MovieChat Forums > Leaving Neverland (2019) Discussion > Would i be right to say that whenever a ...

Would i be right to say that whenever a child is abused in this way..


..theres always some adult who has looked the other way?

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Yes, I think so. I don't believe it can happen, or happen for long, otherwise. Although to be fair, pedophiles are very good at creating a believable mask.

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you're not wrong

but there was at least one other adult, MJ, who was looking straight ahead. As he was plowing a little boy in his ass

so let's not shift the blame away from the actual perpetrator. Jackson is the most guilty in all of this

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To be fair, with the exception of Wade, where he tried anal penetration, there have been no other allegations of anal rape. There was, though, plenty of other forms of molestation.

Absolutely. Michael Jackson and he alone was the perpetrator, and he alone, at the end of the day, was responsible for this mess. He used his incredible fame and ability to manipulate the children, and their parents.

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True lol. I guess for the most part he didn't actually do anal

And Michael had the added benefit of being filthy rich and having a massive estate. So he was able to get the parents far, far away from where the "action" was happening

But still. I guess the parents should have still known that it wasn't ok to leave their child alone with an adult man. The situation is complicated. I know that both of the men in Finding Neverland had trouble forgiving their mothers for what happened, so they themselves saw the parents as partly responsible

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Right, he could also afford to hire the best legal team, and pay off anyone who would speak out. He could afford to create a bubble around himself, and he did.

It is complicated. His being arguably the most famous celebrity ever is a factor. In general, we feel like we know celebrities because we see them so often, but the truth is we don't know them. It's the illusion of knowing them.

In the case of James Safechuck, it was both parents. Funny how only the mother has been singled out. Apparently he was bamboozled by MJ even more than the mother. But then look at the hoards of zealot fans who still don't believe it, have swallowed all of MJ's PR whole, and think is as pure as newly fallen snow.

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Yeah, I've always found the angle of his fame to be one of the more interesting aspects of this case

You think of megastars in entertainment like Paul McCartney, Bono, Elton John, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise

If they seemed to take an interest in your son, and he himself emulated this star, and the star just seemed like a kind, generous soul. I could see how they fell for it. It seems hard to believe that someone extremely talented and successful would also be an extremely skilled sexual predator. Or at least it SEEMED that way just a decade or two ago

That is ultimately why I believe the victims. I'm not an SJW or believe that every accusation is always true by default. For a while I wanted to believe MJ was innocent because I like his music. I'm not a superfan or anything, but I'd rather believe that art that I enjoy isn't being made by monsters

But it just makes a lot of sense to me in hindsight. The accusations going back decades. The strange architectural layout of Neverland Ranch. His lack of sexuality towards adults. His constant companionship with young BOYS (almost never girls)

If he's innocent, then big whoop. He's dead, he never spent a single day in jail. He lived a great life. But if he's guilty, then we should all be able to talk about it openly. Lots of his crazy fans try to shut these discussions down, but they shouldn't be, because MJ will probably not be the last super-famous, super-rich person to prey on little kids

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I can see that too. And what parent would want to deprive their child of being able to spend time with their hero? Granted, having them sleep in a celebrity's bed is going over the line, but this particular celebrity built his career image of being this sweet, childlike, innocent, kind person who simply loved and wanted to help kids.

It does seem hard to believe, because most people *aren't* predators. Also, I used to think a celeb would have too much to lose to do anything like this. What I didn't take into account is, who are people going to believe? Someone no one's ever heard of making what appears to be outrageous claims, or the well known star? Then having the $$$ and PR machinery to attack the victim mercilessly.

Right, we can't just believe every accusation. I too wanted to believe he was innocent. Never got into either trial until now. I thought he was probably innocent, but left open the possibility he wasn't. Now I feel like an idiot for allowing myself to be duped by his PR, just like (almost) everyone else. Live and learn. So many things that made no sense before, now do. Ugh. I wish it weren't true.

True, he's been dead for years and never spent any time in jail. But I will say IF somehow these people are lying, they're even more effed up than MJ was, and that's saying a lot!

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Yes. But let's look at the flip side. Whenever an innocent man is accused of something awful there will always be adults who still prioritize their ego over the truth, because admitting you jumped to conclusions is too challenging. So let him rot, he's clearly the bad guy if I really believe it.

At the end of the day, there is very little evidence to support his guilt and nearly a mountain against it.

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That is also true of some who will refuse to admit someone they admired is capable of doing what they're alleged to have done. Too challenging to admit they were duped by appearances. In this case by someone's celebrity persona.

What near mountain of evidence is there to support his innocence? None that I know of.

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