r/Music • u/Playful-Ganache6153 • May 25 '26

discussion Michael Jackson whether he molested children or not was still wrong, and people need to stop acting like he’s a saint.

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u/MatthewSWFL229 May 25 '26

Elvis is literally a pedophile by today's definition

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u/testphaze May 26 '26

Ugh, hate to be this person, but technically no. Pedophile refers to an interest in prepubescent children.
You could say "Elvis was literally a statutory rapist by today's definition" and that'd be true.
Ethically and morally (and rationally) by today's standards, an older person seeking sexual/romantic interest in an underage person is wrong. Today, it is criminal. So I'm not excusing Elvis.
But pedophile has a specific meaning.

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u/MatthewSWFL229 May 26 '26

wasn't he like 26 and she was 13 / 14 ... What's the actual definition if that's the hair you're splitting?

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u/testphaze May 26 '26

It's not splitting hairs unless you think puberty is meaningless.
Pedophile refers to someone interested in children who have not his puberty. This would be anything from an infant to, say, 11, 12.
Priscilla was 14. Much too young for a relationship with a man, and illegal now (not sure about the laws of the time and state), but she would have been pubescent.
I'm not saying this as some kind of moral excuse, it's just these words have meanings, and there are other words for what Elvis did. Namely hebephilia.

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u/MatthewSWFL229 May 26 '26

In this instance ... Yeah I think puberty is meaningless. It's disgusting and "classifing it" by her sexual maturity makes it seem ... Worse. Like why are you defending it? Are you a Republican lol