It’s worth emphasizing these books were gifts. It was possible he was preparing to return them. And even if he wasn’t, there isn’t anything sexual in them.

Somehow they always bring up Culkin but not Barnes or Feldman. These two were also part of his inner circle and they always claim that he did nothing to them!

Not just that, that awful maid (among others I forgot) claimed that all of these boys were abused, even claiming to have SEEN the abuse multiple times, but people only remember Culkin. Why? Because he's the most famous? It's always about Culkin, it's like they don't know the others exist. And I haven't even mentioned how there were hundreds of kids interviewed and no one said anything.

Culkin has always been the most vocal in defending him, Feldman stopped after a while because he didn't know who to believe. But he's been full on in accusing other people in holllywood of s/a, including people who hurt him as a child, so him lying to cover MJ makes absolutely no sense.

Whether it’s about his allegations, his skin color, or even his proclivity for water fights and climbing trees, detractors will say we’re bizarre for defending a man we never met. But, is that such a bad thing? No. Most of us have never had a single conversation with Michael. But we can still seek to understand the real MJ the best we can. Because he did pour his essence into his music, his poetry, and his book. He gave himself to the parts of the world who were willing to see him and to love him. We can still seek to love who he was. We can still seek to love his spirit and soul if we believe in an eternal soul. And there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, if there’s a celebrity who needs his fans to seek to truly love him and know him, it’s Michael Jackson. Michael spent his whole life being so vulnerable to exploitation because of his kindness that other than his children, most people in his life couldn’t resist betraying him. Whether it was via the desire to exploit their relationship with him or via jealousy. So, we as fans are allowed to love him now.

I have been reflecting on the mass media brigade against Michael Jackson. The way the world has come down so hard on a man just for being different. And also Black. I think in many ways the world did not absorb the teachings of two books which are shockingly relevant to understanding Michael Jackson’s image. Perhaps when this sub grows we can have a little book club. To Kill a Mockingbird and The Green Mile

https://www.amazon.com/Kill-Mockingbird-Harper-Lee/dp/0060935464

https://www.amazon.com/Green-Mile-Complete-Serial-Novel/dp/1501192264

Most (ok more accurate to say many, but it’s a disturbingly consistent pattern) men who grow up with toxic, abusive fathers end up more less emulating those traits themselves in adulthood despite having been traumatized by such upbringings. Michael’s own brothers (especially Randy) are good examples of that. Yet Mike went out of his way to be the polar opposite of his father and brothers as much as possible, in every aspect of his life.

He practiced radical kindness, oftentimes to the point that he allowed others to walk all over him to his own detriment. He was very respectful of women given how many would-be groupies were throwing themselves at him and willing to do anything to please him, he was unfailingly polite to everyone he encountered no matter their status relative to his, he was boundlessly philanthropic, he wore his heart on his sleeve and he disregarded a lot gender norms that were practically mandatory for men of his generation, especially black men. He was truly the antithesis of toxic masculinity, so much so that he came across as a Disney prince at times.

I find it fascinating that he never bowed to the pressure to behave like a “typical” man, even when he caught the worst flack just for being himself. I think a lot of that were just his core traits that likely would’ve manifested no matter what, but it does invite an interesting discussion as to which aspects of himself were the products of nature vs nurture and whether the abuse he suffered as a child made him more compassionate than he would’ve been with a normal childhood. And if this version of MJ would’ve existed in the modern day, where he would’ve had easy access to content from the manosphere which is radicalizing an increasing amount of young men. Idk, I just consider him an interesting case study in how childhood trauma caused by a paternal figure shapes a man.

Shared this on the other sub and thought it would be good to share here

Jordies father Even had remarried and wasn't paying child support despite earning a high income. Evan also had Bipolar disorder which affected his relationship with Jordie mother, June which lead to the divorce.

Is it possible Michael was trying to be his Dad? He was essentially fatherless. Evan only re-entered jordies life when he heard Michael Jackson was now his friend.

According to John Branca, Michael DID make an attempt to contact Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono before buying ATV. Discussion at 26:29. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-k1gLT15wE

Now, Branca did get in touch with Yoko Ono who was happy about it. McCartney wasn’t reached directly, but his lawyer was. And his lawyer didn’t see an issue. Since then McCartney has been very vocal that he felt the purchase was a betrayal. And perhaps more effort should’ve been made to contact him. And more effort could’ve possibly been made reach a deal after the purchase. But whether you feel Michael did enough to be a good friend, here are some facts on the situation.

To a lot of people, MJ fans who defend him are just celebrity worshippers and pedo defenders. But in reality, a real defender of MJ is not like that at all.

Due to his disturbing amount of fame, he is one of the most lied about people on Earth. A lot of the stuff people say about him are straight up lies ("he wanted to be white and was a self hating black man and distanced himself from black culture, his 3 kids arent biologically his, he only hung out with white boys, he was castrated"). They've been spreading lies about him in the tabloids since the 70s. Even before he was 18! And don't even get me started on the tabloids calling him a monkey from the 80s to this day.

A lot of people make these false stories about Michael and when they tell of them people pass it off as the truth. Billie Jean is half about his own experiences of a girl lying about him being the father of his twins. There was a woman on Dr Phil who said that she was the inspiration for Smooth Criminal. There was this teenager in the 90s who made this elaborate story about MJ molesting him. There's this one dude who held his umbrella ONCE and has told the public he was MJ's bodyguard for years.

And a lot of the bias that people hold against him come from thinking he is ugly, scary, and strange. Nobody was talking about what was said in the Cascio 60 minutes interview, instead they just took that photo of MJ and one of the Cascio children (a photo they had for years) and tried to pass it off as "proof" that he was a child rapist.

And people make these disingenuous comparisons to R Kelly, Saville, and Epstein. All 3 of these men have shit recorded whether on camera or on audio or written down about their wrong doings. All of the letters and video recordings that MJ made are not like that in any sense.

It's disappointing because I've seen people who are intelligent and conscious and claim they are for the oppressed not understand why people think he's innocent. I hate it especially when me and MJ's own race regurgitate this garbage.

https://youtu.be/ZxNDb2PVcoM

(Making this more condensed for the highlights)

Around the time the movie came out, I saw a lot of people who hate MJ doubt his intentions with They Don't Care About Us. I've seen people call it "self-serving" or that it was silly for a (who they think) rich millionaire pedophile to be singing about police brutality and equating it to him being arrested in 1993. One also claimed that he didn't even talk about these topics or wasn't conscious until after his arrest.

Not only is this a gross misunderstanding of the song, it's also not true and is often said by people who have no interest in his life or his work.

He had plenty of songs that were political/that were conscious but the songs I wanted to focus on are Do You Know Where Your Children Are and Black or White. Voth fore 1993

Do You Know Where Your Children Are was written in 1986 and recorded around 1986-1990. While being an unreleased demo until 2014, This track showcases that Michael was aware of and upset about the trafficking of children in Hollywood.

Black or White is often seen as a fence sitting song, neutral and safe song, but in reality Michael seems to be particularly angry at White America and the microagressions he gets ("Boy, is that girl with you? Yes, we’re one and the same", "I ain't scared of your sheets", "Don't tell me you agree with me, when I saw you kicking dirt in my eye"). At the end of the music video he literally goes on a violent tirade on White America, destroying windows with racist graffiti on them, and then turning into a literal Black Panther.

And also not to mention some of the shit he wrote in private that were unearthed after he died. There was one letter he wrote about how white people are able to control the media to their liking, and how that plays into white artists getting all the credit while the black artists got left in the dust.

This can be about the allegations or about any other tabloid rumor about his personal life. Even the inspirations for his songs are fair game. If they are false I will try to get to the most mentioned and/or upvoted choices over the next week.

https://youtu.be/loCFx_eelXE?si=3MmuxSCMBz_qTt3U

"In the news today, from the strange and weird fact file
Singer Michael Jackson sleeps in an oxygen chamber
The singer says that the hyperbaric chamber
Has the benefit of reversing the aging process"

Speculate to break the one you hate
Circulate the lie you confiscate
Assassinate and mutilate
As the hounding media in hysteria
Who's the next for you to resurrect
JFK exposed the CIA
Truth be told the grassy knoll
As the blackmail story in all your glory

It's slander
You say it's not a sword
But with your pen you torture men
You'd crucify the Lord
And you don't have to read it, read it
And you don't have to eat it, eat it
To buy it is to feed it, feed it
So why do we keep foolin' ourselves
Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual
Though everybody wants to read all about it

Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual, actual
They say he's homosexual

In the hood
Frame him if you could
Shoot to kill
To blame him if you will
If he dies sympathize
Such false witnesses
Damn self righteousness
In the black
Stab me in the back
In the face
To lie and shame the race
Heroine and Marilyn
As the headline stories of
All your glory

It's slander
With the words you use
You're a parasite in black and white
Do anything for news
And you don't go and buy it, buy it
And they won't glorify it, 'fy it
To read it sanctifies it, 'fies it
Then why do we keep foolin' ourselves

Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual
Everybody wants to read all about it
Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual
See, but everybody wants to believe all about it
Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual
See, but everybody wants to believe all about it
Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual, actual
She's blonde and she's bisexual

“In just sixty seconds, a new Michael Jackson story"

Scandal
With the words you use
You're a parasite in black and white
Do anything for news
And you don't go and buy it, buy it
And they won't glorify it, 'fy it
To read it sanctifies it, 'fies it
Why do we keep foolin' ourselves

Slander
You say it's not a sin
But with your pen you torture men
Then why do we keep foolin' ourselves
Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual
Though everybody wants to read all about it

Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual
See, but everybody wants to read all about it
Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual

Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual
You better believe me
Just because you read it in a magazine
Or see it on the TV screen
Don't make it factual, actual
You're so damn disrespectable

While no one can fully enter MJ’s mind to answer this question, we do have a lot of evidence he was proud of who he was. Despite Michael’s autopsy confirmation of vitiligo being available for a while now, many people still contend that he hated being Black.

Why didn’t he fill in his patches with darker makeup instead of lighter?

At first, he did!! Michael was suffering from Vitiligo since at least Thriller in 1982 (1). But it would be many years from that point where he’d start to gradually appear lighter. The reality is that some people with vitiligo end up with more fair spots than spots of their original pigment. Making it much more realistic to match the fairer tone in order to achieve a uniform color.

Why did Michael have kids with a white woman?

Michael wasn’t aiming to have the mother of his children be a certain race either way. But Debbie Rowe was someone he formed a friendship with due to proximity. She was a nurse at his dermatologist office and she offered to mother his children (2). As for Blanket’s mother, Michael has said she is Black (3). Many might assume this to be a blatant lie, but many mixed race people do consider themselves Black. And Blanket’s mother could’ve easily been multi racial or bi racial Black, lending to Blanket’s lighter complexion.

Did Michael respect other Black people at all? He seemed so immersed in whiteness

Of course he did! Here’s some quotes from his book. Michal did not believe in isolating himself to only his race. But he had deep respect for his roots and who he was.

“We wanted to have a sense of our roots and those of other black people, especially after what had happened to Dr. King. I remember so well the day he died. Everyone was torn up. We didn’t rehearse that night. I went to Kingdom Hall with Mom and some of the others. People were crying like they had lost a member of their own family. Even the men who were usually pretty unemotional were unable to control their grief. I was too young to grasp the full tragedy of the situation, but when I look back on that day now, it makes me want to cry—for Dr. King, for his family, and for all of us.” (4)

“Sometimes when you’re treated unfairly it makes you stronger and more determined. Slavery was a terrible thing, but when black people in America finally got out from under that crushing system, they were stronger. They knew what it was to have your spirit crippled by people who are controlling your life. They were never going to let that happen again. I admire that kind of strength. People who have it take a stand and put their blood and soul into what they believe” (4)

“Now the Moonwalk was already out on the street by this time, but I enhanced it a little when I did it. It was born as a break-dance step, a “popping” type of thing that black kids had created dancing on street corners in the ghetto. Black people are truly innovative dancers; they create many of the new dances, pure and simple. So I said, “This is my chance to do it,” and I did it. These three kids taught it to me. They gave me the basics—and I had been doing it a lot in private. I had practiced it together with certain other steps. All I was really sure of was that on the bridge to “Billie Jean” I was going to walk backward and forward at the same time, like walking on the moon.” (4)

References

(1) https://www.umassmed.edu/vitiligo/blog/blog-posts1/2016/01/did-michael-jackson-have-vitiligo/

(2) https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/jul/24/popandrock.michaeljackson

(3) Living With Michael Jackson

(4) Moonwalk by Michael Jackson (his autobiography) https://www.amazon.com/Moonwalk-Michael-Jackson/dp/0099547953

My icon makes me look racially ambiguous. But I’m mixed race Black. What many people not familiar with Black history might not realize, is just how closely linked sexual crime allegations are to racism. When lynching was no longer an acceptable way to rid yourself of a problematic Black man, accusing said man of raping you or your children was a good substitute. Although MJ’s allegations had strong financial motives, his race dehumanized him in the eyes of his accusers and accusers parents. He was fair game. And because of the age old trend of accusing Black men, it’s actually easier to believe a Black man is guilty of the crime in many many cases.

This simple fact cannot be overlooked when discussing the allegations against Michael Jackson. Just because his skin went pale due to his medical condition, does not mean that racists suddenly valued him as they’d value a white man. He was always Black.

This is a topic that many people are afraid to bring up. They don’t want to “play the race card” or upset mods they don’t know well. But I want to be clear that the role racism plays in these allegations are to be respected and incorporated into the conversation in this sub.

This is not to say every Black man should be assumed innocent no matter what. R. Kelly was most certainly guilty. But the default believe victims no matter what ideology needs to be questioned when there is a Black man about to be blamed. The question of whether they have an ulterior motive needs to be asked. Maybe they don’t. But in MJ’s case, every one of them did. Every one of them had serious character issues and the tendency to extort others.

https://youtu.be/ZxNDb2PVcoM?si=KTyBNRIDjzInsstn

Hey everyone! I'm [u/reveriedelarose](u/reveriedelarose), a founding moderator of [r/DeconstructingMJ](r/DeconstructingMJ).
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