I was looking for a thread to post the following (vent), and I remembered we had a discussion about Michael Jackson and Jim Clemente's videos on cases against him, so I hope this is the right place!
We recently watched this documentary, and it was a real shocker for me at least!
I am quite well convinced that Michael Jackson groomed, manipulated and coerced these children/families for his own sexual purposes. The tactics employed appear much like a predatory psychopath, but one of the female variety (as I think Laura pointed out in one post). Very early on in the relationship, Jackson made sure to manage the impressions of the family members and portray the image of a lonely victim, almost like a damsel in distress in need of a friend.
After gaining their trust (which he seemed to already have) he would then widen the boundaries and gradually become more intimate with the children. Interestingly, one of the victims rightly pointed out that much of the 'grooming' had already been done BEFORE they even became acquainted with Jackson, simply because he was a superstar whom they all admired greatly.
In sharp contrast with the idea that Jackson "loved" the children, he would abruptly drop them in favor of new children to groom after approximately 1 year. This was a pattern which continued, and witnessing the psychological/emotional effect that this had on the children was very sad. He took what he wanted from them, and and promised them the world... only to discard them when they were no longer useful. VERY manipulative. He also pressed one of the mothers to hand over her child and allow the child to live with him for one year! After declining, Michael apparently makes it clear that (in his words) "I always get what I want" .
That the parents freely handed over their children is also extremely disturbing. I cannot help but think that the mothers knew, deep down, what was going on, but they passively accepted it for their own selfish purposes. Toward the end of the documentary, one of the mothers openly said that she was "partly to blame" for what happened --- but she seems to be deluding herself and avoiding full responsibility, because in my opinion at least, she should be willing to take ALL of the blame!
In fact, it was only after one of the victims had his own children and witnessed the innocence of the child, that he finally came to terms with what actually happened.
They have received some backlash from the public, the family members, and from the die-hard fans. However, the movie producer responded by saying something like this (paraphrase):
"
These two men have zero financial gain from this documentary. Family members may have known Michael personally and they will insist that he was a good person. However, it is NOT disputed that Michael had a long-string of little boys sleeping in his own bed for a long period of time, and in that bedroom the doors were closed shut. Were the family members in that bedroom at nighttime to witness what really happened? No.
The only people who were alone in that bedroom with Michael were the children themselves. Therefore, there is no journalistic relevance in interviewing people who only knew the image that Michael portrayed to the outside world."
In review, I would highly recommend watching the documentary.
