How does Maureen Dowd drop Woody Allen in the same "monster" category as Harvey Weinstein and Bill Cosby, who both sexually attacked scores of women? The Allen-Farrow case is murky at best, with their eyewitness son Moses Farrow saying the alleged molestation never happened, and that the child abuser in that dwelling was in fact Mia Farrow.
This happened in the midst of an ugly child custody battle, and such charges are common in such cases. I wasn't on the scene, and neither was Dowd--but Moses Farrow was. Sorry, but this comes across as a cheap, piling on smear.
282
I know someone who knew Jackson for years who says it's all untrue. I trust this person to be honest with me.
Jackson was never convicted, but he has been vilified ruthlessly.
The Woody Allen situation is similarly unproven. The accusations and the refutations all seem quite possible.
If you really want to focus on prominent sex criminals, let's start with Donald tRump, who also raped children on Epstein's plane, who publicly expressed sexual interest in his own daughter...
The New York Times has a responsibility to report on the dire events of the day, not to use the past to distract from the present!
This article is irresponsible journalism on a number of levels. Shame on you NYTimes. Do you have the integrity to post this criticism?
79
This is a good occasion to point out that at least 1 in 6 men in the US report being sexually abused as children. Among gay men it’s 1 in 4.
These statistics only tally men who actually report the abuse to a mental health or legal professional. Most men probably never do, so the real numbers are likely much higher.
Of course adding other forms af abuse would raise the numbers higher still.
The river of male suffering in this country is wide and deep and almost completely hidden. Yet, as we are seeing so much these days, it drives a great deal of visibly destructive behavior, with enablers all around.
We have got to do a better job of helping males of all ages build healthy inner lives, and paths to authentic expression.
65
Will Bryan Singer be allowed to work?
That’s what everyone should be asking themselves right now.
As of now he’s green lighted for his next film.
You reading this, what will you do?
17
It seems too easy to blame the parents. These boys were aspiring actor and dancer and here it seemed a fabulously rich and famous (and dazzlingly generous, it appeared) celebrity was offering their sons career connctions and professional leads (and opportunity) folks like themselves could only dream about. MJ knew what he was doing.
20
Whatever else this story demonstrates, it is rife with examples of inadequate or harmful parenting: Michael Jackson's abusive parents, himself as a questionable parent of 3 children, the deluded parents of the young children he allegedly abused. I am always reminded of the logic circle leading back to the crucial necessity of good parenting for every child.
45
For me, it is all good that everyone be outed and we know all facts. Perhaps humans can evolve. Nah, just kidding. The cults are too deep in their heads. Money is the true god and many prefer delusion to experiencing the uncertainty of reality.
Has Maureen considered what is going on in the Catholic church? I suppose that is why MJ is an issue for her. Everyone is doing it, is what we are to surmise.
8
These two mothers should not be shamed. They should be prosecuted.
31
Ms. Dowd chooses not to mention religious leaders, Boy Scout leaders, teachers, and other adults in asymmetrical power relationships with children. This is exacerbated by the simultaneous coverage of the defrocking of Theodore McCarrick.
23
The responsibility is Michael Jackson's. He is the perpetrator.
His childhood trauma likely is a contributing factor, although there are many people who do not repeat their childhood history. Overall it is helpful to talk about these problems as sexual abuse leaves so many painful scars and affects the targets' wider circle of family and friends. There is not enough resources for this devastating problem.
30
For those who remain supporters or are unconvinced/ on the fence, the TV documentary by British journalist Martin Bashir (available on You Tube) is required viewing. In it, Jackson squirms as he repeatedly defends the practice of sleepovers and his obsession with children not his own. In one very disturbing scene, he is holding hands with a young boy who is visibly distressed as Jackson
dismisses criticism of his behaviors. Stomach churning stuff. The fantasy that was Neverland only serves as a physical reminder of the bubble/ delusional state of this man-child's pathology. The trial, the settlements, this documentary. The King of Pop does not get a pass, even in death.
67
It’s felt strange to me since the 90s how the world still celebrates him and is cool playing his music. Just one of those things that’s always made me feel like the world is crazy.
51
Another truly tragic story of how young victims are seduced; and their parents too eager to deny, deny, deny what is right before their eyes. This is the story of sexual abuse and predation; the story keeps getting revealed — Sandusky, for one glaring example — and people just do not want to believe it. Despite the fact that over and over again the story repeats. And everyone is shocked and dismayed and horrified. Until the next revelation. The effects of trauma are now very well known; everyone should make themselves aware of them, especially parents. Mental health professionals have been shouting in despair for decades. Please wake up. Stop protecting your sensibilities, deal with your own trauma if necessary, and start protecting the children. All adults need to wake up.
43
Sexual abuse is a particularly egregious abuse of power, but there are other ways in which power is abused that must be called out and the instigators held accountable. Due process is essential, but so is support for those who come forward with reports of ANY kind of abuse. When someone comes forward with a report of being assaulted in the distant past, support them until you have reason to do otherwise. When staff come forward with a report that a powerful Senator was abusive at work, support them until you have reason to do otherwise. It's not just pop stars who are so often given a pass.
15
This article makes an important point about our hypocrisies.
But I'm not sure why Woody Allen is grouped here with Cosby, Weinsten, Epstein, Singer and Kelly.
Far as I know, he's had just a single allegation against him and was found innocent after an involved trial. No one else has surfaced to accuse Woody Allen, and no pattern whatsoever has emerged.
The other men referenced have all have multiple accusations over the course of many years by numerous victims who are clearly to be taken seriously.
Justice there must be served, but justice is not served by the pile-on mentality.
102
I'm surprised at how many people are using the comments section to defend Woody Allen. Their reaction only proves Dowd's point: we are seduced by artists we admire.
He may be innocent. We don't know. But to claim he is innocent, as if this were clear, ignores the very real fact of his relationship with what was, in effect, his adoptive daughter. Technically, it was legal, but the realm of common sense and life experience suggests a rather perverse tendency, no? Normal it surely is not.
69
The titillation of celebrity might distract from the fact that child sex abuse is far from rare. Statistics show that it is in fact quite common, even endemic. For every Michael Jackson there are perhaps a million others like him or worse. It's certainly not fame or fortune that shields them.
A significant number of the abusers are family members. The child may be accused of lying when they tell a parent of the abuse, further traumatizing the victim. It doesn't take a bribe for the parent to ignore or deny the child's accusations.
Outrage and disgust are appropriate reactions, but how can something so horrific be so pervasive?
14
This is heartbreaking story, Michael Jackson a brilliant man , singer, choreographer was abused by his Father , is long gone.Then there are others currently who are living and ruining thousands of lives.
Let`s focus on the President who is in the path of destruction of millions of lives and the lies the man is spewing out every second of the minute. Yet his supporters and cabinet members are turning a blind eye to his path of destruction.
25
It's unfortunate that we, the public, associate successful artistic genius (or other great talents, athleticism, or even wealth) with personal moral character. It happens over and over again and there is no basis for it.
It's time to clarify our thinking - appreciate the artistic genius for what it contributes to society, but prosecute bad actors as simply bad actors, the same as other bad actors.
He may have been both choreographic/musical genius and pedophile. Appreciate the genius but condemn and punish the sociopathy.
11
Haven’t these allegations already been tried in court multiple times and thrown out?
14
This is a cautionary tale to all the mothers who are blindsided by glitter and gold, I do ask them please don`t allow any strangers to take over the well being of your children.
Now the defrocking of the Priest , and the protection of all of them by the others, isa criminal behavior.
This has been going on for centuries and still are,.
Please Parents don`t get blindsided by all that glitters, protect your children and they will thank you at the end.
11
Forgive me: I just landed on this article after reading about Trump-Russia. So I was struck by the quote above, "What you'd think would be standard kind of instincts and judgment seemed to go out the window." And, "you can see how grotesquely his fame, and our worship of fame, distorts and excuses and enables evil." And, "he was a genius and we were just nobodies." So maybe this self-hatred and this appetite for a celebrity's attention make many people vulnerable to a con man's cheap ministrations.
22
It was appalling that a certain soft drink maker couldn’t resist retro-style labeling beverages with this iconic figure just months ago. Are you kidding!?
12
I'm a psychiatrist and treat adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse every day. the willful ignoring or Jackson's well documented sexual predations of children by the culture at large appalls and outrages me. it is common knowledge and yet what I so often hear people say is "well, that's true, but I love his music and he was an important part of my childhood." what they fail to acknowledge is that he was an "important part" of so many boys' childhoods in such a sadistic and nefarious way. does his celebrity outweigh their suffering? it literally sickens me whenever I hear his music or see him splashed across PR or advertising fluff as if he's a sympathetic waif compromised and abused by his early celebrity and the greed of his handlers. I would only support the financial exploits of his estate if every copper penny of the proceeds went to the victims of his - and the survivors of other pedophiles' - cruelties.
55
This is nonsense. Jackson was not a child molester. These two men are anomalies out of his many friendships with kids, such as Cory Feldman, Brett Barnes, Macaulay Culkin, Emmanuel Lewis, a burned boy Michael befriended called Dave Dave, Ryan White, and others. Corey Feldman is on tape stating over and over Michael never tried to give him drugs, alcohol, never touched him inappropriately and that he helped him tremendously. These two men now making accusations 10 years after Jackson’s death are doing this film for money. Dowd and Orth are a disgrace for promoting these unsubstantiated claims.
10
Sorry, but I never liked Michael Jackson, his music, persona or anything about pop idolatry. I love music, it’s one of life’s true joys. But give me a break, these women are beyond stupid. I thought they were criminally complicit then and even more now.
5
Throwing Woody Allen into the monster mash was a very Maureen Dowd kind of bombshell. I like Woody Allen, I love his earlier movies, as a person he's just mesmerizing and he has addressed all the accusations against him in very believable ways. Just as James Levine did. But the New York Times has made up its mind, and there are no dissenting views allowed. It breaks my heart about James Levine, who vociferously denied anything he did was less than consensual.
37
One of the main guys the article fails to mention lost in court already and testified for Michael Jackson that he was never molested. I guess to the times that doesn't suggest his credibility is shot. Times also failed to mention that the settlement family since Jackson's death admitted to lying.
There just isn't evidence that Jackson molested anyone including these two. A investigation would probably prove as it did when MJ went to trial great financial motivation. MJ is guilty of one thing, being overly familiar with people. He was way to nice and trusted to many people.
6
"Ensorcelling their sons" is a new one on me which I don't believe will be entering my vocabulary.
10
After reading a CNN story announcing Jackson's death I posted a comment.
TBH, it was inflammatory but I don't believe it was racist or otherwise a hate-filled post, it was more of a "how can u people just ignore the evidence this guy is child rapist?"
The anger and response was swift and severe and my post was deleted.
I get it though, only because one of my childhood hero's opened his autobiography with "Show me a hero and I'll show you a bum"
While some of the #me2 has caused me to occasionally roll my eyes; the responses Jackson, Weinstein, Allen, Cosby and their ilk is long overdue.
3
Gee, Ms Dowd, are we we to belieyve that Michael Jackson and other celebrities coted in this op-ed did not have any more of a moral compass than do alley cats? This is shocking.
3
Journalists need to stop prosecuting citizens. Mr. Jackson was acquitted in a court of law. I would expect his estate to sue you also. You are hiding behind a shield that deserves to be penetrated. The NYT is not doing a service when undermining the rule of law.
7
If your mother is willing to sell you for a glass of champagne and a limo ride, how slowly, quickly, or if at all, we "believe" victims barely makes it way into the discussion. What should have been stopped occurred long before the molestation: two utterly useless mothers being challenged for child abuse; however, there is no way to "prevent" or "catch" women exploiting children: women wouldn't allow it. Whom do you blame, the nostrils or the coke? Whom do you think could have kept Michael playing with himself? But, then again, we can Catholic about the whole thing and forget about it.
2
The most fundamental law of a moral society is that children MUST be protected. Upon reading Dowd's column and the public responses I find myself wistfully fantasizing about the social benefits of chemical castration.
3
I couldn't get a ticket to the screening. I heard about it though. Apparently they had a health care station in the lobby in case the film traumatized anyone in the audience. I once saw a woman faint during a "Sweeney Todd" screening. I can only imagine what this film might do to a child abuse victim.
The odd thing about it though is the film wasn't explicitly billed for what it was. Sundance rarely provides descriptions. Imdb certainly didn't put a warning sign on the film. Their one sentence synopsis didn't suggest a hint of menace behind the film. You almost assume the absence of information was intentional. The filmmakers were saving the shock effect for the premiere.
That said, did anyone really believe Michael Jackson's story in the first place? If so, who are you? I remember hearing about Jackson's reputation sometime in high school. My friends and I all agreed. If someone is emotionally disturbed enough to want to create a private theme park for the reasons Jackson stated, they shouldn't be allowed around children anyway. Child abuse is almost a sequitur.
Why the legal system failed the children so horrendously is an open question. His pedophilia was not left unexamined. Turning a blind eye seems a little too polite a phrase in this instance.
8
" soundtrack of our lives"
Hardly. Massively overrated and pumped by MTV when it felt guilty about showing mostly white people.
In light of the fun in Virginia, shouldn't we also be condemning Michael the Pervert for wearing whiteface?
3
Woody Allen? Really?
35
Why is Woody Allen's name included on a list of serial abusers? As far as I know, Mr. Allen has been accused of molesting one child. Were there more accusations of which I am unaware?
32
I object to the use of the term “perversion,“ both in the subtitle and in the text. What’s wrong with a little good old-fashioned perversion?
Michael Jackson was not guilty of “perversion“ – – he was guilty of committing sex crimes.
6
Let's play, "Which doesn't belong, and why?" Woody Allen in the same category as alleged SERIAL sex abusers Jackson, Cosby, Weinstein, et al. Not fair, Ms. Dowd. Not fair.
31
Extreme emotionalism is damaging America. Many people, instead of employing logic, reason, and evidence-based decisions are detrimentally relying on emoting to form conclusions about important matters.
Michael Jackson was acquitted of the sex crimes that he was accused of perpetrating. That means a jury of his peers examined the evidence, in detail, and determined that Jackson could not be convicted. Yet, decades later, even after Jackson's death, there are some who are insisting, without evidence beyond what they say, that Jackson is guilty.
What is the ultimate point of all this? It is not like Jackson can be punished now, as he is dead. Do the accusers want people to stop listening to his music? If so, why?
Jackson's music and the works of other people can stand on their own. Enjoying Michael Jackson's music does not mean one condones sexual abuse.
Are we to collectively throw away the works of those who have been accused of doing wrong? The Dewey Decimal System, devised by Melvil Dewey, who died in 1931, has been accused of abusing women; should we dump this much-used book classification system just because its inventor may have done wrong? Adolf Hitler was a strong proponent of the Autobahn, Germany's interstate highway system; should everyone in Germany refuse to use these major roads? If a medical researcher discovered the cure for cancer, but was accused of wrongdoing, should the world reject this cure?
Let us solve problems with thougtful reason, not emotions.
10
It's instructive that at the top of the NYT homepage there's this column about Michael Jackson abusing children and also an article about Cardinal McCarrick abusing children. Both of them got away with years of evil. Why is it that for some people the former should be condemned yet they hold a different standard for the later? Raping a child is wrong, period! As a society we need to insist on one standard - pedophiles will be held accountable regardless of whether they wear one glove, a collar, are sports stars, or whatever.
3
Where did Michael become a pedophile ? At home ? Do the police keep tabs on the rest of the family ?
Just more evidence that many people who are parents shouldn't be parents. The idea that you'd leave your child for a sleep over with an adult is insane to any sane parent
15
As horrible as these celebrities actions are, if the accusations are true, Ms. Dowd should spend her efforts on a much more serious issue: priests who sexually molest young parishioners and acolytes. The issue with celebrities is hundreds; in the church, it is thousands. Furthermore, a priest is a personal guide, a moral beacon assumed by children to light the proper path to take through life. Let’s write about the more serious problem, not the one in the last documentary you viewed.
2
I am disappointed you chose to speak on and side with a story told by two PROVEN fradulent men, rather than doing proper research of the official court and FBI documents before speaking out. 10+ years of research has told me that he's innocent. You should do yours, too.
3
I question how much Safechuck and Robson and their mothers were paid to be in this film? I also question why Reed made this film and why people would take their time to see it? This cloud has been around Jackson for as long as I can remember and why keep bringing it up again and again.
2
I think it was rather obvious that Michael Jackson had an affinity for young boys from the description of Never Never Land. I mean who has a theme park to attract youngsters on their own property? I do partially blame his horrible father and his stress as a child star for some of his behavior. But not that of a pedophile.
If it was obvious to millions of Jackson fans, then it should have been extremely obvious to the parents of the abused. Once again a celebrity gets away with this. And this comes on the heels of many Catholics like myself who simply can’t bear what is going on with priests. I recently found out my brother was sexually abused multiple times when he was just 11. I no longer go to church and now my Michael Jackson albums are in the trash. I guess I didn’t want to believe it either because his music is pure genius.
5
Michael Jackson is without a doubt a pedophile as are most of the other celebrities you mentioned in your column. However, I think the jury is still out on Woody Allen since the accusations against him are largely unproven. I am a survivor of child sexual abuse by my own father and based on everything I’ve read about Allen’s case, I believe that Mia Farrow may have been responsible for planting this horrific story in her young daughter’s mind as a way to get back at Allen for his unseemly affair with Ms. Farrow’s adult daughter Soon-Yi Previn. I don’t endorse Allen’s relationship with Ms. Previn (who has been his wife for the past 20 years), but I don’t think it’s the same thing as molesting your own child. Also, I think if Woody Allen were indeed a pedophile, he would molested other children (as my father did). To date, I have not read about any other people who have accused him of child sexual abuse.
28
Michael Jackson asked the ambulance team to grant him his final wish that was being rushed to the childrens ward
2
There’s something seductive about getting attention from a celebrity - basking in the reflected glow of their fame can be like a moth and candle. Even a benign person can find fame distorts the world around them. For a manipulator, it’s a tool to get what they want.
So let’s reflect on our celebrity president while we’re at it. You see the same sort of mindless adulation and subservience in his followers. The documentaries to come are going to be even more harrowing.
This isn’t to call Trump a pedophile, but he is a predator. Being a celebrity is a key part of his brand.
3
And now we know why MJ went through all of those face changes and whatnot and ultimately killed himself. He could not stand the Man in the Mirror. In fact, I believe he wrote a song about it. But as we sang along to it, we thought it was about us and couldn't imagine it was about him.
9
Please,please,please leave out Woody Allen from these horrible lists. He was found not guilty after years of psychiatric evaluations by the courts and legal actions. His vindictive ex , Farrow, had a supple accomplice in Ronan. Woody's support included Moses who actually was present and said nothing ever happened.
What amazes me is the actors who have worked with Mr. Allen over the years and have now said they will not work with him again. How is this possible considering NOT ONE person has said that he ever did anything sexually inappropriate to them in all the years he's been in the business. That alone should ring some bells about his innocence. He is a genius film maker and writer. Leave him be and for those actors please apologize.
30
Strenously object to the inclusion of Woody Allen on lists that include Epstein and Weinstein, among others. While the age gap between Soon-yi and Woody is huge, and their "hanging out" seems to have preceded her 18th birthday, they are together decades later, and Soon-yi objects to any inclusion on lists of victims. Why do people keep folding this incident into lists? And Ronan Farrow's crusade may have uncovered some real monsters, but that doesn't mean he is always right. This reminds me of the Al Franken take-down, which seems like a total Salem-style witch-hunt, to use the phrase in its true, pre-Trumpian meaning.
26
Perhaps Maureen missed her one crown jewel and could add to his list. Her epiphany is genuine yet overextends. Perhaps worship of fame can be shortened to worship period. That is where it all breaks down and recurs without apparent learning. Her list, along with Jackson, of Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, Woody Allen, Jeffrey Epstein and Bryan Singer can include the Catholic clergy including the Vatican hierarchy or any other religion, academic, entertainment, or political institution in addition to countless women, as abuse is an equal opportunity employer.
When we set others above to the extent we masque, cover up and hide truth, we allow the underside to infiltrate and engulf. We do it now with politicians with brazen personalities and voices to match. Suddenly we elevate and grant power and mistakenly follow and then absolve, creating an endless cycle of narcissism and its eventual aftermath of discarded carcasses and human souls destroyed at the alter of popularity utilizing the dagger of worship.
3
It's unconscionable to casually mix in Woody Allen here, with no proven wrongdoing on his part.
Just as horrible it is to ignore the victims of those monsterous abusers, it's shameful to destroy innocent people's lives and reputations.
28
While I agree that the mothers are to blame for not protecting their children, where are the fathers? Did he only choose children who had no fathers in the picture? Didn't any Dad say, heck, no way am I going to allow my child to do this?
4
Retribution in the 2018-2019 is arbitrary. Al Franken had to be crushed. Louis CK, banished. Aziz, barely slipping by. Catholic priests, hush. Michael Jackson...genius. We have to learn to face the fact that power and fame are corrupting. Those that can handle the kind of fame we give are rare and exceptional. The human condition is not going to change. We are guilty of putting them up in the clouds and they are guilty of abusing the power we give them. There has to be a more comprehensive way of understanding and dealing with abuses. I didn't see the movie but it would be clear to just about anyone that Michael Jackson had a psychological problem. He was one of the greatest pop musicians of all time but he shouldn't get a free pass. In the same breath, Al Franken and LCK should be allowed to address the public and go back to work.
2
This article makes me glad I've never been interested in celebrities and never listened to Michael Jackson's music. Society's unhealthy obsession with celebrity is one of the reasons we have a cruel narcissist as president.
7
2019 marks the 10th anniversary of Michael Jackson's death. Therefore is a documentary like Leaving Neverland really necessary? What is America supposed to learn from it--that Michael Jackson was weird? Are we supposed trash someone who isn't here to defend himself? Get ready for a major lawsuit from Jackson's family.
3
How are these mothers getting a pass, from anyone? Of course there are insidious 'groomers' to be found in any profession, from teacher to doctor. And I can understand how these pedophiles subtly insinuate themselves, over time. But expensive wine and hotel rooms? Meeting favorite movie stars? Limousines? This is outright and blatant pay to play behavior. Those women sold their children to the highest bidder. I find them more reprehensible than Michael Jackson: one might argue that he, at least, had an illness.
3
Any adult who preys upon innocent children, whether rich and famous or not, should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Of course, the sad truth about rich and famous pedophiles like the King of Pop is that they can hire the best lawyers to protect them and offer generous out-of-court financial settlements to their victims (and victims’ families). Michael Jackson, now deceased for nearly a decade, will never see a day in jail for his crimes. Meanwhile, those upon whom he preyed are serving lifetime sentences of shame and grief.
4
Child sexual abuse remains a confusing behavior for most of us. The criminality of adult-child sexual behaviors is only a recent advance in human rights but has gained support as a part of our collective criminal codes here in the US and Europe. Children and women have rights. But think of it – we have a long way to go. Some of the icons of fame and fortune have been “taken down” in recent years – most of them, as we have read, deny the allegations – Cosby, Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Roger Ailes, Charlie Rose, Woody Allen… but assigning criminality in law enforcement and local court oversight to bring offenders to justice has largely been a failure. Now – many lawyers have found ways to sue in civil court. And maybe that brings some relief to victim to find some relief for the wrong done to them. We need a “collective education” about – say, FBI profiling methods in identifying and catching sexual predators – and murders, as their data info has become extensive. TV shows are filled with computer-designed storyline “gotcha victories” in catching the “bad guys”. In truth – nothing could be further from the truth. But one the most troubling aspects of sexual crimes in the US is intra-familial sexual abuse. That this is common, rarely reported scares people. Again, we have a long way to go.
1
Those who enabled him should answer for this. But he was the golden goose so why end it. His agents, publicists and various hangers on all had to know but said and did nothing. Sounds like quite the opposite. They affirmatively fought against any attempt at exposing these crimes. Awful. Really awful
3
"Man in the Mirror" is one of my favorite songs and always will be. One can only speculate about who Michael Jackson saw in the mirror. Many people saw him as the child man that was his public persona. Did he package himself to dupe others or, was he also a dupe of the persona created by him (and others) for him? I will always remember him dangling his infant child out a window for fans to see. That was a very, dangerous, and infantile thing for him to have done.
2
Being a celebrity creates a "halo" effect.
If one is successful in aspects of life that many ordinary people envy ($$$) or enjoy (entertainers), then the "halo" carries over to other aspects of the celebrity's life. Unsavory aspects are overlooked, downplayed and/or forgiven.
Michael Jackson is merely the latest example. I trust the readers can think of many more examples without much effort.
Michael Jackson was an extremely gifted entertainer and he was obviously strange in his behaviors and lifestyle..As an abused child himself, (he realized enough to despise his father) who started him in show business when he was six years old, he was obviously tying to find the innocence of childhood he never knew. I can never believe he sexually abused these kids though he may have slept in the same bed with them and infantilized himself through this kind of deviance. Yes, he was ill, perverted, but abused them?? I cannot believe that.. I will not see this film..Its too messy on both sides of the issue, and Ms. Dowd's clever gossipy piece does little to add to the truth of thi trsgedy of his life.
7
After this documentary, the revelations of the #metoo movement, and the multiple credible accusations of sexual abuse against well known actors, musicians, sport figures and others celebrated for their talent or acumen, I am beginning to fear that sexual abuse of those who are in a less powerful position is an expected prerequisite high levels of achievement. I hope I am wrong.
Looks like the parents of Safechuck and Robson are to blame for the chid abuse as well. They didn't use their common sense to protect their kids.
3
It is reckless of Maureen Dowd to off handedly tar and feather Woody Allen as a "monster(s)"in a column about Michael Jackson's egregious behavior. There has been one allegation of sexual assault against Allen in his life, one instance. The court-appointed Yale psychologists who examined seven year old Dylan Farrow did not find her credible , submitting that she appeared to have been coached. A look at the 60 Minutes piece on Allen at the time and the refutation of Dylan's claim by brother Moses Farrow -- who was in the house at the time -- certainly lend credibility to the picture of Mia as someone who could well have planted the story in her daughter's head. Woody passed a lie detector test; Mia never took one.The allegation would not appear to be persuasive to the New York state adoption authorities who okayed Allen and his wife adopting two children. There is, at the very least, a lot of room for doubt, that this incident ever happened. Woody Allen will be saddled with this probably false accusation, for the rest of his life.
29
Like many others, I grew up with Michael Jackson’s music. In fact, I fell under the spell of him and his brothers back when they were the Jackson 5. But I'm going to choose to put my head in the sand on this one and continue snapping my fingers to Mr. Jackson's many hits. Why? Because I want to and, in part, because this documentary -- even if true -- has a bad smell to it. If feels opportunistic as Michael is indeed dead, and, once again, the boys or their parents or both will benefit from their association with the pop star. If they wanted to hang him out to dry, they should have done so when he was alive instead of accepting obscene amounts of money from him. And, no, no parent in their right mind would allow their child to sleep in the same bed with an adult. I'm not saying MJ didn't do the things of which he is accused. I'm just saying I'm going to compartmentalize his bad acts and talent and continue to enjoy and salute the latter. We have much bigger fish to fry. Fish that are still alive in fact, e.g., the Catholic Church. How is it that priests and bishops have gotten away with raping young boys and nuns for decades or covering it up, or both, yet the Church still exists? People still attend mass even though it's been proven that officials at the highest levels knew what was going on. Apparently, fame worship is not the only thing that causes mothers – and fathers – to fail to protect their children.
1
Yes, celebrity supercedes criminality—and sadly so does religious status.
3
I see several commenters claim MJ bleached his skin to become white. He was diagnosed with Vitiligo in 1981. Isn’t this a fact? Why is this story stilll going around.
7
Sophisticated tastemakers prohibitively supporting convicted child molester Roman Polanski. Yet the same ilk typically dismissing common perceived star struck, grifting white stage moms as targeting gifted moonwalking pedophile. Class, racial issues abounding.
2
It’s an absolute disgrace that you put Woody Allen in your list of perverts.
35
I stopped reading Ms. Dowd's latest column when she included Woody Allen on her list of "monsters."
29
Michael Jackson was a pedophile.
Why does anything more need to be said?
4
But but He's Peter Pan so molesting kids is OK!
1
For some reason, the adult Michael Jackson, from the time he hit my "radar" with his album "Off The Wall" in 1979 (I was unaware of his 4 previous efforts) I was repulsed by him and his music. For all the adulation, I just didn't see it. I didn't like his voice, the songs left me flat, and his whole persona seemed more about "the show" than the music. He just struck me as phony. Combined with the phony military costumes, the crotch-grabbing, and one glove, and his obviously weird living and attraction to children, I just didn't and never "got it".
Then, when he introduced blatantly anti-Semitic lyrics, any chance (which was little) was gone. He was anathema.
Usually, you feel sorry when an entertainer dies before their time, even if you didn't care for their art, but I don't. He was a blight.
5
Hey, are we going to let Elisabeth Taylor off the hook? And all the other celebrities, whose endorsement of Jackson made it so much easier for the general public to accept the perversions. ? So many people famous and infamous and just plain folks take character credit for the aberrations they tolerate in their colleagues and friends, because to condemn them is simply prudish, a salient aspect of the middle-class mind. Acceptance puts one above the hoi-polloi. Theater, cinema, art thrive in a swamp where money and power buy sex. It is so because there are so many artists knocking at the door of every casting director, producer, or angel. Among the plethora of talent why wouldn't a director--or anyone in power--not choose those who didn't balk when he/she reached for their genitalia?
4
Hi, Maureen,
You bang the heavy mallet: "Guilty! Guilty as charged!"
But Jackson was never found guilty, and as you said, one of the boys even testified on his behalf.
How can you be so sure? 100%?
It might be more convincing if someone in his family or his ex-wife Presley came forward and said something rather damning. His own children do not.
I think you're part of the MeToo Movement!
I'm part of the LeaveMeOut Movement!
8
Jackson was a child superstar. That's why he befriended other child stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, the boy from Oliver and McCauley Culkin. His experience stunted him. In his mind he never grew up...like Peter Pan in Neverland. He probably saw children as his peers as opposed to prey. Show business can really screw people up...especially children.
7
One thing to this day I never Understood. first a 31 year old man sharing a bed with a child, and Parents being ok with it.
I don't know what Michael was into or what he did, but as a father of three there is no way I would have allowed this to happen. I don't want to hear about StarStruck, or Limos or expensive trips No way No how with my child!
9
"Reed is a Brit who made several documentaries about terrorism."
The documentarian's background is apt: child abuse and neglect, and domestic abuse, ARE forms of terrorism, albeit on a more personal scale.
I encourage all touched by this article or the film to read (and re-read) Judith Herman's still-relevant and important book,
Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence -- From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror.
Note, especially, her review and discussion of how and why traumatic violence is so readily ignored or denied.
4
I've often wondered how it was that Mr. Jackson wasn't immediately thrown in jail and abandoned by fans and industry alike after dangling a young child out of a window and being photographed doing so.
The more often celebrities get away with domestic violence and other forms of abuse and violation, the more they give the green light to everyday low-brows to do the same.
How about a "Me too" movement for victim-survivors of child abuse and neglect and other forms of domestic violence?
5
To quote Stevie Wonder, heaven help us all. With my eyes and mind wide open to the allegations made against Michael Jackson and having witnessed his personal changes, I will continue to be uplifted by the music he made with his brothers and others as I have been for nearly 50 years.
6
My only problem with this essay is how much Woody Allen doesn't fit into the category you've thrust him. He has one and only one accusation of abuse against him. The police investigated and could not find enough reasonable evidence to arrest. The accusation came from Mia Farrow from whom he was recently estranged.
I understand the compulsion for public convictions, because it happens all too often that malefactors escape justice. But this particular case, it seems to me, has suffered from the beginning from a lack of objectivity. The impetus for malefaction in the Allen case has always been equal on Farrow's side as on Allen's, without enough evidence on either side for us to make a reasonable judgement.
43
@Richard Ackermann
I am glad that others noted the fault of including Allen in the mix of "monsters". Early evidence and medical information has been surpressed but conclusions were that the child's memories had been planted.
27
I was disabled in the early 90s and moved to a site on Figueroa Mtn. about 15 miles past Neverland.
Occasionally I would be out walking my dog when a couple of tourists would drive up to ask where "Michael Jackson's house was"?
Often these folks were German tourists (in Santa Barbara tourists are treated like kings) so I would point out that they past the guard shack fourteen or fifteen miles back. Jackson's estate was not visible from the road but I often saw it at night when it lit up the area from my elevated perch. The family who sold Jackson part of their ranch for the estate had bulls with huge goiters on them, not what I would call good breeding stock.
In addition to the weird cattle the area upstream was part of the gold rush since mercury had been mined there. I didn't drink the water. Jackson's zoo was known for having problems with their animals.
The whole place was strange and I moved before a year was out, but Jackson always gave me the creeps - I survived a violent assault by a stranger in the late 60s when I was under ten yrs of age, and I still don't understand why people like Jackson. He was not only weird but in my opinion he was not that talented. Money and effects turns too many heads in my opinion.
Lincoln Perry, the actor known by a racist moniker, did a moonwalk decades before Jackson that's far superior. There's a part of a movie on the Internet Archive of it and it's so spectacular that I think it eclipses anything Jackson has even tried.
4
I have (as well as so many others) followed the goings on of this for decades now. Even from far away, the incrimination seemed to be overwhelming. (even just on the face of it)
I am not pointing any finger to the parents, but only can speak for meself. No amount of fame or fortune given to me or me children would have allowed for to lower all of me defenses in protecting the children.
No amount.
6
MJs physician relationship was so bizarre and the docs behavior was as well but if it was not MJ, it would have been malpractice. The government, courts and the demonstrators all played a role and glorified his life.
4
Not to minimize the perversity and absolute abuse of power in show business, but if we are addressing sexual abuse of minors and women, Michael Jackson and company are low hanging fruit. This week’s news in this area, and timely the target of outrage, is clearly the Vatican’s defrocking of Bishop McCarrick and the hundreds of priests identified as sexual abusers and molesters.
8
And we have to wonder why does the Catholic Church continually excuse perversion?
And why are so very many abuses and perversions excused in the name of College Fraternities? Or "gentleman's" clubs?
Maybe the link has more to do with excusing male power and privilege than anything else.
10
It's hard to believe today that any mother would let a grown man dictate that their hotel room should be far away from the room he shares with her child, yet at the time I think the world was convinced MJ was a man-child genius, incapable of hurting a fly, stuck in a weird world between childhood and adulthood because he 'had been robbed of a real childhood'. I too, until recently, was quick to make excuses, and refused to believe that my childhood idol was capable of being such a monster. This is so sad. For his victims in the first place of course, but also for the rest of us who loved him. I feel so stupid now.
7
Oh that "blind eye" problem, when we get around the perceived visionaries who seem to notice us. Parents, protect your children from your ego.
3
Regards to Michael Jackson--the photo that accompanies this opinion piece shows that Jackson was not a normal person. I know it is not normally wise to speak ill of the dead, but the truth does hurt, even if it is in regards to someone who is dead. Jackson was sick, physically and mentally. As to a musical "genius"--he was not. Pete Townshend is a musical genius. He is also a lyrical genius. Whatever talent Michael Jackson had was wasted on his perversion for kids, and his apparent need to become a "white" person.
4
Except for Woody Allen, the people listed along side Michael are either serial offenders or have multiple accusations that follow them. Mr. Allen has only one accuser, has been cleared through multiple investigations, and their exist a clear motive for the one accusers mother to seek jealous revenge. Including Woody Allen’s name with the name of serial predators is unfair and dishonest, these things are not alike.
36
That we willingly hand our children over to monstrous priests, be they dressed in cloth or glitter, gets to that dark part of the human soul, where that which we should protect by instinct, becomes the currency used to buy false salvation or reflected fame.
Speaking in the general, Mr. Jackson was a monster and we all knew it. Our response, instead of acting like instinctive mother bears that rendered him to shreds, was to be thrilled by his glittering glove that struck our good sense stupid and beat it into willing silence.
God save our children from us and how we too often force them to dream anew our failed dreams and created a corrupted feast where these monsters devoured them with abandon, while we devoured the lotus leaves these monsters fed us in return.
5
Did anybody notice the ad for Brilliant Earth diamonds within an inch of the text telling us that Jackson had given this kid a real diamond for a fantasy wedding?
Maybe not everyone gets the same ads, but the tone deafness was as astonishing as our collective blindness
2
"Indeed, the most harrowing part of the new documentary about the shredded lives of two of Jackson’s victims is the complicity of their mothers. Jackson spent as much time grooming the mothers as the sons..."
This is part of a pedophiles MO, whether it be in the church where religion is offered or in a family, to keep the peace, there are always adult accomplices and many of them are in the family. In some societies, pedophilia is sanctioned, by allowing child brides. The fact is that the Jackson abuse went on for years even under media scrutiny and it goes on today in households and schools and churches and so on. And I don't think it will get better with easy access to porn in which abnormal sex acts becomes normalized. Some predators get caught, but a majority of them are operating right under our noses and they pass their trauma onto those they abuse and that is the greatest predictor of a future abuser. Keep your children close and if something seems wrong it usually is. Talk to your children and start talking to them when they are young, because you can't stop it after it has happened, you need to empower kids to come forward before it ever starts.
4
If you were one of the (few) people in America who didn't like the King of Pop (count me in), Jackson always seemed weird beyond words. The bizarre plastic surgeries, the transition from black to kinda white, his "children," and on and on.
The biggest tell of all was an aside in 2005 by the Santa Barbara prosecutor, who actually got a court order to inspect Jackson's, well...junk. There was something "distinctive" to be seen...but no one has ever let the secret slip.
Here's one theory, which may or may not make it through the NYT's filter. Jackson's voice--high, pure, unnaturally high, child-like, yet powerful. The key to his success, along with the moonwalk. A set of billion-dollar pipes. A true miracle.
Or was it?
In the 18th century, there were super-star singers known as castrato. Google the term. Castrato were sterile, but not incapable of actually, well...you know. They were magnets for groupies of the era.
Rewind history to the era of the Jackson Five: big but not THAT big. And whatever success the group had tracked back to a prepubescent's high, bell-like voice. If Michael's voice was allowed to crack, the group was finished.
And so...the first operation and the beginning of Michael's addiction to surgery (his final face a well-document wreck).
A fascination with childhood lost; a kid who never left Neverland. Crime is always encapsulated within tragedy.
Think upon it, ye worshippers of fame.
9
This column is a kick in the stomach- concentrated evil that damaged dozens. Of course, we don't know what was the exact nature of Jackson's childhood.
There may be no excuses, but there are always reasons, and violence and rape begets violence and rape.
Nice change of pace from columns on the evil's of Trump, less concentrated but much wider spread.
I think I'll go read a novel now- something containing whimsy.
2
“Am I going to campaign to have Michael’s name removed from classrooms and his statues removed from shopping malls? No."
The resounding answer should be: "Yes." Power breeds arrogance, greed and contempt. It is up to all of us to do what we can to mitigate these deleterious and malignant offspring.
Consider the celebrities mentioned here and what has happened to them. Consider the pedophile scandals with the Roman Catholic Church (with both boys and girls as victims) and what has happened to many of the priests involved. Consider Sandusky and Paterno at Penn State (statue torn down) and what has happened to them.
Why should Michael Jackson be treated any differently? If we do so, the burden shifts from him to us. We will be hypocrites. Is that what we want for ourselves?
Michael Jackson's contributions to humanity should not be thrown into the abyss. But we should not turn a blind eye to who he was or to what he did. After all, don't we owe that to humanity?
4
Do not include Woody Allen in this list. He is telling the truth.
24
So, is this a film review or social commentary? I'm just asking. One can't assume one knows everything there is to know about Formula One racing from watching one Steve McQueen movie.
7
Besides gun worship, celebrity worship, I think it is a real affliction from which many Americans suffer.
3
I can't believe these "mothers" agreed to be in this film. I doubt they're going to get a lot of positive feedback.
There wasn't much hidden here. I could spot that MJ had serious issues from a very long distance. His behavior, his need to be with children, his Neverland.....if he hadn't been a star he would have been arrested way earlier. Yet the kids own guardians traded their safety for glitz and stuff.
It kind of reminds me of the movie "Doubt." Except that Mother was doing it for her son and not for herself which is almost equally bizarre but less selfish.
2
The MO of pedophiles is to groom the child while also grooming the parents. Michael Jackson did precisely that and the parents handed him their children in exchange for the gifts, flights, etc. which he lavished upon them.
The question to be asked is who molested Michael as a child because the majority of child predators were victims themselves when they were young.
5
If you’re rich and famous in America, the law doesn’t apply to you.
2
Sorry, you lost me at Woody Allen. For a second, I thought I was reading the other Maureen - Orth. Come on, be a professional. Do your research. If nothing else, read Moses Farrow's extremely rational blog post on the matter:
http://mosesfarrow.blogspot.com/2018/05/a-son-speaks-out-by-moses-farrow.html
"It was apparent for decades that Jackson’s cotton-candy lair was sulfurous. But as with other monsters — Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, R. Kelly, Woody Allen, Jeffrey Epstein and Bryan Singer — many turned a blind eye."
22
Why do so many people and parents dare to look "directly into the sun?
The only answer that can be, is that their lives are so trashy and meaningless that "free champagne,free wine, limos and celebrity vibes block out any sense of decency and integrity.
5
Ms, Down, you do a disservice to actual victims by lumping into the "monster" category, together with multiple rapists, Woody Allen? His only "transgression" is the bad taste to marry his girlfriend Mia's daughter (Andre Previn is Soon-Yi's dad). He remains married to her 25 years later. His daughter Dylan Farrow's allegations were twice dismissed by investigators and according to Mia's son, Dylan was brainwashed by her spurned mom. Many dozens of women have credibly accused Bill Cosby and he's headed to prison. Many dozens of women have credibly accused Harvey Weinstein and he's likely to do time. Many dozens of women have credibly accused R. Kelly and he's likely headed to jail. Michael Jackson took a propyphol escape route. Your casual libel is unfair to Woody Allen and it's downright cruel to actual victims.
29
Well, as someone already wrote here : I read the arguments of both sides in this matter and I just don't know who to believe. We must also remember that Michael was probably victim of a pedophile and had cruel father, a sadist - on this subject, among others, there are many testimonies of people, who knew the Jacksons family from Gary, Indiana. FBI profilers know & can confirm, that victims of pedophilia often themselves become pedophiles, because it is the only 'normal' sex relationship they know. In this context, I can't help feeling sorry for Michael too. His life had been massacred by work in show business since childhood, his father abused him - it has been proved, he never had normal life, it's no wonder Michael was twisted. But who will take responsibility for this? Real Shakespearean tragedy for everyone.
1
An estimated 20% of children are the victims of pedophiles, and sexual assaults in the U.S. Some of these damaging acts occur within the family.
Entire lives ruined for some perverted person's compulsive sexual pleasure. These serial sexual predators of children are seriously psychologically disturbed, cannot control themselves, and do significant harm to others and society.
So how many adults does it take to enable child sexual abuse and assault to continue?
There is the classic mother in denial, who makes some kind of cost-benefit analysis (consciously or unconsciously) and decides to block out the reality of the horror happening to her child in favor of the gains of allowing the sexual perversion and damage to continue to occur.
There are authorities and people in power positions who decide to dismiss and bury the accusations to protect some high profile or wealthy individual or an entire organization from accountability by denying accounts, blaming the victims, or perhaps buying off the victim or family. The first priority appears to be yo protect image and finances rather than protecting the small victim and the safety of other children.
Especially frustrating are those people who recognize the problem and want something done to stop the sexual predator, but these people are given the clear message to hush up, mind your own business, nothing will be done anyway so don't worry about it, etc.
It takes a village to enable sick, damaging behavior. Look at Trump
3
thre is nothing unusual about the manner in which mj groomed and seduced his victims and their families. his strategy is typical of pedophiles, and in essence the same used by priests and others in power. he was able to maintain it so long because of his money and power. he was enabled by those around him, only because he paid them. he was a talented monster, one of too many. may he rest without peace.
1
Neverland was Jackson's "grooming factory". It was a trap built to ensnare innocent children. Yes, Jackson was talented. But he was also twisted, warped and sick. No one spoke up as long as the money, gifts, and perks flowed....
1
The first “Godfather” film is full of shocking violence and killings, but the scene which I have always found the most disturbing is the one where a mother delivers her young heavily made-up daughter to the “attentions” of the pedophile Hollywood film producer Jack Woltz. For sheer depravity that scene beats all those gangland murders hands down, and it haunts me whenever I think of it.
4
Apparently no one pressed charges while this was going on.... So, I have zero sympathy for the 'victims'....
4
What continues to amaze is the continuing adulation given to this overrated creep and his music for 14 year olds.
5
Michael Jackson was a terrible person and a terrible singer. I've never understood why he was so popular considering his voice was like listening to fingernails scratching across a blackboard.
2
It seems to me this whole affair reeks of self aggrandizement. Jackson may well indeed have been a pedophile and exploiter of children via his wealth and fame. But if so, the parents of these boys were indeed co-conspirators in the abuse, and instead of sympathy, well and truly earned some sense of public revulsion- especially in the light of the amount of treasure that was showered on them by Jackson for their silence.
Also,why are the alleged victims of Jackson muddying their story now by trying to take the Jackson Estate to Court for even further damages, instead of simply and more forthrightly seeking to expanded public knowledge about the horrors of abuse and it's aftermath? And Finally, if Jackson was the monster that Ms Dowd seems to so gleefuly portray, why haven't we heard from the Jackson Family- Who after all
not only were ground breakers in music, race and culture, but have done so much for so many other social and publicly minded causes? No, apparently there is more to this story then a sick predator set loose on innocents, by far.
141
What, exactly, is "gleeful'' about Ms. Dowd's piece? What you fail to understand, or shall I say, what you appear to "gleefully" ignore is that sexual predators are very skilled at grooming victims. Having a major celebrity pay attention to you and lavish you with gifts could also easily be blinding.
202
As we have seen throughout the history of art, the artistic temperament can bring a light onto the meaning of our own existence, or take us down some very dark roads indeed, and often the two natures are intertwined within the same individual. Michael Jackson may have been such an artist, and thus I urge folks to listen to his music. Michael spoke through his songs, and that is where the truth lies about his life, not in a courtroom, or some tabloid documentary.
1
Good article Maureen. It was obvious that Jackson had some really serious mental issues. I wonder what his children have to say.
Also, as a side comment. Not sure I'd put Woody Allen in the monster class with Harvey and Bill, especially if you really dig into the whole story.
9
Outrageous slanders against a dead man who was ACQUITTED of the charges leveled against him and who obviously cannot answer further spurious charges. To mix the names of Bill Cosby who was CONVICTED in a court of law with Michael Jackson or Woody Allen who were NEVER convicted is to appoint yourself judge, jury and executioner. Heaven help us if Maureen Dowd ever had the power to legally pass judgment on anyone in a court of law, let alone the afterlife.
17
Your subject is reality, but so horrible this week. We have a cardinal in the Catholic Church defrocked for his harmful sexual behavior. The violence against people by the rich or powerful is disturbing, sad, and painful. And that violence includes separating children from their parents at the border with no assurance parents and child(ren) will be reunited. So much cruelty.
4
"the catchy songs that coursed through memories of weddings, bar mitzvahs and other good times."
I could not believe that was true, at least the bar mitzvahs. But it has been decades since I have been at a US one, and my own sons had a different type of (non-US) event (No Michael Jackson).
But it is true. Ms. Dowd is correct:
http://wgwmedia.com/bar-mitzvah-3-things-a-dj-must-have/
Not too much Michael Jackson, but he is there.
Feh!
"Indeed, the most harrowing part of the new documentary about the shredded lives of two of Jackson’s victims is the complicity of their mothers."
This is basically pimping out one's own kids (I have not seen the documentary; Ms. Dowd's column is enough for me). There are no words to describe such actions. There are actions and deeds for which there is no repentance. Contrition does not work. Only the perversion remains and prevails.
2
Hopefully all of Jackson's songs and other forms of his entertainment will be boycotted. ALL pedophiles must be outed and ostracized. Arrested & convicted when possible. Co-conspirators (mothers??) must be punished as well. They deserve NO mercy.
2
Did these kids have fathers?
4
how do you include woody allen in with that group of serial offenders all of whose crimes are more or less confirmed? Allen may or may not have molested his daughter. Do you know that he has? if not he should be left off that list.
21
Look at the photo accompanying this article. Then look at the cover of “Off the Wall,” or “Thriller.” This poor, pathetic King of Pop was mentally ill. Whether the grotesque American celebrity culture, or his upbringing, or some cruel genetic stew made him that way is probably irrelevant. Does it matter? Can we empathize with the “monster” while honoring the trauma of his victims? America ate him up and spit him out. As a result, he ate up and spit out a bunch of innocent children. Maybe that’s just life. I just shake my head.
5
MD is one of my favorite columnists, but it’s unfortunate that she takes leaps like equating Jackson with Cosby when the allegations are unproven, they contradict previous statements, not to mention that MJ is dead and can no longer defend himself, unlike the other people her monsters list. Sadly she echoes the serious journalistic sin of the filmmakers by omitting even a sliver of objectivity to present both sides. Ironicallly, it’s one-sided, presumptive presentations that ultimately hurt victims by breeding “pitch-fork” reactions that end up veiling truth rather than revealing it.
Two articles that tried to be objective:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/joevogel/2019/01/29/what-you-should-know-about-the-new-michael-jackson-documentary/#11083293640f
https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2019/2/leaving-neverland
2
A column about sexual predators and yet she leaves out her favorite target, the Clintons.
Stage door parents being seduced by the bright lights and easy money while their children are abandoned to the meat grinder is not a new concept.
I remember in the 90s after the Jon Bennet Ramsey murder how outraged people were over these kiddy beauty pageants where moms and dads literally sexed up their seven year olds fulfilling every pedophile's wildest dream like they were offering a Thanksgiving feast, complete with all the trimmings, for a table of trenchermen.
And yet today in some parts of the country these pageants still go on with the same competitive gusto as a professional sporting event.
5
“With Michael Jackson, you can see how grotesquely his fame, and our worship of fame, distorts and excuses and enables evil — to the point mothers fail to protect their children and literally throw them in harm’s way,”
Mothers? Were there no fathers in these children's lives?
6
Celebrity equals power. The type of power Jackson had over those in his orbit was absolute and corrupted them absolutely. Apparently helpless to think clearly, his family, his entourage and his fans were pulled into his creepy web of grooming, touching and obscuring. All of his artistic achievement was a ploy to lure the gullible to do what all that preforming was a front for. Raping little boys. His amazing music and career has become ashes in my ears and eyes, causing nausea where they once caused joy. And all those who enjoyed the magic carpet while they rode his fantasy will now have no escape (except in psychosis) from the horror of what they enabled, no matter how much they litigate, repress and attempt to rehabilitate in fantasy broadway plays.
It's awful to throw Woody Allen's name in with the other "monsters."
It's purposely irresponsible, I believe.
25
Ms. Dowd: Do you realize that you have named three black and four Jewish men? Why not add Les Moonves?
Merely unwitting, or an element of some unacknowledged subtext?
Does this opinion piece contribute to social renovation or does it represent more tabloidization of the New York Times?
Yemeni, Rohingya, and Syrian children suffer trauma. Michael Jackson’s so-called victims were not traumatized. They were cossetted, pampered, willing participants, some of whom were paid millions of dollars. Why are they coming out now? The children may be innocent, but the involved adults are not.
To riff on your own metaphor—“How can you see clearly when you’re looking into the sun?”—Mr. Jackson is a man-made light, an incandescent singer and dancer who attracted flies and moths.
Given these disclosures, can we assume Mr. Jackson died naturally?
Even a cursory survey of sexual attitudes throughout the world reveals significant differences, including age of consent. This is not to condone predatory sexual practices but merely to observe that one culture’s perverseness is another’s custom. This is not to advocate unthinking cultural relativism but to ask why the mere whisper of child exploitation or harassment induces such reflexive outrage in puritanical America. Nowhere else in the world are these abuses reported with such regularity and fanfare.
Michael Jackson is as much a victim of the American entertainment industry and media as the Peter Pan neophytes he cultivated in Neverland.
3
No wonder MJ couldn't fall asleep at night (or anytime).
4
Why stop with your recent list?
"I can see that you're fifteen years old
No I don't want your I.D.
And I've seen that you're so far from home
But it's no hanging matter
It's no capital crime."
- Stray Cat Blues
Jagger/Richard's 1968
That's Sir Mick Jagger, folks.
4
What about the priests who have been abusing for years and face no accountability?
2
Based on what you said, I did some research for about a half an hour. I cannot find any clear indications that the charges were true. A man sleeping with boys? That, by itself, is not pedophilia. That seems to be all that is known.
There are some indicators AGAINST the "beyond a reasonable doubt" certainty of pedophila. The boys and families who filed charges were themselves quite grotesque. At least two were clearly chasing big money. Jackson would have been vulnerable precisely for his attachments to boys. That is far from a crime, and is most often a social postive.
Please! Be more measured and careful in your statements. At this time, unless there is new information in the film, the merits of the case simply cannot be known. You wield power. Use it with care. Thanks for listening!
5
Woody Allen does not belong in the list of offenders.
26
This article lost me with the list of predators. There is no evidence Woody Allen belongs on that list. Even his son Ronan, probably the most gifted expert investigator in the field of celebrity abuse, waited years before issuing a statement supportive of his sister and even then made no accusations in that statement. Further, Allen has never been accused of creating a "sulfurous" atmosphere on any of his films, even by the fashionably critical actresses who have post-production deigned to criticise him. To lump him in with these other proven monsters is slanderous and betrays a lack of critical rigour. One expects more from a Times columnist.
21
The film about Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual assaults was also shown at Sundance at the same time as this film. Was this film about a deceased celeb put forth and massively promoted specifically to take the spotlight off an accused wealthy abuser alive today?? If Jackson was a molester of children, why did so many of his child friends (Brett Barnes, Macaulay Culkin, Corey Feldman, Eddie and Frank Casio, Emmanuel Lewis, Dave Dave, Etc) deny they had been molested, including these 2, when questioned by detectives?? The new accusations make no sense except to hide the abuses of Weinstein, an accused sexual predator who wants to evade jail time.
2
Who cares.....leave the man Rest In Peace.
2
Around here child molesters get long prison terms. If the claims of molestation against Jackson were true, he should have long since been sent to prison along with the parents who allowed their children to be molested in exchange for money.
Celebrity is not an excuse to me. Michael Jackson was repugnant. Woody Allen still is.
1
I would just like to add this point, that many, many people never believed that Michael Jackson was innocent even after the cases ended in the courts. I was a little girl fan of Mr. Jackson's and loved him dearly, but when he was accused by the boys and the stories came out I knew I could never listen to his music again. We have a strange amnesia in our country due in part to the rapidity of news cycles and the breath of chat on the internet, but many folks remember being horrified by Jackson's behavior and never accepted the official story line. I am personally glad that we are reexamining our habits of covering up for the famous even as I know it must still be happening on a variety of levels.
7
Vintage Dowd! She might have added that there is only a passing reference to Michael Jackson in the upcoming CBS "Motown 60" special--evidently in anticipation of the upcoming HBO documentary. A harbinger of future "awkward alterations" to history.
2
All the men referred to in the story seem guilty with many witnesses testifying to their evilness. Except Woody Allen. His daughter says that on one occasion, after Woody and Mia had ended their relationship, he attacked her. Her older brother doesn't believe her. Woody has never been mentioned by any other person to have attacked a child. Yet we know pedophiles don't change. The evil person here is Mia Farrow.
25
Why do the front pages of established medial outlets, like the NYT, read like the front pages of the National Enquirer? It seems everyday I pick up the NYT, I am subjected to the latest Catholic church abuse story and then move on to the latest celebrity abuse story. As my Dad would put it, "aren't there anymore normal people left in the world?"
6
Where was the outrage when Michael Jackson was still living and creeping?
5
Michael Jackson held a child out the window of a multi-story building and was not charged with endangerment — if the parents had reprted him to the police, there is no guarantee he would have been charged.
2
@michjas ~
I think that the child he dangled from the window/balcony was his own baby son.
6
Why stage "mothers"? Dads get a pass on this one?
5
I don't believe the child molestation charges made by Mia Farrow and Dylan Farrow are true.
But if the accusations are indeed true, it seems that Mia Farrow suffers from a similar malady as the mothers of Michael Jackson's victims. After all, Mia kept quiet about Woody's behavior and appears to have only spoken up out of spite against Woody's relationship with Soon-yi, rather than out of concern for Dylan.
15
Good thing nothing important is happening
4
when a Pope defrocks a Cardinal ... that's progress (slow sbail paced, but progress nonetheless)
Why can't radio stations defrock the King of Pop? a much simpler job, but ... then $$$$ comes into play (ratings= advertisers = profits).
Thank You Ms Dowd.
Hopefully people will open their eyes.
4
Go to your library and get yourself a copy of “Stardust Memories,” the Woody Allen movie.
The opening scene, if you don’t already know, has Sandy Bates (Woody) in a railroad station stuck on a train full of sad, hopeless-looking people. Next track over, there is another train waiting to depart, this one full of happy, beautiful people who are in the middle of a wild party, all of us wish we had been invited to. but weren't. Sharon Stone is one of them, and she blows him (and us) a kiss from afar.
Woody bangs on the windows and doors of the car he is on, trying everything he can to get out and join the wild party on the other train; but he -- and all of us watching the movie -- are trapped and cannot escape and join the party.
Woody Allen has had things to say in his career that were worth hearing and seeing and thinking about, and while I am not a movie critic or his lawyer, I believe he should still be allowed to, without having to deal with random, distant and never-proven accusations from his distant past.
And yes, I know he borrowed the idea from Fellini.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWD5NXPIRuo
28
Ms. Dowd has obviously seen the film and believes the mothers and their sons. It is unlikely, however, that any of the commenters below have seen the film, yet almost all accept the fact that Jackson was a pedophile. Before making judgements, please recall that the two mothers pimped their young sons, committed perjury and coached their sons to commit perjury. I suspect that Jackson may well have committed the acts he is accused of, but, while the boys definitely deserve our empathy, their families do not.
4
When did Woody Allen join the ranks of monsters? Do you have some evidence the court apparently didn't? Do you know of accusations other than the single never-proven one? If not, doesn't that apparent lack of repeat behavior seem out of character for a monster? Is it possible he has been falsely accused? I understand a columnist is expected to have biases and opinions, but why not leave the sweeping opprobrium to people like our beloved president? On the evidence of past columns, you are capable of more.
28
Great piece of writing, Ms. Dowd. Gutsy.
Woody Allen doesn't belong on a "monster's" list with the likes of Cosby, Weinstein, Epstein, R. Kelly, and Michael Jackson.
30
Jackson was a tremendously damaged person, and I'm not excusing his behavior. But Maureen to lump Woody Allen in with those others is disgustingly unjust and slanderous. Allen fell in love with 17 year old Soon Yi and has been together with her ever since. Mia Farrow's false allegations are unproven and probably false, and for you to enable her probably false story is also monstrous.
23
For a different but all too similar documentary watch Abducted in Plain Sight. It's about a teenager and her family and the pedophile who groomed her entire family and then abducted her. Her parents still don't seem to get it.
1
It is far from correct for Maureen Dowd to label Woody Allen a “monster.” He was cleared of this accusation. Mia Farrow’s scorned woman vendetta has been on display for many years. There is no telling how she manipulated both Dylan and Ronan, but they both obviously share her unhealthy obsession with ruining Mr Allen. The actors who jumped on the bandwagon to denounce him are unworthy of working with him. As for Soon Yi, let us remember the tremendous age difference between Mia Farrow and Frank Sinatra when they married. Older men with much younger women is nothing new.
25
How you can lump Woody Allen into that group of criminals with clear histories of abuse is beyond me.
26
Do we ignore the sins of the artist and judge his art on its own merits? In this case, a pedophile made great music and was a great entertainer. The misogyny and potential enslavement of women by R. Kelly has recently been re-exposed. Hemingway was an obnoxious drunken lout and serial cheater. Best-selling author Anne Perry murdered her own mother. Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and Wagner were hideous anti-Semites. Mickey Mantle, one of the greatest athletes of his generation, was a drunken philanderer for most of his adult life, until he was terminally ill. I could name many more examples.
Years ago, before the internet and ubiquitous cameras, most of an artist’s worst personal behavior remained a secret from their fans. But now it has become increasingly more difficult to separate a person from his art. Personally, I find it hard to do.
3
"ensorcelling": nice one!
4
Humans are endowed with organs of pleasure that ensure the survival of the species and deep rewards of affection and social connection. Making love and loving are two of the greatest pleasures of human existence. How can human beings so misuse this precious gift?
What is missing in all these disturbing cases of sexual perversion and exploitation (Michael Jackson, Bill Cosby, Catholic clergy,#MeToo perpetrators, etc.) is the connection between sexual pleasure and love. Sex without true caring for the person one desires may provide momentary titillation, but ultimately results in sorrow.
@earthtrembles Funny,animals also are endowed with these particular traits.
1
You carelessly and flippantly castigate Woody Allen as a monster. Where is the proof for this damaging allegation?
27
The fact remains he could have not continued without the assistance of managers, agents, record companies, promoters, road managers, tour managers, and high-paid lawyers among other "professionals." Those professionals continue working to keep other predators loose in the world.
But then, it's America, where anything is to be justified in the pursuit of the dollar.
5
The biggest difference between celebrity predators and regular abusers is that they tend to have an entire retinue of enablers who depend on the status of the predator being viewed as "just fine, thank you very much."
Situational blindness is a syndrome that is taking place right before our eyes with the madman in the White House - it's not a coincidence that everyone who escapes his lair reports on his raging instability.
3
We are in an age that revels in dysfunction as entertainment. All those Netflix produced shows feature a full range of antisocial behavior - some might call it "commentary" drama that claims to reveal a darker side normally hidden from view. Often there are no heroes - only competing layers of corruption.
Meanwhile, we end up hoping that somehow this great public purging from the Catholic Church to Hollywood will have a corrective impact. While the Jackson documentary has value in laying out the manipulative machinery of a star's enterprise - in the end I wonder what it does to prevent more of the same in the future.
Forgiving the powerful is instinctive. "Forgive or die" was the rule everywhere for millenia before we invented civil society and rule-of-law. It's probably built into our genes.
1
Thanks for this article; it's good to be reminded about this kind of predatory behaviour that can seduce both children, who cant be expected to recognize it and mothers, who should. I wish you had mentioned that Murray Kempton wrote just what you have in the early '90s, when Jackson was on trial. If I remember rightly, he said that Jackson was himself a twelve-year-old in a man's body who really couldn't help wanting to fumble under the covers, but the mothers who sat outside the trailer, pretending not to hear the giggling inside, were something else, just like the star-struck stage mothers who delivered their kids to Fatty Arbuckle.
5
Agree with attitudes that these types of documentaries and articles are disturbing, especially when the accused is dead and cannot defend themselves. There was a legal trial with detailed prosecution, a defense and a jury decision. Oh, but wait, there's still a chance for many people to make more money on the "story", so let's do yet another "movie" complete with "victims and villains". This isn't the first and won't be the last. I won't see the movie. Wish I hadn't read this article.
6
Jackson was a very damaged person. He seriously needed psychological counselling and treatment which he never got. He doctor shopped and got lots of pills even after he no longer needed them. He found a doctor who did whatever he wanted and that ultimately took his life. His children show signs of mental health issues. His family members show signs of mental health issues. Very sad all around.
17
When Jackson died I heard the news when at work. When I shared the news with two male coworkers their response was the same: 'good, he was a pedophile'.
Fame and fortune may cause delusional behavior in all parties involved. For any parent that gave up their son to a person like Jackson (especially when word was out on his behavior) I think they lost their ability to parent. Part of parenting is to protect your innocent child like a mama bear would do for her cub.
This is a sad reminder of human behavior when a person is the recipient of ongoing idolization, family dysfunction, and subsequent mental health concerns. Manipulation is a common trait for abusers. The first clue was the escape world of Neverland which should have been seen as a red flag to Jackson's family and friends.
11
Good if this dampens our silly adulation of the rich and famous. But there was ample evidence of this while MJ was alive and it would be better if these disclosures had occurred then when he could answer his accusers. This is in many respects too late and it is typical of such disclosures in that they are so often directed against the dead or those who are soon to be so.
5
@Slioter
There was some disclosure though when it was reported that Jackson paid off families to the tune of up to $200 million dollars by accusers.
1
Michael Jackson may have been weird in some aspects, but I much prefer if Ms Dowd sticks to hard evidence in a court of law,
not innuendo, possible lies by some equally questionable people,
against a man, acquitted of all accusations, is no longer around to defend himself.
11
@Ramesh G the children he molested lied in court. He denied he molested children. But he did. Sexual assault is very difficult to prove in court. Does that mean it doesn't happen?
15
@ibivi You are right, but on the other hand, you are wrong. These cases are very complex and not black and white, it's tragic for everyone. You said kids lied. Exactly. So how can you expect everyone will believe them? Plus, it is confirmed in police statistics that a certain percentage of accusations is false, and accusers often use a famous person,because of money. Interpersonal and sexual relationships are very complicated and intimate, so that's why these things are not so simple. I am not talking about Jackson here, because here evidence seem to be strong, but that's why each case has to be considered individually.
2
@ibivi
With the attitude that you are proclaiming, once someone is accused of any type of sex crime, they would have to be thought of as guilty, even if there is no proof that they did anything wrong.
The Innocence Project, which is probably best known for demonstrating that people accused of murder were actually innocent, has also been successful in proving that people accused of rape were actually innocent.
It is much more important that the innocent are not unjustly punished than a few guilty people get away. If we are to have a functioning society, we must rely on evidence to prove guilt, not emotions.
3
It's interesting how many people are focusing on the mothers' failure, assuming selfish motives on their part. Predators like Jackson, Sandusky, etc. are experts at grooming and manipulating. Parents are just as susceptible to grooming and manipulation as anyone else. Believing there was something flawed about these mothers, in particular, is a way of staying in denial about the horrific reality of how this might happen to any parent and any child. Blaming the parents might make people feel good, but to prevent further predation of innocent children, the conversation should be about educating all parents on how to identify grooming behavior and predatory tactics.
860
@Amy Luna
I agree with you. No matter your opinions about Boy Scouts, go to their website and click through to view the Youth Protection Training. Look at what the adults are taught and look at what the various ages of youth are taught. It has different word usage so that sex is not mentioned. It teaches kids that it is OK to give a respectful "no" to unwanted touching. It teaches kids that secrets with an adult that is not Mom or Dad is not a good idea. The older the kids get get, the more direct the conversation becomes.
Anyone who was a member of BSA for more than three or four years after 2000 is as close to an expert on spotting grooming behavior as one can get.
105
@Amy Luna: A parent's primary duty is to protect their child from danger. Anyone that would let their child go on sleepovers with an adult that is not a trusted family member or friend are responsible for the resultant harm.
141
@joe I'm guessing that by the time the abuse occurred, Jackson had already groomed the parents and child to believe he was a trusted friend. Again, this could happen to any adult or child who does not have an understanding of how grooming behavior works. Predators are successful because they know how to exploit the best of people's natures and use that against their victims.
104
It's a well known fact in the entertainment law arena that MJ paid at least $30 million to one of the families to keep quiet. I haven't seen this documentary so I don't know if this is in there. A quick online search turns up articles that put the figure at over $200 million in payoffs to multiple families. Sadly too many people want to idolize their heroes instead of seeing them for what they are in these instances.
410
@Douglas Ritter To me it says money talks and children are for sale. Better to take the money then seek real justice for your child because you might lose and then how will you pay for the lifetime of therapy to put the pieces back together. In some cases it was just money to play with the rich. That's all it took. Maureen's description of the picture of the sprite leading the boys turning into a monster is a good metaphor. The whole thing is just evil.
80
As someone said recently, “It’s about the Benjamins, baby!”
22
@Laura - That is exactly what I remember thinking at the time. What we saw on the news were parents who sent their children for private sleepovers with a bizarre grown man in exchange for lavish trips and gifts (at a time when child abuse was a constant part of the national conversation). It wasnt until months later that they cried foul creating a massive scandal only to go mute as soon as they recieved a payout.
What kind of parent would do that?! It looked like Jackson was being fleeced.
31
The stage mothers willingly sacrificed their children to live in the fantasy life of a man who was sexually perverted and in desperate need of help. The mothers chose to be in denial of what was going on, in order to keep living their own fantasies.
Convicted or not, Jackson lived the life of a pedophile. A grown man having sleepovers with young boys is not innocent. Jackson had tremendous wealth to provide the trappings to dazzle and seduce young boys and even their parents. His enormous talent does not outweigh the evil he did. Just as scientific achievement did not rightfully prevent Nobel prize winning physician and researcher Dr. Carl Gajdusek from going to prison for child sexual abuse.
Michael Jackson's life should not be honored in a musical. His is not a life to be celebrated. It would be grotesque.
I used to separate achievement from the person, but I can no longer do that, not after all the revelations of the past two years.
866
@Diana if by desperate need of help you mean incarceration, i agree. therapeutic treatment for pedophiles, has never worked.
27
This one has been driving me crazy for years.
An obvious monster using every single trick in the book to hide his monstrosity(race, money, fame, sympathy, famous friends, amoral lawyers and the legal system, etc, etc) actively aided and abetted by just about the entire world's willful blindness and a whole bunch of cynical amoral people making a whole bunch of money.
I can turn on a radio, or a streaming service, or go to a grocery store, or any store that sells anything, and hear him singing just about any hour of any day. Many others have been accused of much less with much less evidence and been effectively scrubbed from the culture.
Hopefully this documentary will jump start a conversation that makes Jackson's music as vile and queasy-making to listen to as The Cosby Show is to watch. Because he was "really really bad" and now we all know it and can't pretend we don't.
783
@TLibby Jackson's song "Man in the Mirror" is surely an example. I'm looking at the man in the mirror and asking him to make a change? Yes, stop molesting boys, Jacko you pervert!
34
@TLibby Exactly! It's been a peeve of mine for years that Mr. Jackson was given a pass on behaviors that if not proven criminal at the time, were certainly out of the norms of what should be remotely acceptable. It irks me when I hear some celebrity speak his name with reverence. I just think child molester when I hear his name. I hope this documentary starts to change his public persona to be more in line with what he deserves.
63
I am in Park City. And I attend Sundance each year. Every year there is a controversy over a film. This year is no different. The Michael Jackson film, with the accusers posing for pictures, was the controversial film this year. I heard a lot of talk about it; some outraged, some perplexed, some discounting it altogether. I did not go to see it. These types of documentaries are disturbing, especially when the accused is dead and cannot defend themselves. Plus it is like 4 hours long.
That being said, pedophilia is a sick disease. But the moms allowing fame to get in the way of common sense bothers me a lot.
229
@Janice Badger Nelson...The Mother also bothered the Jury so much in the second trial that they told Jeffrey Toobin of the NEW YORKER that their dislike of the Mother made them find MJ not guilty, even though they believed he was proven guilty.
41
Cathy, that jury is either lying to cover their own willingness to let the celebrity skate or derelict in their civic duty for the sake of their self-indulgence of their feelings. Or both. They are unconscionable.
44
"Jackson spent as much time grooming the mothers as the sons, to the point where the women saw nothing wrong in letting their children share a bed with a grown man."
Thank to Maureen's review of this, I have no desire to see this documentary, no matter where it shows.
This is just sickening, plain and simple. Jackson appears to have gone to great lengths to con both mothers and innocents, and clearly was very good at it, which makes my stomach churn.
How can these kids ever lead a normal life?
Sure, it happens at ever level of society, from priests to coaches to bosses, but it seems to stay hidden longer when celebrity clouds the judgment of family members.
I hope this documentary keeps folks away from the musical; if nothing else, Jackson's estate shouldn't profit from a false legacy.
660
@ChristineMcM
hum. These kids weren't on a way to a normal life, ever. With parents who put all considerations aside to be near a celebrity they are all ready at a deficit.
And that's the real problem here. Parents who imagine living a fantasy is more important than their children.
Regular people do not become pop icons, A-list actors or reality tee vee stars. Keep your children and yourself away from them. If one happens to be more or less regular, it's just a weird mistake.
47
@mj I'm sorry but this is false. We need artists in this world, actors, directors, musicians etc. because humans can't live without art/entertainment and in the end, this is just a job and career. They are not normal, meaning : yes, not regular, often very talented&emotionally unstable , but to suggest all are bad, is just stupid. In every field there are bad people, such cases were and still occur among scientists, athletes and among regular people. Let's stop throwing everyone in one basket. The same time, there are good and great people in every field. There are great singers, actors, writers who are not only very normal in their every day life, but also help the poor, the sick etc. I am sorry, but generalizing everyone is very irresponsible and simply false.
46
And that is what’s known as British understatement.
Speaking of the Brits – and, admittedly, this is a tangent - a number of Michael Jackson’s hits were written by British composer, Rod Temperton. Among them, “Off The Wall”, “Rock With You” and “Thriller”.
Rod was born in Cleethorpes, a fairly nondescript town in the east of England. On leaving school, he went to work at Ross’ Frozen Foods in Grimsby. Neither towns were what one describe as hotbeds of R&B. Rod eventually went on to have a very successful and lucrative career in the music business. His earnings got a considerable boost following the surge in sales of MJ’s discs after his death in 2009.
Alas, the dreaded cancer struck and took Rod from us in 2016 at the all-too-young age of 66.
The point? If nothing else, it shows that we live in an age when a person from the most humble of backgrounds can succeed on nothing more than his God given talent.
12
I am a huge Jackson fan-a fan of his dancing and artistry. I choose to remain so because I see him as an artist and innovator, but no less, a disturbed person. I do believe he is a pedophile, specifically a hebephile. If one researches the characteristics of a pedophile, Jackson fits them all down to a "T". I think that in general, people cannot think of others with complexity. If Jackson cares about people, children, has a larger than life stage presence, and charity, he is only seen as "good." He is a complexity of characteristics. He is also flawed. How could he not be? Jackson was able to hide in plain sight. People also cannot combine two possible situations. For them Jackson is innocent if the family accusing him are grifters. But perhaps both could be true. A family accusing him could be after money AND accusing him of something that actually happened. I think one reason people have hard time reckoning Jackson could be guilty is because his influence spanned so many decades-- we saw him as a cute little boy and blossom into an icon of a man. How could he be spread so much joy while committing crimes and spread so much harm? Ladies and Gentleman, consider the complexities of the human condition.
28
I still see that little boy he was darting and dancing across the stage. What happened to HIM? We can hold people accountable. But he wasn't a monster. He was a man who was a child and we can still have compassion and feel a sense of grief that such promise can become so sordid and lonely and sad.
13
This is reminiscent of the Michigan State gymnast's Mom's - they were so blinded by the idea that their kids would become Olympic stars that they looked the other way.
The MJ thing is very complicated - the fear of calling out this weird guy was tangled with both fame and race.
11
Really? Putting Woody Allen on the same list. The evidence against him is from a woman who was a easily influenced small child at the time and from his bitter ex-wife who had every reason to fabricate a malicious lie to bolster a divorce case. Hardly the same thing as the evidence in the other cases.
53
@John Woody Allen was never married to Mia Farrow. They never lived together. She is not his ex wife. Soon Yi Previn was not his adopted daughter. But saying that he left his wife to marry his stepdaughter seems to excite a lot more uninformed people.
11
I agree. We really don’t know what Woody Allen did or didn’t do; there’s room for doubt on both sides. Although Maureen is out of line to state her opinion as fact.
6
It´s an extremely minor point, in an article about Jackson, that Woody Allen´s name was tossed into the monsters list, but I rarely let such mentions pass without providing the link to an article that gave me a different view of that story:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-woody-allen-allegations-not-so-fast
I was always inclined to be skeptical of those allegations, because all of Canada had been shamed by their own lynch-mob reaction to the "Martinsville Daycare Case" that same year - where we learned at length that memories can be created - indeed created by unfortunate attempts at therapy.
Unlike the others on that list-of-monsters, the allegations against Allen were investigated, not just at the time with the usual protections against the accused, but twice more, each time Allen and Previn adopted a daughter in two different states. The DailyBeast article has the details.
And, no, I haven´t seen his last 10 movies and care little about the matter, as such. The routine inclusion of that case with others that are very different, is part of what does concern me about rule-of-law with rigid standards being replaced with informal social punishments in this area of justice.
It´s understood to be a great offense for law-enforcement to "bring the administration of justice into disrepute" because its greatest tool is the public´s trust. Even a few sexual-misconduct accusations that turn out to be unjust could undercut the metoo movement.
30
Just look at the photo of Jackson accompanying this article and what you see is a very sick individual. No one does that to himself if he is well. But it seemed not to matter to most, especially the 'stage mothers' whose eyes turned away for the glamour of it all. I regret having danced to his tunes. A Broadway musical--are they going to show bedroom scenes and children being molested with beaming mothers in the wings?
5
I can’t help but be reminded of Priscilla Presley’s parents. They allowed her to live with Elvis at age 14. The ruse was that she would live with his father.
27
apples and oranges
Including Woody Allen as "one of the monsters?" That is bizarre insofar as after exhaustive investigations, he was absolved of any sexually salacious/criminal behavior. We have to get past the point of believing individuals in the face of no evidence. Children sometimes tell the truth and at other times makes things up, or convince themselves of events that never occurred. As we should have learned in the mass hysteria of the late 1980's, children have vivid imaginations, often fueled by overzealous leftist therapists or right leaning prosecutors. One day we will get beyond this insanity of trusting feelings no matter what and use our frontal cortex when that is what is called for.
34
@boji3 Ronan Farrow, who has always supported his sister's account of being molested by Mr. Allen, was four years old at the time of the alleged incident. A child of four is an easily manipulated being.
6
Does Woody Allen belong on that list?
Watching "Manhattan" again, it was jarring to see Mariel Hemingway, a high school girl, sitting at the table with Allen's oblivious friends who were amused by his teen age squeeze.
The movie, if I recall, elicited no horrified protests.
It was "sophisticated" and "honest." And like "Heartbreak Kid" it seemed to say the older man was pathetic.
Then it turns out he married a much younger woman with whom he has some sort of filial relationship, however distant, from across the Park.
But can you judge him from afar, without knowing more, as a "monster?"
If you know more about him, now is the time to reveal.
Otherwise, you begin to sound like those women who find venality in any man who deviates from a narrow track.
26
@Claudia The opening scene had the Allen character agonizing over the young girl. Maybe you missed that?
Woody Allen has never been charged, tried, or convicted of anything, to my knowledge. Although I disapprove of his mating with his adopted step-daughter, there doesn't seem to have been anything criminal. The writer should think about taking his name out of that list of 'monsters'.
28
@Carling
Woody was not married to Mia. They lived separately.
Soon-Yi was not Allen's step daughter.
She and Allen have been together to this very day.
14
@Carling
I agree with you, but have to correct one fact. Soon-Yi was not Allen's adopted step-daughter. She is the adopted daughter of Mia Farrow and Andre Previn. When Allen and Farrow were together, he adopted her children Dylan and Moses ... but not Soon-Yi.
7
This column tells the tale we all witnessed; Michael Jackson was a pedophile in plain sight. But it also illustrates the subtler point that a man’s sexual value is as tied to his fame/talent and wealth as directly as a woman’s is to beauty. Both are objects that blind us to looking deeper; we want to be a part of it so badly, or to own it, and will do shocking things to obtain it.
To paraphrase Chris Rock, we are only as moral as our opportunities allow. The higher the perch in the pecking order, the greater the number of potential victims and enablers. This is why I do not believe in Woody Allen’s guilt - one accuser. Just one across the decades; and the accuser, Mia Farrow, the child bride of Frank Sinatra, lacks credibility.
12
@D Priest so in plain site we all witnessed MJ molest children? This is false.
Selling your children for personal gain. What could be worse? It was widely known that Michael Jackson was raping children, and yet the kids kept coming to his perverse "neverland."
Jackson's family takes part in the greed by continuing to profit from his music. They are complicit and morally bankrupt. How about acknowledging the musical genius AND the deeply troubled life? Same with Woody Allen. His movie making legacy is incredible. And....
Should we boycott Jackson's music? Perhaps it would be a way to believe the children and to convey to those children who are now adults that they are more important than one person's music.
To all of those people who sell their souls for a touch of fame: STOP. The price tag is higher than you imagine.
2
Sexual abuse and rape of children is endemic in our society. The reprehensible breach of trust and decades long fallout for victims is so debilitating and omnipresent that their trauma is invisibly woven into the very fabric of our American landscape. Children are abused every minute of every day, generation after generation. Our citizens, government and educators need to grow a spine and model the courage to start talking. I'm so tired of celebrities, teachers, priests, instructors, coaches, Dr.s, producers, directors, actors, casting directors, executives, fathers, mothers, step fathers, step mothers, babysitters, brothers, sisters, step brothers, step sisters, cousins, uncles and every other possible title or identifying label attributed to people, getting away with what is unconscionable because it is kept a secret. It is everywhere. Predators are sleek, wily, and manipulative beyond most people's comprehension. We need to wake up and see what is right in front of us. We need to educate people on what predators do. This absolutely and undeniably must be part of the mainstream conversation in the United States.
260
@Polly Johnson Ma'am, it's endemic to the entire planet, since the beginning of time. The Catholic church, for example, is now undergoing massive purges of Priests who have abused young boys, and sometimes girls, and rightly having their reputations ruined. Next, they'll come after the nuns who punched, kicked, choked, tortured and raped with impunity for centuries. But don't kid yourself that any of this is happening just now, and that it hasn't been going on since the beginning of mankind's time on earth.
31
Jackson and all of the other miscreants named by Ms. Dowd didn't act alone.
Each was assisted, enabled, and ultimately defended by legions of servents, go-fers, assistants, attorneys, and flacks who facilitated unlawful conduct over years and decades.
This conduct -- harboring, concealing or aiding a person whom you know has committed a felony, in order to protect him or her from arrest, trial, conviction and/or sentencing -- is a crime in California. Moreover, with a fact pattern like that of Jackson or Weinstein, both criminal and civil RICO options were available.
Had these enablers been prosecuted in any of these cases, I believe that serial predation would be less frequent. Incentives for whistleblowers are not large, but the probability of criminal prosecution and prison time for Michael Cohen-like facilitators is.
287
What amazed me was the nonstop adulation when Jackson died and during the days before and after his funeral. It was as if the public totally forgot the trial that had taken place and developed a collective case of amnesia. Maybe this sounds callous. Jackson was only 50 when he died, but I found the sentiments that poured in cringeworthy.
265
@Linda
At the trial Michael Jackson was acquitted. That is, he was found "Not Guilty."
Should we continue to judge people as guilty even after a jury has examined the evidence, in detail, and determined that there is insufficient proof that the accused is guilty? Or, once someone is accused, should they be forever thought of as guilty, even without evidence?
17
@Linda
The case where the boy and mother were lying? The case where the little boy was supposedly diagnosed with a life threatening disease, but when the truth came out it was ALL LIES? ( I'm not sure if that is the case you are referring to, just asking)
For me, as a mother, I find it so sickening to know these boy's mothers/parents/protectors were so in awe and blinded they allowed these alleged things to happen...
MJ is no longer here but when he was alive and his defense was he was just a kid at heart that wanted to share his wealth with less fortunate children, I believed him. However, I found him and boys sleeping in the same bed weird and inappropriate.
As a mother my children are not allowed to go with people just because...even family and friends. I normally spend the night with my children. Now my oldest asks to go to sleepovers at friends homes, I hope everything I taught her will be able to guide her. I always have open and honest conversations with my children about in appropriate touching, talking, and who it can be coming from...a teacher, a cashier at McDonalds, a doctor, a friends brother/sister.
I think more parents need to educate themselves and their children.
15
@Eternal Tech
Exactly. No we should not.
4
What a dreadful document, further evidence of the obvious: there is nothing more nauseating and even damaging than the worship of celebrities. What an infantile culture, what a warped perspective. I'll never blame kids, they don't know any better, but how can anyone who regards himself/herself as an adult treat mere entertainers as the gods and goddesses of our time (or elect a reality show blowhard to the presidency). It's natural to be delighted by a great performance, but leave it at that. I see scores of starry-eyed fans line up outside a restaurant for a glimpse of a visiting celeb and I'm genuinely embarrassed; I've never have nor ever will even cross a street for an autograph from an alleged hero of show biz or pro sports. So few are worthy of even a portion of the hype they win so easily from media hacks. If there are people who deserve our admiration, it's the doctors and nurses who save lives every day, the relief workers in war zones and sites of natural disaster. Of course, unless they become victims themselves, we'll never know their names.
524
@Jesse Bond It is normal and it's ok to adore actors, artists, great athletes, in the end these are great people too just as writers or famous scientists, art is big part of human life too. The point is to keep common sense in all of this and treat each case individually.
9
@Jesse Bond
About 30 years ago, my father by happenchance had dinner with Marvin Hagler in a Italian hotel. After he told me about it I was sort of sorry he didn't have a picture or at least something signed, but now I'm kind of proud of him for not asking him for any of that and taking it in stride.
9
What I don't understand are parents who let their children stay with an adult male unsupervised and his staff who let him sleep with children in bed while naked. He gave them wine to drink. Children are easily manipulated and are unable to make decisions regarding their safety. That is why we have adult oversight of them.
9
This kind of behavior on the part of parents is far more common than most think, and the most destructive part is that it normalizes dysfunctional abuse for their children. I grew up in an extremely sheltered environment, with a mother who did nothing to teach me the fundamentals about sex and safety, actively discouraging me from dating. When I was a naive teenager, she did everything in her power to urge me into the arms of a fifty year old man, the head of a department at a large college. Whatever her reasoning was, it disgusts me to look back upon, especially in that she presented her behavior as being perfectly normal.
My heart goes out to these victims who , as trusting children, were served up to a predator.
213
@Danielle
Thank you for sharing your story. It is appalling to know that sexual predation is sanctioned by the very people who are closest to children in a family. Perpetrators are usually accepted into a family environment with children groomed for explicit sexual activities by the very people who live close to them. If a child rejects the sexual attention of a family member, that member will simply try to advance with another child. My question is where are the so called caring people-and mothers- who see through any monetary advancement from such deplorable activity? Blinded by apathy and paralyzed by threats of rejection.
10
Where were the fathers of the victims? Why is it only mothers who bear responsibility for their children's' trauma?
611
@CH
The fathers may have had their own jobs. The mothers in this case may have made it their full-time jobs to gain fame for their children.
It seems that some believe that if women are empowered to make choices for themselves or their children, then men are to blame. If women are not empowered to make choices for themselves or their families, then men are to blame. No matter what, it seems, men are to be blamed, even when women make decisions.
25
@CH Apparently one of them was left alone when his wife took his family from their home in Australia to live closer to MJ in America. The dad then killed himself. It's in the article.
51
@Tech
Not sure how you extrapolated “men are always to blame” out of EH’s comment. EH is simply asking why there is no mention of the fathers’ involvement. It’s a valid question. Where were they during all this? We’re they aware, or was it hidden from them? If they knew, what, if anything, did they try to do?
45
Have to wonder where the pedophiles originate. Are they born that way? Twisted by the encounters of strangeness which life brings?
Most if not all children are curious about themselves and others in their age group with the preponderance of early encounters among those of the same sex.
Who knows what happened to Michael Jackson as a child? He may have been molested throughout his youth. No excuse, rather an effort to understand.
I engaged in the sort of exploration which is frowned upon by many adults in our society, but, as did my friend, outgrew that while still young. There was no further attraction as we matured and both of us went on to lead productive healthy lives as parents. I am sure our families were both aware of what was going on, but rather than step in let nature take its course.
Perhaps if we were chastised, shamed and punished in some manner, either/or both of us may have found perversion to be the regressive path which appears to be the one chosen by molesters.
Although life is often portrayed in the black and white terms of sin and salvation it is full of color that is dimmed by far too many who publicly rail against its' fullness while finding solace in their secret encounters
Men who prey on children must have at one time been prey themselves. It strikes me as unreasonable to consider that adult perverts are born with the desire to hunt and sexually engage children in this manner.
What else do the latest revelations of church culture illustrate?
95
@Ian MacFarlane-from what I have read he resented his father's constant pressure for him and his brothers to perform. Supposedly hated father and left him out of will.
12
@Ian MacFarlane
"Who knows what happened to Michael Jackson as a child?" Well, anyone who can be bothered to enter a few keystrokes into Google, for one.
All of the Jackson kids, and Michael most of all, were horrifically abused by their father, Joe Jackson. Beatings with belt buckles and other physical abuse; isolation from other kids and five hours of daily practice; constant belittling and other emotional and psychological abuse. Michael's self-inflicted damage to his appearance can be traced back to feelings of inferiority driven into him by his demented, and yes, devoutly religious father.
Michael Jackson did some reprehensible things. But he was deeply damaged by his parents, and never seemed to have access to anyone that could, or was willing to, help him heal from the trauma he experienced throughout his formative years.
58
These two men leveling these allegations long after Jackson's death are liars plain and simple.
Mr. Robson was an adult gainfully employed when he testified under oath in Jackson's defense. Are they lying now or were they lying then? Now he wants to make a claim against Jackson's estate. Maybe Jackson abused him, maybe not. What I do know for sure is that they want to cash in on the story by any means necessary. Their respective lawsuits against Jackson's estate was thrown out. So they've made a documentary.
77
@Obonne
Children don’t disclose their abuse for many reasons. Some actually love their abusers (such as a parent or family member), some are too young to have the right words for sex acts, most are afraid of the real consequences of disclosing. All feel shame.
The fact that you prefer to give the benefit of the doubt to an alleged abuser, rather than an innocent child, tells me you will not benefit from my message here. My hope is that someone who reads this will educate themselves on the consequences for the abused child, as abuse can have severe and intolerable consequences.
I disclosed when I was 30 and ending an abusive marriage. My life had become unmanageable. I talked about what happened to me to gain confidence and lessen guilt and fear. It worked for me. It continues to work for me. I applaud the courage of these men. They have my utmost respect.
I have less respect for people who publicly shame abuse survivors. They, along with the persons who condone or ignore abuse while it happens, are the enablers of pedophiles. Child molesters could not operate with impunity without these people.
105
I never did understand Michael Jackson's appeal.
6
He always seemed a bit creepy to me, but he did make some pretty good music.
4
@Anne Russell His performances as a 10 to 12 year old are astonishing in their brilliance. He started going sideways, even in his entertainment capabilities, after he became a solo act, "Bad", and the beginning of all that cosmetic surgery and skin bleaching. That itself reveals such self-loathing.
@Anne Russell
So sad that astounding music and amazing dancing and mesmerizing performance fail to move you.
3
I’m not omniscient, but I can remember in 1984 when Jackson exploded into a megastar......there was something that seemed very creepy to me.
And that was before the many surgeries that turned him into an alien freak.
The truth eventually comes out, despite the protestations of Diana Ross, Elizabeth Taylor, and so many others.
When Jackson accidentally died, I didn’t feel glee, but I did feel relief.
And there’s going to be a musical about him? Why don’t we have a musical about pedophile priests while we’re at it. The costumes would be equally over-the-top.
6
Why bring up news about the dead. This is shameful. The dead cannot defend themselves. Yes what is wring is wrong, but the dead cannot defend themselves.
6
@StarrThe boys he abused could not defend themselves either. Exposing Jackson may help kids from other abusers.
1
Michael Jackson was at the far reaches of two bell curves at the same time.
He was on the right side for talent and the dark side for sexual deviancy.
Why does one create a condition known as "star struck"? It blinds many and allows those on the wrong side of deviancy to continue without an overwhelming sense of fear and guilt. The pleasure they give some with their talent does not make up for the pain they cause others.
At the end of the day, talent can often be boiled down to tendons and muscle types. The human mind is still a mystery!
28
That's why there will only ever be one 'The King'. For all his faults Elvis never abused children, never needed multiple surgery to 'become white', didn't herald from a musical dynasty; He succeeded through raw talent and musical creativity. He also devoted ceaselessly and generously to charity.
Michael Jackson was only ever a 'packaged pop instrument' from the age of 5. That's his valid excuse for behaving so weirdly. Everything about him was unnatural, from his pop-driven coaching and upbringing to his Peter Pan obsession with remaining a child.
Bur paedophilia and child abuse cannot be dismissed, and his legend will be tarnished forever.
8
14-year-old Priscilla was “wooed” by Presley
@Hamid Varzi Lisa Marie was 14 when they moved in together. Elvis is just as icky.
@Hamid Varzi Pedophilia aside, Elvis was a great entertainer, however, Jackson could write songs as well as sing and dance. Something Elvis didn't or couldn't do.
1
Michael Jackson was bigger than life and he preyed on his victims. That is the core truth here and it would be nice if that fact was more prominent in this account.
68
These are uncorroborated allegations by admitted liars against a man found innocent by a jury. It is an outrage that a columnist can rule otherwise.
9
Celebrity, money and power, a combination many people say they wouldn't refuse. We hear about the celebrities when they fall from grace. With money and power less the celebrity, you can fly under the radar and become even more dangerous. Either way you are just plan nasty.
3
When are these two going to be prosecuted for perjury for their lies in his 2005 trial? Were they lying then or are they lying now?
5
" The Rich are different from you and me ". Yes, they have more Money. Lots more Money, and with that Money they buy Lawyers. Very experienced, tenacious, underhanded, well connected, successful Lawyers.
Money makes the World go round, and quite often ensures that Monsters and Evil prevail. David vs. Goliath, and David is a poor child, all alone.
Heartbreaking.
10
Woody's name does not belong on that list. As other readers have commented, Woody has but one accuser, and that accuser has a known motive to discredit him.
39
More attempts to slander Jackson, from questionably relaible sources. Does it not occur to people that MJ's behaviour was a response to the toxic behaviour of one or more of his parents, to the extent that he always preferred, and felt safe in, the company of children, animals or the occasional supportive adult e.g Taylor? He is far from alone in this, even if he is a slightly extreme and well known example
84
@Gary An agonizing number of abuse victims perpetuate their abuse when they get older; this is the direct product of internalizing traumatic norms that are never properly addressed, felt, worked through, and, ultimately, with hard work, changed.
There is no doubt that Jackson endured horrors in his life; this is well-known, even if we inevitably don't know the details. That does not excuse his behavior, and any "friendship" cultivated with a child should always include that child's parent(s). If it doesn't, it's the responsibility of the adult in question to seek help.
Not feeling comfortable around other adults is itself a symptom. It should not be validated or normalized.
If you happen to be speaking for anyone you know, this absolutely goes for them. Too many children have suffered extensively because adults in their life didn't seek help for their abuse-related issues.
60
@Gary, my mother was a fan of Liberace. She loved him so much that she refused to believe he was gay. He would have had to dallied with a paramour on top of his grand piano on the Ed Sullivan show before she would've accepted the truth that other people knew very well. Do you see where I'm going with this? No doubt MJ had psychological reasons for what he did, everyone does. But that is not a reasons to be blind to what he was about.
70
I don’t think this is accurate. We weren’t so blinded by celebrity that we shrugged off child rape.
I recall the scandals with Jackson being taken to trial twice by the families of two boys about age 12. After the scandals, his American career tanked. If he made the news, it seemed to always be a clip from abroad.
While we believed there was something unsavory about a grown man having “slumber parties” with children who seemed to always be 12 year old boys, there was always a certain level of uncertainty about his guilt. Not because of his celebrity but because both young accusers families eventually accepting a payout. Many of us felt that we would never accept a payout from someone who was truly guilty of abusing our child.
To add to the confusion, many of his celebrity friends came out to support him and continue to support him to this day like the young boy who stared in Home Alone. Others too, like Liz Taylor, vehemently defended him insisting these were just vultures praying on his childlike innocent kindness.
And finally, we all watched for signs of abuse from his own children but they claim he was the perfect father. So what were we as an audience to believe?
11
What would the case of an adult man having sleepovers with minor boys lead you to believe?
1
How sad is all this perversion that, because of star-power and mountains of money, so many look the other way.
This lemma also applies to the politically-powered. You'd be making a tragic mistake if you think it's just one political party that errs.
Let's all work harder on re-establishing a cultural "common sense" and a doing unto others what we would do righteously for ourselves. Perversion is not allowed.
2
As amply documented by Chris Hedges and other authors, we live in a celebrity culture of illusion, facilitated by corporate greed that will overlook just about any transgression to increase sales. Why any of this should shock anyone paying attention is beyond me.
12
How does Woody Allen get in here. The so called ground breaking story Maureen Orth did on him has been largely if not entirely discredited based as it was on highly suspect testimony. Police investigations have revealed no criminal wrongdoing. The equivalence with Jackson or Weinstein is bizarre. He obviously has a thing for youngish women but it was all consensual. But then Allen like Hillary Clinton is something of a long term Dowd hate object which probably explains it.
75
@John
"Consent" doesn't cover having sex with your step daughter and then marrying her.
Woody Allen should be at the top of the list.
Every time.
4
@John I can’t believe I am going to defend Woody Allen here, but yes, his name popped out for me in that line-up as well. The allegations of abuse against his daughter Dylan remain a muddy arena, with each side fervently believing what it feels to be the truth, and any empirically-based resolution can never occur. However, I take issue with your remark that Allen’s compulsive interest in teenaged women has ever been wholly consensual. One need only read Mariel Hemingway’s accounts of Allen’s obsessive and unwelcome interest in her around the making of “Manhattan” to refute that assertion, convenient as it is for Woody defenders to pretend otherwise. (In that case he, too, “groomed” her starstruck parents.)
1
@John
Any man who seduces someone for whom he is a father figure is guilty of an ethical breach of social mores.
And that was possibly the least of his offenses.
6
The capacity for rich/powerful/famous humans to behave as they wish without consequence has existed alongside civilization since, well, the beginning of civilization. It is a marker of human civilization, a central part of the weave of our godawful tapestry since the dawn of time. Any history book from any period has examples falling from its pages. It is neither new nor novel. But I do take it as further proof that humans are an evolutionary mistake of immense magnitude.
7
Michael Jackson became a meteoric celebrity in the late 1970s and flamed out by the mid-1980s, just like disco and Star Wars, and we who followed along have had to make up for it ever since. No matter that we were children who have since grown up and learned better, if we liked it then, we bear some of the shame now.
2
Abusers are usually abused. This does not excuse abuse, of course, but as in the recent Ryan Adams revelations, what stands out is the immaturity of the perpetrators. What do children do with such adoration? And how do those the public idolizes find the kind of intimate and trustworthy friends who will tell them the truth and rein them in? Our culture creates them and allows them to destroy themselves and others and then stands aside to gawk in self-righteous judgment, deleting sound tracks and boycotting films.
I don't want to blame victims (and certainly not children), but at what point do we need to stop putting people on pedestals in the first place? At what point do we need to remember that the person who has a string of women will likely not make us the exception and that even though we want fame and fortune, the world is full of gifted people who will never achieve it and that sometimes luck is not luck but a trap? Healthy skepticism would save many a victim. If it's too good to be true, it probably is, and if you lock your car doors and keep your money in the bank, maybe you ought to do the same when a pied piper comes knocking wanting to lead your children (or you) away.
24
It’s very very hard and self-demeaning to admit you’ve been conned. We usually don’t face the fact straight on. When Trump is eventually thrown out of office, just for instance, I don’t think that 48% of US citizens will even admit to having voted for him.
54
Just a minute here. I'm not excusing any of Michael Jackson's alleged or proven aberrant behavior/crimes.
Parents have a duty to their children. This includes Michael Jackson's father, who worked his sons like slaves in order to achieve success. Michael Jackson didn't have a normal childhood.
I already said I don't think that excuses him. But parents like these mothers had a duty too. I had a friend back in the nineties whose children were the same age as mine. This friend actually considered allowing her beautiful daughter to go away with a talent agent unchaperoned, and I thought she had lost her mind. These mothers have the most responsibility for allowing their children to be harmed.
43
@Anne One might add that fathers bear some responsibility, too. Where were THEY during the grooming process? It’s way too easy to make mama bear the brunt of this toxic dynamic, even if predators do traditionally tend to target the mothers and deliberately mess with their usual protective instincts. But I wonder what the male parents are thinking (presuming they are around and involved). The R. Kelly doc did a great job showing how enabling predation affected fathers and mothers alike.
4
@Anne agree. the story of priest sex abuse includes parents who did not do their due diligence.
3
@Anne Michael Jackson was the perpetrator.
We obsess over celebrity and think another is our better. Don't know if we can eradicate that from the human condition. Everybody's a human, nobody deserves to be treated like a star, maybe Jackson believed he couldn't be abusing kids because he was one. Celebrity is the problem.
10
I've always been skeptical of the claims against Jackson for one reason: usually, when this can of worms is opened, tens, if not hundreds, of victims tend to come out of the woodwork, as happened with Cosby, Weinstein, et al. That did not happen with Jackson. Doesn't mean they're not there or the the didn't go on, but it leaves me on the fence about the claims and agnostic about them. Jackson was also strange, so the tends to cause people to automatically believe strange people must be perverted. I also remember the Fells Acre Daycare situation, and how many innocent people were so devastatingly harmed by what turned out to be false accusations.
13
@Virginia
You're right not to jump to conclusions but nothing else makes sense. It's more than "strange" to bring children into your bed (which he admitted).
6
@Virginia
I haven't seen the film and was unsure of the claims against him by the two boys because their families settled out of court.
One thought that has persisted is he was a man of arrested emotional development, a product of his childhood environment, possibly related to his relationship with his father. But how did the other Jackson kids escape the same outlook? Was he particularly vulnerable?
2
Agreed, Max - there is no doubt the guy was guilty of very creepy behavior with children, at the very least. I can't imagine being a parent and letting my child have a sleepover with a grown man, no matter how much grooming occurred. There's just no possible scenario in which that's healthy.
2
When Michael Jackson had a tribute concert decades ago at Madison Square Garden,I asked myself if the pop culture Universe had tilted because not since Elvis and the Beatles had such a blaring glob of hooey been annointed. His father got an In Memoriam mention at the Grammys ceremony last week. He was the main devil in the family. So,while a Maureen Dowd essay can often have many tongues clucking at the source,this one came decades too late and Elizabeth Taylor among others was a fool to ignore the obvious signs of a predator even as a young man.
22
I really liked his music. When this came out, and to this day, if a song of his comes on the radio, I turn it off or switch channels.
16
"the father later committed suicide." That short phrase underscores tremendous pain in the entire Robson family. I can imagine the father's anguish, losing his son and entire family to Michael Jackson and knowing his boy was sexually used. Many people had to look the other way. I would like to know more about that father. May he rest in peace. A famous, rich and powerful person was doing barely hidden, unsavory things and getting away with it. Sound familiar? When will we ever learn?
101
As a I father (and all parents ) I hope I would have the strength to fight for my children, But we know how the powerful can deploy against an individual. The anguish he must have felt trying to protect his son while being told he was ruining it for him!This is a horrible outcome for his son and for himself, I selfishly hope that he was battling other demons that led to his suicide, as the alternative is heartbreaking
13
@Barbara Your comment "A famous, rich and powerful person was doing barely hidden, unsavory things and getting away with it. Sound familiar? When will we ever learn?" in this context really hit me on an emotional level. Thank you. I, of course, heard the stories of the women abused by the famous reality show star, but now I really hear them. They are still in agony and their abuser holds outrageous press conferences openly lying, pouring salt into the wounds.
9
This is the very steep slope America has about sex. While it is plastered in every visual medium and is a powerful human desire, we tend to be attracted to it's pull on lives- other than our own.
When we slip on the peel it hurts- someone else- we laugh.
So with religion and family and social pressures tacked on, no wonder this part of life is examined and unresolved.
Love is what is being sought and connection the way to it, and humans will always have imperfect ways to find it for themselves.
10
Sorry
Can you please clarify your comment, I’ve read it several times and what I get out of it is a circuitous way of saying, that because of society and religion saying pedophilia is unnatural that the adult is forced to these means to get what they desire,
I truly hope I’m reading this wrong as this is a story and documentary about child rape and whilst pedophiles should be studied they most certainly do not deserve the sympathy while we are talking about their victims,
That poor Father I can only imagine his growing frustration and helplessness against the forces that Jackson deployed to rape his son, The sympathy & empathy I feel is for him and his son and all the victims, not the enablers and pedophiles.
1
@Dennis McSorley
Its not about sex or love, its about pedophilia. Many pedophiles use 'love' as their excuse for their crimes, its one of their grooming tools. But raping children is not love. Make no mistake about that.
5
A long sad tale made longer and sadder by this documentary. Michael Jackson will still have his adoring fans who will see no evil, speak no evil, and hear no evil against this person whose crimes exceed his "good deeds."
15
This is very tough. I just don't know what to believe anymore.
One the one hand Jackson's behavior was clearly aberrant, and his relationships with children were inappropriate (there's no good reason for a grown man to be sharing a bed with children, even if it is just for "resting") and the scrutiny that it attracted was completely warranted. Also, Jackson paid approx. 20 million dollars in the 1993 to settle the Chandler case, and that's an awful lot of money to pay for something that he says he didn't do.
However, with the Chandler case there's some evidence of an extortion attempt by the father. If I understand correctly, a settlement takes care of a civil case but doesn't prevent the accuser from participating in the criminal case, so Jackson could have paid and still have gone to jail. In 2005, there was a "second chance" to send Jackson to prison but none of the Chandlers, except for the mother, agreed to testify for the prosecution. The 2005 investigation was led by a highly experienced and motivated DA, and tried before a jury with no African Americans in a conservative California community. A multiyear FBI investigation also didn't turn up anything incriminating. A number of others who spent a lot of time with him (eg. Culkin, Feldman, Cascio family, etc) also said nothing happened. I suppose it's possible to still not fully know someone you consider a close friend....
The truth is somewhere in between.
19
@SP If it's in-between, that means it contains some very, very inappropriate interactions with children.
4
@SP
I think you summarized it perfectly. Our legal system is at best a 'he said, she said' contest when it comes to sexual activities often conducted in privacy. This truth usually is somewhere in the middle. Particularly in situations of unequal relationships, celebrity-fan, producer-actor, boss-employee; both could be trying to exploit each other. The onus certainly is on the powerful to prevent it, and succumbing to your momentary temptation is so easy!
It is never forgivable if it involves innocent children, never, and you have to question the adults involved and their motivations.
The last thought on my mind on this is our insistence that one is either a sage or a sinner. There are no two sides to a person! That is not true in nature. Perversions could be partly the outcome of being victims of a similar persecution in their past. The behaviors one see growing up as a child trying to understand this world can easily be considered normal or okay in their impressionable minds! Even when they learn otherwise, it is difficult to shed neither the pain nor the perverse pleasure of those moments without therapy or counseling. Even if you want to 'normalize' yourself, it is an uphill battle in our society where the terror and consequences of discovery could drive you back to the very place of false comfort, because that is the only world you knew!
If Jackson is a sinner, what can we say of our 'leaders' who did not lift a finger to protect kids before or after Sandy Hook?
@SP
um, normal grown men to don't sleep with little boys. Nor do they scheme to get the boys alone. Nor do they do any of the weird things Jackson did.
4
The saddest part of stories like MJ is how rarely we believe the victims. The abuse is one form of mental torture and the pretending it didn’t happen or trying to humiliate the victims is another and probably as damaging.
50
Whether it’s Hollywood, sports, the church, the classroom and too many other venues in our ‘culture,’ when we continue to sensationalize the perverse in our society, those who prey on the still innocent as well as those closest to them who are complicit in aiding and abetting such activities, aren’t we all equally guilty of enjoying that depraved sensationalism by our voyeuristic nature?
Is there anything in this column that we didn’t already know about and could prevent from happening again or are we merely part of the problem? Salaciousness always sells because it's addictive. By feeding on itself it becomes contagious. And who knows more about that than the media, even though they should know better?
13
I am a music fan and enjoyed seeing my favorite musicians live. But several years ago I started being repulsed by the worship that follows the talent. As I get older, I find the hysteria surrounding celebrity creepy. A good actor, writer, singer gives us pleasure, but really they are still just people who will be replaced by others. Mary Pickford, Erik Estrada, and Farrah Fawcett, anyone?
33
@Carr Kleeb
Indeed, as a very young woman, I hated the Beatles because of the hysteria surrounding them. It took a friend’s casual remark that they stood next to Beethoven that made me look and listen beyond that repulsiveness.
Lumping Woody Allen in there with actual predators, when he was cleared by two separate investigations and never even brought to trial is disgusting and irresponsible. By putting him alongside other people who deserve the renewed scrutiny and condemnation made me stop from reading further, even though I agreed with the premise that Michael Jackson's legacy has been protected for far too long.
218
@marq He married the daughter of his partner, who was many years younger and came into his life as a child. Though he claims he was not in any way her "father," he should never have pursued a relationship in the first place. Courts clear people because they go with the evidence presented. This is why sometimes people come under "renewed scrutiny." Yeah, he deserved to be lumped in there, too. He's still making movies. He's still rich. I still don't like him.
28
@marq
Cleared?
He married his daughter.
6
@marq Jackson was cleared, too.
6
If the treatment of Michael Jackson's work is headed in the same direction as that with which Louis CK's work has been treated, can we at least agree that Jackson's early work as part of the Jackson 5, when he was still a minor will be exempt?
9
@Middleman MD
No, we can't. Because then we're listening to the results of Joe Jackson abusing his children for his own personal gain. Something that could very well have started the cycle of abuse that Michael Jackson perpetuated.
"... they were stage mothers and fans, so they chose to believe …" That's the secret key.
Abusers apply the same technique in entertainment, sports, music, religion, and probably academics, too (though we've not become "woke" to those,... yet). Such an awful if effective approach - taking advantage of parent's hopes for their children's futures and their own disappointments from their own past.
It's not just mothers at fault, of course. It would be interesting to understand which parent is the usual enabler (and target of the abuser) for the various disciplines.
20
Is it our culture's love of money and the power it brings that makes people allow creey actions by some people even with their children?
The power that people like Weinstein and these entertainers held came from their money or access to ways for others to make money.
But they never got famous for their good works. It always comes back to their incredible fortunes even more than their artistic skills, the way I see it.
Note that the inventors and creators on the business world never become so erratic, even if their heirs have in the past.
6
@L'osservatore
I am afraid you don't know the history of inventors and creators of the business world. Many were more than "erratic".
Jackson's behavior was public knowledge for years. Yet fans continued to buy his records and other entertainment offerings of this pervert.
I remember, back in the late 1950s, it becoming public knowledge that Jerry Lee Lewis had married a 13 year old second cousin. The media stopped playing his records, and former fans turned away. Finally, after about a decade, Lewis was forgiven by most and his damaged career revived. While the public disfavored what Lewis had done, there was nothing criminal about it in the jurisdiction where it occurred.
Jackson needed money to support this perverse lifestyle. It is his fans who empowered him to do so. They share in the blame.
42
@RM it’s not just about money. When you take on the king of pop, millions will attack you out of hand. Doing the right thing requires a plenty of courage.
2
One way to be evacuated of star worship is to be a seasoned psychotherapist. Janov, of "primal scream" fame, noted that the stars he would treat often felt worthless, as their self-esteem was based not on parents' love but on contingent or ephemeral values such as approval and good looks. The downside of this reality perception is that heroes are disenchanted to the state of . . . human being.
9
That documentary would not surprise me in the least. Incredible how naive some people are. That said, I don’t think Woody Allen belongs in the same category as Jackson. Yes, Allen is unorthodox, but I don’t see him as a criminal. Is this because I’ve thought of Allen as a genius since I saw What’s Up Tiger Lily (the good version)? Or because a DVD of Café Society is sitting next to me? Okay, I’m a fan. Nevertheless, I think I’m right.
112
Does it not trouble you that he married his adoptive daughter. That would suggest though not prove there was something going on prior to her attaining the age of majority. Unless she were to testify against him.
Being a fan, being blinded by the light of his star I suppose is another symptom that enables people of stature.
I'm not a fan, though used to kind of sort of like some of his work.
I don't think you're right.
88
@J Soon Yi Previn was not Allen's adoptive daughter.
And according to Previn (who has been married to Allen since 1997) she barely knew Allen before college. Allen never lived in her childhood home; he and Farrow famously kept separate residences.
11
@Anonymous,
Pete Hamills brother defended Woody Allen,claiming it didn’t happen before and not after.Which I felt Woody was categorized unfairly and I am neutral on Woody.Ms.Dowd didn’t give him much thought in grouping.The article was in the Daily News a few years ago.
Thank You,
J Fitz
5
Rule of Law means all are treated the same before the law. Great concept.
25
@michael
But poor execution.
1
@michael just not practiced in the US.
It has always confounded me as to why parents serve up their children to pedophiles. Why would anyone continue to allow their children to be alone with teachers, scout masters, coaches or priests much less celebrities knowing that there are predators in the waiting.
We really need to re examine our entire child rearing practices and institutions.
When I was a kid my mother never allowed us to even have sleep overs and we certainly were never alone with other adults. My mom was keenly aware of sexual abuse, perhaps because she has some experiences herself, I’ll never know as she never said while she was alive. But I know she verbalized as much to us as children and told us to always be careful and protect ourselves and never trust an adult who wants to spent too much time with and had an interest in children who were not their own.
She even refused to remarry because she thought step fathers were a potential danger to young children.
Looking back as an adult she was 100 percent correct and a true champion of children.
A mama bear to the end.
178
@Issy
Caution and a sense of boundaries are of course appropriate. But there are many, many people who have healthy relationships with children in the community, friends’ kids, neighbors, and relatives. It would be a shame if those were lost due to disproportionate fear.
144
@Issy It's easy to judge someone else -- and no offence to your mother, you can't live in a bubble -- no sleep-overs, no step-fathers -- sounds a bit extreme and prone to making a kid very fearful of everything.
12
@Issy
Travel as a single male in India or Africa. Get in a put put or taxi and see what they offer. Fathers and mothers sell their children to men all the time. When you have ten children they really are disposable.....especially if female and young. A total disgrace. China's population policy was the single greatest step to stopping this sort of thing in the history of the world. Too bad no one wants to emulate the Chinese.
4
Getting beyond the sickness of the situation to actually remember the talent is difficult. I don't think the two sides of his life can be separated. Ruined is the word for it.
26
President Trump is on the record praising a man who was convicted of luring high school girls to his home and then paying them for nude massages that often went much further.
Trump told New York Magazine years ago, "I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He's a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it -- Jeffrey enjoys his social life."
The question remains: how did Trump know "many of them are on the younger side"? Trump eventually banned Epstein from Mar-a-Lago when one member complained that Epstein was trying to recruit young women at the club. Later, Epstein got a very light one year jail sentence but was allowed out for up to 12 hours per weekday to go to his lawyer's office.
But wait, there's more.
The man who prosecuted Epstein's case in Florida where the highly unusual jail arrangement and plea agreement were worked out is Alexander Acosta. Does the name ring a bell? He is now Trump's secretary of labor.
This chain of events raises questions that have not been answered.
Why was Epstein handled so gently when, on the face of it, his apparent crime was sex with multiple underage girls?
Why was Epstein further given a deal that cut off further prosecution?
Why was he charged with soliciting prostitution instead of more serious crimes?
Why did the man who prosecuted him suddenly appear as a good candidate for secretary of labor to Trump?
801
@Doug Terry You should be writing columns for The New York Times. You're fair and articulate and more insightful than most of the other columnists.
63
More grist for Mueller’s grinder.
18
Hey Maureen, sounds like a great subject for next week’s column ..
32
I am glad Jackson's victims came clean, I knew Jackson was guilty, many did, but he's famous, and that puts them on a supposedly higher plane. And I wish Jackson had been convicted the first time he was arrested, but he didn't need jail, he needed a hospital, he was a danger to himself as well as others. I wish he had been committed. I hope Wade and James find peace now, and their moms.
Ms. Dowd, thank you for this article. This really is a public service on the dark side of fame. But you forgot one person, and that is Ryan Adams, who I hope goes to jail too.
41
@Andrea W
From what I've read Ryan Adams didn't rape anyone, and he certainly didn't rape any minors. Based on that I think you've got the order of who needs/needed a jail sentence reversed.
One of the saddest aspects of modern society is that truth has become a commodity. It is very rare that anyone speaks truth to power.
I am reminded that his sister La Toys talked about this while it was happening. Of course, she vanished from the spotlight quickly.
67
I am always wary of 'documentaries'. I have not seen the one referred to but all too many start with a concept and follow it religiously to a desired end.
The documentary maker "gently led the victims to tell their stories". Reminiscent of "recovered memories".
Michael Jackson had undoubted problems; resulting in part from his upbringing. However, I always feel ambivalent about assassinating the character of a dead man. You cannot be held to account for errors and falsehoods.
Michael Jackson was a brilliant performer and a flawed human being - the latter part being common to most of those reading this. He can be celebrated for his brilliance and remembered for his flawed humanity. And be a lesson to those who overly worship celebrity.
30
@Philip Brown The dead cannot defend themselves, but in this case, the dead man, while alive, had the wealth and power to silence his accusers; even now, even being dead, he's left behind defenders who are still chained to his prestige and money. Sometimes the dead are anything but defenseless.
29
@PhillipBrown. And as someone astutely points out in another comment, the support of Jackson's fans provided Jackson with the means to abuse these kids, suppress their stories and pay for their silence.
11
@Philip Brown
We assassinate or laud the characters of dead people every day. It's called "History".
2
Reminds me so much of Jerry Sanduskey in State College PA. For years it was strongly suspected in the community what he was doing to the boys. Yet there was no shortage of Moms letting him have access to them. Even the police were too starstruck to do anything about it.
154
I blame the Father "Joe "for the Sins of Michael. While Michael should have been locked up 25 years ago, it was the environment as a child that created the monster. In many ways very similar to Trump.
Being a Dad is a lot more difficult than being a kid - as it should be.
43
@Henry People who become abusers, oddly, are very likely to have been abused. Some part of them, because of their experiences, subconsciously considers it normal. You wouldn't think so, but that seems to be how it works. So that would suggest that the young MJ was abused too. Doesn't make what he did OK, but explains what drives them.
14
"Celebrity supercedes criminality..." Well said, Maureen! In a nutshell that describes how this country has fallen in a myriad of ways far beyond the entertainment world. Donald Trump, anyone?
143
Michael Jackson was a musical genius. But as Aristotle said: “There is no genius without having a touch of madness.”
16
The musical genius here was Quincy Jones and other producers not particularly Mr. Jackson.
26
@paul Couldn't agree with you more. And I'm prompted to think: perhaps Quincy Jones should have stopped working with him.
3
@Jay Orchard- This may be beyond a 'touch of madness". Are you excusing the behavior?
1
Not really different from the McCarrick situation.
Someone who is powerful, with rich friends, gets away with a lot. Some people want to buddy up to the famous guy. Others may not like it but don’t want to lose the good that the person is also doing. Others don’t dare say anything because they know it is they who will be attacked and don’t believe anything will change.
34
@Di
Every celebrity, popular and well managed, can generate a tremendous income for a significant number of people. To do the right thing when the celebrity stumbles is to risk ending that, and that's why the people who knew his habits turned a blind eye to his victims and why his 'doctor' was charged with keeping him pumped up enough to finish one more performance...
A good parasite knows exactly how much they can feed from their host without killing it. Celebrity promoters, agents, publishers, etc., not so much.
It can be said Jackson was a victim of his own success in a cruel business. It can also be said his enablers deserve the loss of whatever was gained from their exploitation. It's dirty money.
"Celebrity supersedes criminality."
This seems like a metaphor for everyday people who have a kind of charisma, who have a commanding presence because of their intelligence, their talents, their attractiveness, that allow them to ignore the responsibilities the rest of us automatically assume.
36
Love him or hate him, he was the two faces of a coin and an entire generation played a part in making him famous.
12
@Filemon Elefante
I’m no advocate for MJ but I don’t think anyone knew about these things when he was at the apex of his fame. The sickness comes into sharper view when the fame persists in the face, and the suppression, of such information.
15
Jackson's legacy disgusts me but then so does an op/ed writer who places Woody Allen on the same list of pedophiles and sex-abusers. Only two people have accused Mr. Allen of such a heinous act: his step-daughter and her mom. The fact that their story was divulged only after Mr. Allen broke up with the latter and became involved with her adopted daughter lends a fair amount of incredulity to those accusations. There are no other accusers here- none, zero- and it's not as though Mr. Allen has been so lacking for female companionship over the years that he'd have logically made a beeline for his girlfriend's underaged child. An important artist's career is being destroyed here for the sake of snarky innuendo and Ms. Dowd is doing her level best to contribute to that effort. Shame.
826
@stu freeman
Thanks for pointing out how different the Jackson-Cosby-Weinstein cases are from that of Allen. There is really no comparison.
And let's bring back Al Franken. He was abused by a hysterical coterie. (That is not an attack on females. There were plenty of hysterical males, there and in other cases where the punishment exceeded the crime.)
934
@stu freeman
Thank you for writing this. There are no comparisons between Michael Jackson's case and Woody Allen's. Woody Allen has been cleared by two, not one, investigations. Sadly, these days, presumption of innocence seems to have gone out the window.
404
Amen. Franken was railroaded, and I believe to eliminate competition. And we all know exactly who I'm talking about.
946
I didn't even like his music: mannered, rehearsed, and as pop as it gets. The writing and performing were so bad they were kind of creepy. Not surprised he turned out to be a manipulative fraud. For people to try to make money off him by now sanitizing his predation makes me sick.
Glad you included Jeffrey Epstein in that list, the smirking monster who paid 14 year old girls to join him at his private island, arriving via the "Lolita Express" private plane.
Maureen, you are no fan of Bill Clinton, said to be a regular on Epstein's island, and Donald Trump is known to have made the journey, along with other politicians of both parties. The flight logs are with the FAA. An intrepid reporter needs to verify the names of those passengers and publish them, or our country's entire journalism enterprise can safely be called cowardly and fraudulent.
242
@Mike Roddy "Said to be" and "known" are not the same. But look how easily they get conflated.
27
@Cynthia
Not sure what you meant, Cynthia, but my point was that someone needs to release the flight logs of the Lolita Express. Then we will know one way or another.
44
@Mike Roddy
Epstein's "Lolita Express" flight logs seem to be out of the FAA bag. Reading your comments, I recalled having seen pages from the logs, and Googled to see if this might represent my imagination, a dream, or my aging brain at work. It appears not to have done.
Epstein's flight logs - or convincing facsimiles thereof - have been published online by a number of outlets. Here find an Epstein v. Edwards (2009) court document pdf:
https://www.scribd.com/document/261420719/Jeffrey-Epstein-Flight-Logs-in-PDF-format
The number of recognizable names is disheartening.
38
Based on the sexualizing of young girls in media and advertising, I suspect the pedophile instinct runs a little deeper than polite society is prepared to admit.
We know that with greater power comes greater tolerance for risk. And the fact that many powerful people have been able to act on their desires with the assistance of so many enablers, suggests that the perceived risks might be low enough to open the door to activities that would have made Roman Emperors blush.
So the obvious solution is to accept the potential for abuse and raise the risk. A lot has happened in the last few years along just those lines. Now you might be featured in a movie, but not the kind that celebrates your power. Or you might get top billing on the media, as you walk up the steps of the court house. Then there are books, magazine articles and maybe even angry confrontations in public.
"Where are my Ray Bans?"
And abuse of children isn't just for the rich and powerful. But maybe the rich and powerful can serve as an example for the rest of us, as a good model or one to avoid.
22
@Look Ahead
It's not just the sexualization of young girls, look what's happening to the boys too! There's not a week that goes by where some older female teacher isn't found to be having sex with one or more of her minor male students. This usually gets waved away with a smirk and a "I wish that had happened to me!". A disgusting and sexist, but widespread, sentiment.
1
"How can an icon be a con?"
Look no further than the Oval Office!
"long before “The Apprentice,” Trump’s business reality show,.... Trump was a pop culture icon, appearing in everything from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” to Woody Allen’s “Celebrity.”.... And while “The Apprentice” helped burnish Trump’s image as a tough-minded businessman and negotiator that has been crucial to his 2016 campaign, the pop culture projects that preceded it used Trump as everything from a sex symbol to an icon of wealth and the foremost representative of New York.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/act-four/wp/2016/01/19/trump-before-politics-a-hollywood-icon-of-sex-appeal-wealth-and-new-york/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.a86acaa5daa1
80
People believe whatever they want to believe. The mothers wanted to believe what was happening was all great
People also take the easiest path. How many in or around Hollywood heard rumors, confessions perhaps, and ignored them?
How many journalists running in those circles also ignored the stories to preserve their connections and the lifestyle they may have lost if they investigated as a journalist should?
Oh, wait, hasn’t Maureen run in those circles for decades?
159
@Blue Yes, but let's not paint everything in black and white, and don't put all in one bag. There are good and bad people in every environment, and there are people in Hollwyood, who only do their job and don't even like this environment or socialize with other celebrities. So careful with throwing everyone into one sack, it doesn't work like that.
3
"Celebrity supersedes criminality."
Succinctly on point.
What is intriguing is such behavior weighs in as "normal" for the upper reaches of the entertainment and media cultures.
43
I have been reading at length about both sides of this issue for decades and, frankly, still don't know who to believe.
One thing for sure, though, is here and now with this documentary still more people keep on making money off of Michael Jackson, who proves to be an easy mark, even in death.
What exactly is filmmaker Dan Reed going to do with the proceeds from "Leaving Neverland"???
36
@lechrist
I agree on not knowing who to believe and I have an uneasy feeling that these people are just after the money. I’m going to add this subject to my reading priority list.
14
@lechrist. The accusers were at Sundance. Read about that too. I hope all proceeds go toward helping victims.
11
@lechrist I agree. It's always been hard to know what to believe - there are others, like McCauley Culkin, who spent lots of time with Michael and have always said that 'nothing happened,' and there was Evan Chandler's father caught on tape saying he would destroy Jackson.
12
There was also, (in)famously, 'Coach' Sandusky and 'Doctor' Nasser. There were warning signs and bizarre behavior, but the power of a title and the promise of success overrode the better judgment of parents and other adults with responsibilities to kids.
It happens, too, out of the public view, to victims who don't even know that they aren't alone. Tragically, many won't be believed.
No one should have unfettered, private access to a child. No social or professional status should be trusted to convey good character. And any minor who expresses discomfort being left alone with someone should not be subjected to it. The dangers of abuse are far greater than any theoretical opportunity.
200
Add the British TV presenter Jimmy Savile to that list.
https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/12/world/europe/jimmy-savile-sexual-abuse-scandal-report.html
3
Michael Jackson, the Catholic Church, the Old Boys Club.
Perverts, psychopaths, pederasts, predators and pathological prevaricators as far as the human eye can see.
Sometimes it seems that it's hard to find a good human, although in fact most people are decent.
Don't let gold baubles, TV and suspension of disbelief turn you into a human moron who abandons their senses for a cheap first class seat to hell on earth.
576
@Socrates
Human failings can be expected, but those in positions of power (clergy, teachers and especially parents) that follow predatory practices, or that turn a blind eye to them (just as complicit) are the worst in our society, for the simple fact that children are involved.
No amount of money can condone such behavior.
107
@Socrates
Human failings are to be expected, but those in positions of power (priests, teachers and especially parents) that follow predatory practices, or that turn a blind eye to them (just as complicit) are just beyond the pale. There has to be zero tolerance.
No amount of money should allow such behavior.
21
@Socrates -Your last paragraph aptly describes 40% ~ of the citizens of this country who see in a certain orange hued holder of high office exactly what they want to see, despite what their eyes and ears tell them. Denial won't allow them to see the monster because it would too greatly resemble their own reflection.
298
Let’s get something straight. Jackson, Weinstein, Cosby, R. Kelly, Epstein and Singer had multiple accusers over decades. Woody Allen had one, the accuser having been programmed by a neurotic and bitterly jealous woman, with the claim being denied not only by Allen but by Ronan Farrow, who witnessed the programming, and which was not substantiated by multiple investigations.
If he’s guilty, he should be shamed and punished for his behavior. But until there is more than vitriolic hysteria from a psychologically fragile mother and a manipulated young girl, his name should not be in this list of demons.
Michael Jackson is another story altogether. He was practically a walking example of a twisted man-child whose unhealthy attraction to children was overlooked by parents wooed by money and fame.
Everyone who witnessed Jackson would roll their eyes and make allowances, because he was extraordinarily talented. They watched as he bleached and surgically altered his face in order to become the elfin creature within.
He created “neverlands” that were more like “alwayslands” as he lured susceptible children and their clueless parents, who were in denial.
Who would hand over a child to this freakish real-life Willy Wonka? What did they expect to get back? Did no alarms go off? Did the fact that he was stuck in some sort of permanent adolescence not raise flags?
How deep was the sleep if we’re only now #woke?
1163
@gemli
I believe it was Moses Farrow who denied allegations of abuse against Woody Allen, not Ronan Farrow.
515
@NA
Yes, you're right. Sorry about the error, and thanks for setting the record straight.
238
Gemli,
I always admire your thoughtful insight, but I really must disagree with your opinion about Woody Allen and your abrasive description of Mia Farrow.
Here is the 1993 Allen custody ruling in its entirety, which I suggest you read:
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/danny-shea/heres-the-1993-woody-alle_b_4746866.html
Specifically Justice Wilk writes:
1. “There is no credible evidence to support Allen’s contention that Ms. Farrow coached Dylan.”
2. Farrow was “not faultless as a parent,” but, “ironically,” her “principal shortcoming with respect to responsible parenting appears to have been her continued relationship with Allen.”
3. Ultimately, “we will probably never know what occurred on August 4, 1992...but Mr. Allen’s behavior toward Dylan was grossly inappropriate and...measures must be taken to protect her.”
The idea that Allen first met Soon-Yi when she was 10 and only took interest in her when she was in high school is disturbing, no?
“I was paternal,” Allen said in 2015. “She responded to someone paternal.”
Later in life, Allen forgot that he’d lied about the naked photos Farrow found. Soon-Yi had asked him to take more modeling pictures, that part was true, but it was his idea for her to be naked. “Lay back on the sofa,” he’d told her, according to his own testimony. “Give me your most erotic poses. Let yourself go.”
He is 35 years older than Soon-Yi.
I was an Allen fan for decades.
I no longer am. After reading all this, I can't condone his behavior.
488
Heartless pedophiles lurk in every family, church, school, synagogue, mosque, and Buddhist temple. The more monied the heartless monster, the better that monster is able to inflict his or her prurient fantasies on hapless children and get easily bribed parents out of the way.
In that, Michael Jackson was no different. Another way Jackson most likely was no different is that, he too, as a child, was left to some other heartless monster's whim.
Sexual predation has a particular profile. It also has a particular heredity that gets passed on and handed down. As parents and adults, we must take some blame for continuing to allow our public and private school systems to graduate our children from their institutions of learning, still, woefully unprepared to fend off our society's monsters.
Our system of (in)justice is also to blame, as it caters to a middle class that is unwilling to extend its demands for protection from the heartless monsters to those neighborhoods beyond theirs. In California and many states, pedophiles who get released from prison are released right back into society, although with the mark of Cain of sex offender, but only if one knows how to look for it.
There is a lot of blame to mete out and Jackson, guilty or not, is the least of the problem. What are we going to do about pedophiles? What are we going to do to protect our kids?
---
Things Trump Did While You Weren’t Looking [2019] https://wp.me/p2KJ3H-3h2
53
@Rima Regas
The link you provided has absolutely nothing to do with what we're discussing here. And it seems to just be a link to an ad for a pay-blog.
5
I have (as well as so many others) followed the goings on of this for decades now. Even from far away, the incrimination seemed to be overwhelming. (even just with anecdotes)
I am not pointing any finger against anyone, but only can speak for meself. No amount of fame or fortune given to me or me children would have allowed for to lower all of me defenses in protecting me own.
No amount.
84
@FunkyIrishman, I said back in the 90's that NO amount of money would ever blind me and cause me to let one of my sons "sleep over" Michael Jackson's home...none.
3
@FunkyIrishman
On point. Raising kids myself I will attest to stopping cold (via a police report and court appearance) a predator who preyed on one of my own. Luckily before any physical contact was initiated. I found and took a screen shot online of explicit grooming texts. A story I am sure resonates with some other readers here. It happens. This piece reminds me of just how prevalent and persistent pedophiles are. They lurk in broad daylight, it is an illness that ultimately consumes them. If true, what I'm reading here, and currently I have no reason to doubt any of this.... that pedophiles with unlimited funds will spare no expense designing a trap to avert the obvious.
8