It’s a movie starring his nephew in the lead role, approved by his estate, and by all accounts it just feels like an attempt to whitewash him. This is a man who was accused of being a serial child molester, settled with a family out of court for $25 million just to avoid a trial (Chandler), and openly admitted he slept in the same bed as kids while he was an adult (Bashir interview), among other things. I don’t really see what there is to debate.
Anything pointing this out gets backlash on movie-related subreddits, which I find wild. It makes me wonder, if Epstein could sing and dance, would he have gotten a biopic too? Would people be defending him like this?
I guess it depends. Is it factual and balanced or does it ignore that creepy part of his life? Being approved by the e$tate makes me doubt that.
IMO, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Much has been said of his “child-like wonder and innocence”, but he wasn’t special needs or anything; he was still an adult! Like the rest of us, he made choices knowing how they would be viewed. Sure, maybe one family made shit up, hoping for a payday. But to then continue doing the same things after the initial accusation, bringing children into your bed at night…!? Personally, I would have installed cameras everywhere, hired a childcare person to always be there with the children, and, y’know, not have them sleep in my bed overnight. It would prove there was nothing going on, protect his reputation and fortune, give the parents peace of mind, etc. But he didn’t do any of that…
So some people’s struggles get labelled as “special needs” and are treated differently, while others are viewed with suspicion and aren’t even attempted to be understood?