michael jackson
MANCHILD IN A PROMISED LAND

 

READER FEEDBACK

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Eurydice1982
If he really suffered from arrested development and had the maturity of a 9 year old.. would he even have had any sexual urges?I find it hard to believe that someone can be deeply traumatized yet high functioning enough to become the kind of superstar he was.Yes he should be judged as guilty and I seriously doubt he suffered from arrested development.If you think about it, it was the perfect set up to seduce young boys and get away with it.

Billgonzo
It's not that cut and dry. Most abuser were abused themselves children. MJs story is tragic, for sure. But in respect to "should be judged guilty to abusing children", well yes. He did abuse children. And like so many child abusers, he had a background that led him down that terrible road. I think its ok to feel some sympathy for him, but sexually abusing children is sexually abusing children. I think what is really at question is, what would his sentencing look like? Should he have gone to prison for life, or sent to a psychiatry facility, or what? I think the question is, what do you do with a child molester who has committed those crimes because of systemic mental and physical trauma? It's a very good question, and a very complicated question that I have no qualifications to determine. This requires a consensus among many different mental health professionals, lawyers and judges. Law is so fucking complicated.

Octavia02
He had awareness. He convinced them to keep the sexual contact a secret, talked about going to jail if found out, and made up a cover story at the jewelry store. He knew exactly what he wanted, how to manipulate situations, and how to emotionally isolate his victims. He should be judged.

Billgonzo
I agree. But the thing is, many child molestors suffered from some kind of arrested development but that doesnt mean that they didnt know that what they were doing was wrong. In MJs case, according to the two men in this documentary, he was actively trying to keep his actions a secret and actively coaching his victims to keep that secret. This suggest that he knew it was wrong. But perhaps convinced himself that it wasnt, like he was just acting on natural emotions that were simply a reflection of who he was. And everyone should be free to be whoever they are, right? When really, he had mental and emotional trauma that stunted his mental maturity.

Like so many cases that go through the legal system, the particular circumstances of each case can make the ruling unique. But we have a habit of punishing child molesters, and then not wanting to think any further on the systemic properties of the subject. So nothing gets solved, except slowly, through academia. With is very technical and hard to wrap your head around, cuz it takes a PhD to contribute to it. And then in top of that, there are people who dont even want to consider that someone could be an abuser, so nothing get done. It's a very complicated predicament.

Camelia
Dear Mr. Lewis:I had trouble with your article because I think you are sympathetic to Michael Jackson, but you got suckered in by the media frenzy over the case and failed to grasp what were the real issues, which are political, not psychological. Michael Jackson is not a pedophile. The evidence supports this, the courts agreed with the evidence, and as you correctly state, pedophiles don’t announce to the world that they invite children into their bedrooms for overnight sleep ins.

The charges brought against Mr. Jackson were meant to divert the public from the real McCarthy-like witch-hunt that has been going on for years. The question we must ask is who stands most to gain by Corporation Michael Jackson’s fall? The answer is corporate America.

Corporation Michael Jackson (Neverland) runs in the opposite direction as Corporate America (Disneyland). Corporate America rewards itself first (100ds of millions for its CEOs), then its shareholders, and only then its employees, those who do the menial work, who run the show. Disneyland was built by minimum wage workers and is sustained by ticket sales. At $200 one-day entry for a family of 4, Disneyland is off limits to America’s poor: its Afro American and Hispanic populations. Michael Jackson paid for Neverland out of his own pocket. ENTRY IS FREE. Thanks to Corporation Michael Jackson the poor now have access to a kind of Disneyland.

Michael Jackson is a role model on how a corporation should behave. Michael Jackson shares his wealth with the poor; he cares for the poor, and is the thorn in the side of corporate America. He shames corporate America. He embarrasses corporate America. He is an example that corporate America can’t live with which is why they have spent years trying to trump up a case against him, to bring him down, to bankrupt him, to make him sell his copyright ownership of Beatles music, which sustains his corporation.

Michael Jackson is the lone corporate socialist in an America founded on unbridled capitalism and they will continue to hound him until he breaks or disappears. What corporate America fears is not Michael Jackson’s behavior, it’s his politics.

In the full glare of the media Michael Jackson was robbed of his dignity. What this caring human being was subjected to is America’s shame.

Sincerely,
Camelia