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?

  • Teh@sh.itjust.works
    337·
    11 hours ago

    I have a friend who worked for, and alongside MJ (they’re credited on at least one album). They became a personal friend and have a ton of amazing stories and insane memorabilia. On the day Michael died, his phone rang and rang with a LOT of people wishing him condolences.

    They tell me that MJ never really got a childhood, and in some ways lived his childhood through other children. My friend spent a couple nights at his Neverland ranch with his own kids and tells me that he trusted MJ and doesnt believe for a minute that he was actually guilty of anything untoward, and that things like “sleepovers” really did happen but were really from a place of innocence and MJ just wanting to have that childlike experience that he didn’t get.

    • Andy@slrpnk.net
      38·
      7 hours ago

      I hear stories like this, and I think the part people stumble over is that it’s very common for kids to explore their bodies and each other’s at sleep overs.

      It’s not that hard to imagine his sleepovers being ordinary, kids sleepovers and also an environment in which he crossed some boundaries. That’s very common at sleepovers.

    • thespcicifcocean@lemmy.world
      49·
      7 hours ago

      Lots of child molesters have sad origin stories. Whoop dee doo, he didn’t have a childhood. He still molested kids

      • AHemlocksLie@lemmy.zip
        211·
        7 hours ago

        That’s the thing, though, we really don’t know that he did. He did some stuff people think is pretty suspicious, but there are genuine credibility issues with the accusers. It’s not impossible that there’s truth to the allegations, but from what I’ve seen, it’s more likely that greedy people took advantage of that suspicious behavior to milk him for money.

    • 3abas@lemmy.world
      66·
      9 hours ago

      Your friend’s anecdote or the victims testimony… That’s a tough one.