependent mother, eccentric and truly loved and related to kids as a result, arrested development, probably asexual, very lonely, ultimately an innocent who tried to do a lot to help the world.

A different picture is emerging. He was an extreme narcissist, for one. I'm not saying he was all bad, but he certainly wasn't the misunderstood innocent victim he continually portrayed himself to be.

If they're lying, they're not only phenomenal actors, they are sociopaths. I don't believe they're either, but that's my opinion.

The fact that MJ is dead means nothing to me. The horrific facts about Jimmy Savile came out after his death too.

[–] Ldlamb (649) 6 years ago

I couldn’t care less about defending Jackson, but at least one of them has already admitted to being a phenomenal liar.

[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

He has, but it's not uncommon for victims of child molestation to lie for their abusers. He was only 11 the first time, and only 22 the second time. It'd have to suck to have to admit lying under oath. He'd have to know the kind of blowback he'd get, which he'd have gotten even if he'd never testified for MJ. This only made the blowback worse.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

I've followed Jackson for decades, first as a fan, then as... someone who can't look away from trainwrecks. The fact is that all the information in the documentary has been out there, sometimes for decades, there to see if anyone took an interest and had the capacity to understand what they were seeing. All the documentary offers is a first-person look at Jackson's relationship with those two boys, in depth, with detail, and with eyewitness accounts.

It must be shocking to someone who's only taken a casual interest in Jackson, but really, there's a lot more out there. Jackson was an evil narcissist pedophile who lied to the public about who he was and what he did in private, and used his immense fortune to get away with some horrific shit.

[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I really haven't followed him, basically only knew the things most people knew. Never followed either trial, but heard he was acquitted on the 2nd one. No details.

I did watch the Bashir documentary, but back then I was angered by what appeared to be a manipulation and betrayal of MJ by Bashir, although of course I noted MJ's bizarre behaviour about sharing his bed with little boys. Even after he'd been accused of child molestation!

I'm discovering how much there is out there I didn't know about, so yes it is shocking to me how much was already out there.

The whole family lies about and covers up so many things. Public image is all that matters. Until the past few days, I didn't know Latoya had come out so strongly about MJ, exposing this. Only to be sucked back into the family lies and retracting it all, blaming it on her ex. She exposed the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse of their father, too, I'm sure you already know. I'm starting to think MJ was sexually abused by their father.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

There have been rumors floating around for decades that Joe "Pure Evil" Jackson either sexually abused Michael himself, or allowed the boy to be abused by pedos in the music industry. Only rumors, never confirmation, because how could there be confirmation? Michael is dead, Joe is never going to admit how vile he is, and neither is any pedo who molested little Michael, if any are still alive.

So the only thing I'm sure of is that Joe Jackson didn't do what was right for his children, he never did.

[–] Catbookss (13664) 6 years ago

I've never heard those rumours, but they are making sense to me now.

Joe Jackson's a horrible person. But then I know nothing about his background and what's made him the abusive person he is. He no doubt his all of these abuses in his history, too.

[–] Otter (24464) 6 years ago

There's so much ambiguity and rumor floating around Michael Jackson. So much awful gossip, so much second-hand information and witnesses being decried as untrustworthy, so many rumors and so many crimes where the only living witnesses would have been small children at the time. So much that can never be settled to anyone's satisfaction.

Honestly, the only absolutely surety about Michael Jackson was that his father was an absolutely horrible human being.

[–] NorthernLad (472) 6 years ago

That's exactly how I felt after I watched it. I'm still not sure what to think. So many questions about all of this. Not sure there will ever be definitive answers.