A question for Jackson's defenders:

Yes things LOOKED quite obvious. So how do you explain MULTIPLE raids on the Neverland ranch, endless testimony that was repeatedly poured over and scrutinized and in multiple trials and they found no evidence to support what seemed "obvious" to US?
They found no evidence to support the charges brought against him.
is it POSSIBLE, regardless of how distasteful you find it, that a grown man can have meaningful friendships with children and NOT physically molest or abuse them?
Perhaps it IS possible.
What ISN'T possible is for some people to understand or accept that fact.
Its quite possible that some realize that they themselves couldn't resist certain "urges" and therefore they figure its not possible for anyone to do so; yet most people DONT molest kids.
Now I am not saying that his eccentricities didnt raise suspicion or get him into trouble.
Im not saying that his friendships didnt become possessive and "smothering" (not the suffocation kind). That is another matter.
But the issue at hand here is sexual abuse of kids, not his possessive and his unconventional friendships.
I dont think that ANYONE here was someone who sat on the Jury at his trials. We never saw or heard ALL of the evidence that was considered. We never heard ALL of the testimony. Yet MANY will come here and sit in judgement because it "walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and swims like a duck". Yet PEOPLE are far more complex than ducks.
There is NO absolute "one size fits all"l answer. So what we have to rely on is FACTS!
You say that we shouldn't scrutinize the present accusers. Yet it was these same people even as adults that sat in Jacksons DEFENSE and testified at their own request under oath that there was nothing sexual about their relationships with Jackson,
NOW they need money and the tune is completely opposite. Yet their stories contradict their own testimonies as well as evidence of what was uncovered in Neverland raids.

Robson was the original accuser and Safechuck came on board when, at 40 years old, suddenly claimed that he my have been abused. It seems that up to this point he was unable to understand that sex play and anal penetration might be considered abuse.

HUH!

So I am left to ponder which side has credibility.
Greed and lust for money is an affliction common to FAR MORE people that urges to molest kids.
People CAN LOVE KIDS; sometimes too much so, and still not have sex with them.
Sorry if this doesnt make any sense to you.
My assessment of all of this isnt on trial here.

OOPS
I veered off course (intentionally).
Friendships with kidsdoesnt have to be a horrible thing, that you seem to elude to.
Kids see the world differently. They are less cynnical and less judgemental about things that divide adults. They have fresh idea and fresh approaches to things. They arent hung up on preconceived notions or ideas.
Kids are bundles of energy. You feel that energy and absorb it. It robs them of nothing but makes you feel more youthful.
I have had younger friends that I wouldnt trade for 10 adults. Yet when these kids grew up they became the same as many adults I despise. Life can change people in ways that are not for the better. Unfortunately they are ways that people need to survive and "fit in and adapt. In kids I see more of the person I was and wish I could be but you cant go back.
I dont have any kids in my life now. It would be nice to feel some youthful energy and innocence again.
NO; cynical adults dont understand it and dont want to. They question it and make accusations. Thats because they are cynical adults.
I never had sex with them. These are the very things that destroy innocence.
Jacksons idea was something like Peter Pan. Growing up isnt worth many of the problems and complications it brings to your life.
I think he was living proof of that.

Leave him alone

You play football without a helmet don’t ya

People want to tell you because nothing ever came of the investigations that means he's as pure as the driven snow -- a grown man who wanted sleepovers with little boys and gave them what he called "Jesus Juice."

If he weren't Michael Jackson, but was the creepy guy in clown makeup who lived down the street, they wouldn't let their kids near him. But the parents, whether they knew it or not, were pimping their kids out. They gave him almost unlimited access to their children and didn't ask questions so long as he bought them jewelry and other gifts. He preyed on children from broken homes who wanted desperately to have someone pay attention to them -- just them. And he did. And he made them feel special. And very, very loyal.

I am choosing to leave this this threat, NOT IN DEFEAT!
I have honorably stated my arguments. I cant show anyone any ideas they are blind to.
I cant keep the civility of the conversation when civility is fast eroding away.

The boards are becoming a showcase of examples of why IMDB just gave up on them.

Its too bad that there cant be an honest discussion or debate. But then, the movie we are discussing is anything but honest but some see tawdry entertainment as something worth defending because it supports an agenda keeps their hatred fueled and alive.

I hate abusers myself.
But I cant lower myself to use smut lies and deceit from liars and deceivers to bolster my feelings of what I feel about a man who can no longer defend himself. Left to his own words and actions he did a poor job of defending himself.
I still rely on the courts and the people who heard FAR MORE DETAILS and testimony that we will ever hear. What we are hearing here, is that MJ was so stupid that he literally openly displayed and flaunted what he was allegedly doing yet at the same time was cunning enough to clear all traces of the even ts and places they occurred, Even the FBI and multiple raids couldn't find the evidence. Even Tom Sneddon who had a vendetta far greater than anyone here couldnt take him down.

What can I really add to the discussion?

It was definitely odd.

Plus, if he really wanted to hang out with little kids because he missed his childhood, he had plenty of nieces and nephews he would’ve love to hang out with him I’m sure. Why not hang out with family if it was not an ulterior motive?