[user104658]

Originally Posted by bitontheslide

not wishing to throw cold water over those that got something from the documentary, but it seems to me it has reinforced beliefs already established in the viewers. I mean, these people changing their stories have been round the block, they will have been given advice on what to say to explain themselves. I personally don't subscribe to the notion that Jackson or those associated with him deserve any more time.



Jackson is long gone, and still people want to profit from association with him, from whatever angle one chooses. I also think that Jackson through his unique position is not even worth the time understanding or whatever, as it is a circumstance unlikely to ever happen again so there is really nothing to be gained from giving him further publicity/notoriety other than generating more cash for those associated with him.

Honestly I don't think you're right there bots, for example, my wife grew up a huge MJ fan and has always wanted to believe in his innocence but after watching this (alongside, I hasten to add, a lot of googling and fact checking that we always do while watching documentaries), just sighed and said sadly; " I think he probably did it, didn't he."

Also (and this may be a controversial thing to say) but the documentary *whether true or not* is a powerful and well constructed message to adult victims of childhood abuse that it's ALWAYS ok - and psychologically healthy - to come forward later in life even if it seems "far too late"...

But yeah. They know that legal action isn't possible due to him being dead. They know that MJ fans are aggressively passionate and that many people won't believe what they have to say. They have had death threats, threats against their families, and know they'll get more... And it's supposed to be feasible that they - and their very normal seeming wives with normal jobs - and several members of both of their families who all knew Michael - are doing this to share out the revenue from a HBO documentary? It simply doesn't make sense.

On the most basic level, the logical holes that one has to dig to believe that decades of abuse allegations against Jackson, including one where he paid off the accuser before court and one where witnesses were coached by the defense lawyers, are actually some sort of evil conspiracy against him for cash, are utterly huge. The far more simple and rational conclusion is that there is at least some truth to the claims.

Whether he deliberately picked kids to groom, or simply DID crave close friendships with children, is another matter. I tend to believe the latter. He was a very troubled and lonely man and the friendships were real; not a ruse for sexual gratification. However another uncomfortable truth is that mild sexual experimentation amongst pre-adolescents is a very common part of childhood friendships... And when you stick an adult with a "childlike mind and emotional state", but an adult body and adult sexual drive, into a "childlike friendship" then it's not just possible that sexual activity happened but verging on likely.

Especially when you consider the content of what ALL of his accusers are saying. He never physically penetrated them in any way (him and Wade briefly tried, once, when Wade was a teenager and "as tall as Jackson himself" not a little kid but didn't even succeed and stopped immediately). They all describe it as mainly watching each other / touching and rubbing each others genitals and nipples, going in showers together and eventually some oral sex. They also all say that Jackson never ejaculated during the contact and would "finish off himself" after.

Exactly what you would expect if someone with the mind of a child but the body of an adult started to experiment sexually.