In “Leaving Neverland,” the testimony of Robson and Safechuck is overwhelmingly powerful and convincing. And one reason it’s more powerful than anything we’ve previously encountered on the subject — though plenty has been reported about it, beginning with an in-depth Vanity Fair article in 1993 — is that the two don’t just describe the sexual activities that Jackson subjected them to. They describe, in abundantly articulate and deeply emotional detail, how the abuse took place within the context of what appeared (to them) to be a relationship of hypnotic warmth and trust.
How could any sane parent have gone along with this? That’s an obvious question, and one’s initial response is to say: It’s enraging, and unforgivable, that the parents allowed any of this to happen. They are certainly to blame. But without letting them off the hook (and I don’t), “Leaving Neverland” captures how the parents found themselves under the spell, and the Mob-like pushiness, of Michael’s celebrity. They thought he was creating opportunities for their children that might otherwise be taken away. And once inside their homes, he seemed the soul of gentleness. So they pulled the wool over their own eyes and enabled him.
What happened behind those closed bedroom doors was hideous and criminal. But Robson and Safechuck describe, with great intimacy, the way it happened, and their feelings about it as kids, and that’s part of the the revelation of “Leaving Neverland.” These children felt close to Michael Jackson, and to use their own words they felt a kind of love for him; they wanted to do what it took to please him. The movie captures one of the towering evils of child sexual abuse: that the victims may not experience it, at the time, as “wrong.” They are children who’ve been raised to please adults — and Michael Jackson wasn’t just any adult. The movie captures how he began to crowd out the boys’ parents, and to effectively replace them. That’s how devious he was.
Premiered at Sundance. UK TV in March. Coming to HBO layer this year.
Hasn’t it been known that he was probably innocent for awhile, now that we’re safely out of the hysterical 90s? Basically, he was regressing into childhood because he was messed up and wanted to spend time with kids, but he was so weird and rich that people went after him to get settlements.
It’s been known that a court of law didn’t find him guilty, so you’re technically right. But that isn’t mutually exclusive with the reality that he was most likely a serial pedophile who used his wealth and status to prey on children and keep it secret.
I think that’s a useful thing to keep in mind, but it’s also true that the legal system routinely gets things wrong, sometimes obscenely so, and particularly when either the defendant or the plaintiff or both have a lot of money and expensive lawyers.
Yeah, I don’t pretend to know with certainty but Jackson did settle and pay millions to some of the accusers. That’s suspicious. It’s also suspicious that he slept in the same bed with them at times. A grown man, having someone else’s children stay in his home and sleeping in the same bed? It may not be proof but it’s major red flags, and then there have been accusations and, apparently in this documentary, further accusations from the people molested. It’s not easy to build a case for innocence.
I think if the situation were pretty equally in favor of either scenario I’d be more inclined to trust the legal outcome but it sure is hard to buy that there was nothing untoward about what Michael Jackson was doing. Much like, sure, I’d like to trust that O.J. Simpson didn’t kill his wife, but when he does shit like write a book called “If I Did It”…
That is highly debatable. Is it consistently wrong, no, probably not. But there’s a whole bunch of deep, structural problems with it and there’s plenty of evidence to suggest that it’s routinely producing flawed or failed outcomes.
I’m not sure how the UK system compares, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if it’s less broken than the US system. 'cause a lot of things about the UK are less broken than the US. (Then again, brexit.)
I thought all the abuse allegations were debunked years ago. Weren’t his accusers parents previously arrested for fraud or something?
I mean Jackson was a weird guy, no question but as an armchair observer I don’t think he’s guilty of what they’re accusing him of. Jacksons biggest problem were all the vultures that profited off him and ultimately ended up killing him. This documentary seems to be a continuation of that except he’s not around to defend himself (not that he ever did a particularly good job of that either)
