I have one! Forgive me if you've already heard it...
MJ goes to Heaven and meets Elvis.
He introduces himself by saying "Hey, I married your daughter!"
Elvis says "Oh, thank fuck, I heard she married a n....r!"
To all of you: I have greatly enjoyed reading your discussions about this experience we have all shared over the past week. I always find your commentary thought provoking and intelligent, but especially so with regard to this story. I have tried to read all I can about both sides to try to determine my own point of view. It's taken up a big chunk of the last week. Here are some of my thoughts.
Why would he put bleaching cream on his testicles?
Because the child had seen them and could identify the blotches on them. Was that inappropriate? Hell yeah. Does it automatically follow that the child was molested? Not necessarily. It's a stretch, I know.
Why would he name his elderly mother or Diana Ross as guardian of his beloved children?
Because there were NO other people in his life he could trust. Not his sisters, brothers, or all the old friends that are now sharing the most intimate details of his life with the media. That is so freaking sad.
Was he castrated? I don't think so. I believed Lisa Marie Presley when she said they had a passionate sexual relationship. Why would she lie? For money? Hardly. For credibility? Yeah, she sure got that being married to him.
Should the children be with Debbie Rowe? I think they should definitely have a relationship with their mother. Those children need someone outside the Jackson family to be impartial. Is she motivated by money? I really doubt it. For the reported settlements that she has received, she certainly doesn't seem to have lived the high life or squandered it.
I also have a theory about why he surrounded himself with young boys. If he just wanted to play games and hang out, he could have had a group of male friends his own age. However, inevitably, those other men would have been interested in pursuing women and talking about sex. MJ was notoriously shy about sex and was disturbed by being exposed to his brothers and father cavorting with groupies when he was very young. So, too far out of the comfort zone. Adult women were too threatening and young girls were also too risky to have around due to potential allegations of sexual misconduct.
How do you spend about a million $ a day? The forensic accountant who examined the books at the time of the trial said that he had never seen such a mess, and that MJ was making about $300 million a year but spending about $20 million more than he was earning. He was apparently spending approximately $55,000 a day more than he was earning. I need to lie down now.
@bluemoonday: aside from the racist joke I like your insight. Especially as to why he preferred to hang out with boys. He paid out the family 20 million so that he could avoid publicly addressing the whole thing. 20 mil sounds like a ton for us but for him it was probably not such a big thing.
A friend told my Jackson was hypnotized and asked whether he had relations with the boys and he said no so I truly believe he didn't commit any crime.
The only crime he did commit is hiding from the fact that he was homosexual.
My favorite part of this whole thing is the "white teeth trick" ad next her picture. Subtle dig at those yellow candy corn she calls teeth, I think?
Also, whatever lady. People who were young and impressionable during Jackson's Thriller era used to really like him once upon a time. The man made great music and he was a sad creature. He also crossed a lot of racial boundaries in the 1980s, despite whatever happened to his skin afterward.
This is what you baby boomers get for talking about Woodstock all the time. Now it's our turn.
I think the saddest thing of all is that he was automatically assumed to be guilty. What real parent do you know would take money for the molestation of their kid and not file criminal charges? Also, the fact that the kid recanted has been completely ignored.
I feel bad for an obviously sickly and tormented man that spent his life trying to regain a childhood he never had and the love of people that mostly didn't give a shit about him.
@thefilth: Ditto. It's a sad story no matter how you slice it. How Linda Stasi can claim to be so certain when even MJ's most malicious biographers are still scratching their heads is beyond me.
I've always thought there are two competing narratives of his life: If he did do it, and if he didn't. Both stories are almost unbearably sad for different reasons.
I mean really now, it's hardly worth congratulating yourselves for pointing out what's already been pointed out nonstop for the last decade-and-a-half-plus. (Ever hear an MJ joke premised on him NOT being a pedo?) Want to strike a mightier blow for good? Go recycle a plastic bottle.
This stuff's just the nervous titters of folks who think race, class, gender, fame, etc. etc. are grosser subjects than nonconsensual sex or self-mutilation.
Everyone. Just take a deep breath and ask yourself this: Would you have left him alone in a room with your kids? Also, if he didn't sing and dance once, would you have ha-ha'ed his batshit crazy away anyway?
@The Real JR: After researching court documents and the facts of the case(s) - yes, I would have let my child hang out with MJ. Mind you - the children also always had their families there at the house too.
He was eccentric, he was a little crazy, and obviously had his demons with his painkillers. But a pedophile, I honestly don't believe he ever was. As Rich (fourfour) put it, I believe he was "strange enough to relate to them in an infantile, affectionate and utterly abnormal but sexless manner."
I had started my investigation convinced that Jackson was guilty. By the end, I no longer believed that.
I could not find a single shred of evidence suggesting that Jackson had molested a child. But I found significant evidence demonstrating that most, if not all, of his accusers lacked credibility and were motivated primarily by money.
Jackson also deserved much of the blame, of course. Continuing to share a bed with children even after the suspicions surfaced bordered on criminal stupidity.
Agreed. The last thing we need on this planet is more compassion and respect for our fellow human beings, especially when they're dead and it no longer matters, and even more especially when they're weirdos.
I don't know if the guy was a child-abuser or not. But excusing someone's mind-blowingly heinous behavior simply on the grounds of them being ZOMG! An Artiste without weighing the evidence is utter horse-shit.
There was a lot of pitchfork-waving against pedophiles on some other recent thread on Gawker. Would you be less willing to dismember your kid's molester if said molester was ZOMG! An Artiste who made some memorable hits that like totally transformed your life?
I think this Daily Mail article is very intriguing. It claims that he was gay and dated men. It could explain why he surrounded himself with children rather than say, the Village People.
Alright....shitty, shitty childhood aside...was he really a pedophile? (To the extend an emotionally/psychologically regressed man can be a pedophile...There was SOMETHING inappropriate about his relationship with kids at least).
He was a target for vulturous parents, but some of the stuff from the last trial seemed pretty damning.
Pedophile or man with the (sometimes) maturity of a teenage boy, who related to other teen boys as such (in creepy but non-criminal ways)?
Still pity him for the f*cked childhood that set him down the road to a lot of his lifelong troubles...
@maude_flanders: Okay- I hate that I am getting into this, BUT
I watched him talking about children on the Martin Bashir documentary and that is what convinced me that he did not molest anyone. Did he enter into confusing relationships with already vulnerable kids? Yes.
Pedophiles do not talk about children in terms of them being actual humans with emotions and feelings. Pedophiles tend to objectify children, even in their speech. They talk about children like we talk about sport teams or cars. MJ, creepy as shit as he was, talked about kids as actual suffering beings.
He might have been projecting on them, but he was not molesting them.
@maude_flanders: Plenty of people have messed-up childhoods and manage to live decent lives. Jackson had access to unlimited amounts of money and got to indulge himself.
You might as well argue that that messed-up childhood and that palpable anger you see in his videos drove him.
"Messed up childhood" is an explanation, but not an excuse, which is what I'm hearing more and more lately.
I've been uncomfortable with the whole worship that's been going on too, but the fact she's on my side now makes me question it. Or is it more of a broken clock being right twice a day?
@Mount_Prion: I'd also like to point out that we have never seen her and that creature from the North Carolina sewer in the same place at the same time.
07/02/09
MJ goes to Heaven and meets Elvis.
He introduces himself by saying "Hey, I married your daughter!"
Elvis says "Oh, thank fuck, I heard she married a n....r!"
To all of you: I have greatly enjoyed reading your discussions about this experience we have all shared over the past week. I always find your commentary thought provoking and intelligent, but especially so with regard to this story. I have tried to read all I can about both sides to try to determine my own point of view. It's taken up a big chunk of the last week. Here are some of my thoughts.
Why would he put bleaching cream on his testicles?
Because the child had seen them and could identify the blotches on them. Was that inappropriate? Hell yeah. Does it automatically follow that the child was molested? Not necessarily. It's a stretch, I know.
Why would he name his elderly mother or Diana Ross as guardian of his beloved children?
Because there were NO other people in his life he could trust. Not his sisters, brothers, or all the old friends that are now sharing the most intimate details of his life with the media. That is so freaking sad.
Was he castrated? I don't think so. I believed Lisa Marie Presley when she said they had a passionate sexual relationship. Why would she lie? For money? Hardly. For credibility? Yeah, she sure got that being married to him.
Should the children be with Debbie Rowe? I think they should definitely have a relationship with their mother. Those children need someone outside the Jackson family to be impartial. Is she motivated by money? I really doubt it. For the reported settlements that she has received, she certainly doesn't seem to have lived the high life or squandered it.
I also have a theory about why he surrounded himself with young boys. If he just wanted to play games and hang out, he could have had a group of male friends his own age. However, inevitably, those other men would have been interested in pursuing women and talking about sex. MJ was notoriously shy about sex and was disturbed by being exposed to his brothers and father cavorting with groupies when he was very young. So, too far out of the comfort zone. Adult women were too threatening and young girls were also too risky to have around due to potential allegations of sexual misconduct.
How do you spend about a million $ a day? The forensic accountant who examined the books at the time of the trial said that he had never seen such a mess, and that MJ was making about $300 million a year but spending about $20 million more than he was earning. He was apparently spending approximately $55,000 a day more than he was earning. I need to lie down now.
07/03/09
A friend told my Jackson was hypnotized and asked whether he had relations with the boys and he said no so I truly believe he didn't commit any crime.
The only crime he did commit is hiding from the fact that he was homosexual.
07/02/09
Also, whatever lady. People who were young and impressionable during Jackson's Thriller era used to really like him once upon a time. The man made great music and he was a sad creature. He also crossed a lot of racial boundaries in the 1980s, despite whatever happened to his skin afterward.
This is what you baby boomers get for talking about Woodstock all the time. Now it's our turn.
07/02/09
I feel bad for an obviously sickly and tormented man that spent his life trying to regain a childhood he never had and the love of people that mostly didn't give a shit about him.
07/02/09
07/02/09
07/02/09
This stuff's just the nervous titters of folks who think race, class, gender, fame, etc. etc. are grosser subjects than nonconsensual sex or self-mutilation.
07/02/09
Everyone. Just take a deep breath and ask yourself this: Would you have left him alone in a room with your kids? Also, if he didn't sing and dance once, would you have ha-ha'ed his batshit crazy away anyway?
07/02/09
He was eccentric, he was a little crazy, and obviously had his demons with his painkillers. But a pedophile, I honestly don't believe he ever was. As Rich (fourfour) put it, I believe he was "strange enough to relate to them in an infantile, affectionate and utterly abnormal but sexless manner."
07/02/09
I had started my investigation convinced that Jackson was guilty. By the end, I no longer believed that.
I could not find a single shred of evidence suggesting that Jackson had molested a child. But I found significant evidence demonstrating that most, if not all, of his accusers lacked credibility and were motivated primarily by money.
Jackson also deserved much of the blame, of course. Continuing to share a bed with children even after the suspicions surfaced bordered on criminal stupidity.
07/02/09
07/02/09
07/02/09
07/02/09
There was a lot of pitchfork-waving against pedophiles on some other recent thread on Gawker. Would you be less willing to dismember your kid's molester if said molester was ZOMG! An Artiste who made some memorable hits that like totally transformed your life?
07/02/09
07/02/09
[www.dailymail.co.uk]
07/02/09
07/02/09
07/02/09
He was a target for vulturous parents, but some of the stuff from the last trial seemed pretty damning.
Pedophile or man with the (sometimes) maturity of a teenage boy, who related to other teen boys as such (in creepy but non-criminal ways)?
Still pity him for the f*cked childhood that set him down the road to a lot of his lifelong troubles...
07/02/09
I watched him talking about children on the Martin Bashir documentary and that is what convinced me that he did not molest anyone. Did he enter into confusing relationships with already vulnerable kids? Yes.
Pedophiles do not talk about children in terms of them being actual humans with emotions and feelings. Pedophiles tend to objectify children, even in their speech. They talk about children like we talk about sport teams or cars. MJ, creepy as shit as he was, talked about kids as actual suffering beings.
He might have been projecting on them, but he was not molesting them.
07/02/09
You might as well argue that that messed-up childhood and that palpable anger you see in his videos drove him.
"Messed up childhood" is an explanation, but not an excuse, which is what I'm hearing more and more lately.
07/02/09
07/02/09
07/02/09
07/02/09
07/02/09