My thought on MJ's interview

[adamak]

I felt bad for him, and at the same time angry at him.

I can sort of understand where he came from. Yes, if everyone is cuddly with kids, and be nice to them, the world will be better. He's abused, he didn't have a normal upbringing. He cannot understand how the real world works.

HOWEVER (and a big BUT here), how can we protect innocent kids from a 44 year old man's potential dangerous acts? How can anyone, in their honest mind, thinks it's OK to let their kids sleep with "close friends"?

I don't think the journalist betrayed him at all. I think it's an honest display of who Michael Jackson is, that he could be wrong too. Maybe it's time to think that not everyone is against him.

I dont' think Peter Pan would behave like that.

 

[zurgswife]

I'm scared for his own kids.....his mind is in a terrible state...how long can he keep sustaining his fantasy world before he has a breakdown....you can see the deeply embedded wounds of his abuse as a child....

 

[Beauty]

Personally I know three people who have been abused. Two of them are extremely happy, married for years and have children. They live completly normal lives and one of them has gone so far as to tell me he has forgiven the person who abused him.

Now on the other hand the third person I know that was abused is now heavily on drugs, steals anything she can and would undoubtably either end up on the street or dead.

My point, you can not blame being abused for everything that happens to you. Especially someone like Michael Jackson who has always had money to do as he wished. YOU make yourself the person you are! Being abused has to be the most awful experience that a child could go through but after the fact there comes a time when it is up to the person abused to either MAKE A GOOD LIFE for themselves or dwell on the abuse and blame it for everything that goes wrong from then on.

With me it just doesn't cut it.

 

[adamak]

VERY well said.

Yup, can't blame everything on your parents, the tabloid, the media, the society.

Ooooh. I feel so wierd even just by watching him for 2.5 hours. I cannot imagine living with him, or employed by him. Who would say NO to him?

 

[Buckalew]

I disagree though. I didn't think that he implied that he blamed the way he is on anything. I blame those things for helping him become quite freakish, but I don't recall him saying anything of the sort. He seemed to say that he had forgiven his father. He seems to think he is OK and not as weird as the general public views him to be. I think he wants to remain a childlike person because children and innocent and loving and safe & being an adult is scarey to him. I don't think he wants to grow up & be a 'regular' adult. I think he thinks it is OK to be the way he is.

If he is sexually abusing children then that is sick and wrong and he should be punished. But, besides his children being raised in a very bizarre way (& the disturbing baby over the balcony act) he doesn't seem like he is out to hurt or even bitter toward anyone.

 

[momof2OH]

My feelings are this: Yes, he has done some bizare things just as many others have and I for one am not a perfect person and have made my share of mistakes, so I will not judge him. But, with regards to his face, if he's had plastic surgery done or not and to what extent is really his own business. Many people have it done all the time and it's not the topic of conversation. Many have also lied about it too. As my mom and I sat and watched the interview tonight we both agreed that he does seem to have an obsession with children and childhood but not in a physical sense. It's more mental and emotional in nature. It seems like it all stems from his childhood or the lack of. He didn't grow up with a "normal" childhood, infact it was basicly non exsistant. If there was abuse, then that just adds to the whole picture. He does seem like he doesn't want to grow up. He's living the childhood he never really had and I think having all the children around keeps him in that moment. Just look at the way he acted when doing certain things: the joy he had when climbing the tree, the way he acted getting snowcones, riding around in the go cart. It was if you were watchng a child describing and doing those things, not a 44 year old man. He wants to stay in that moment forever, it's peaceful, fun, joyful, free. As with anything in this society, if it's not the "norm" then it's going to be a topic of converstion, especially if it's a celebrity doing those not so "normal" things.

 

[Mr.MouseFan]

momof2OH, I agrre whole-heartedly with everything you've said. Before seeing this interview, I simply wrote MJ off as a freak. After seeing this piece I've come to realize that he's got some serious issues with regards to his childhood. I actually feel bad for the man. Sure, he's got all the money in the world but that does not make up for the precious childhood years that he lost. Quite a shame IMHO.

 

[Claudia1]

I am trying to be objective.

The interview showed me a juvenile man. As I watched it, I kept thinking about how a juvenile man can or cannot be capable of making parental decisions. I watched it with my teenage DD who is also a mother. (In case you didn't know, she has some mental processing disabilities that lead to her victimization & pregnancy.) She was appalled at the zoo scene and even commented that he seemed more interested in what he wanted than how the children were doing. My DD kept reacting to his baby feeding (bouncing, airbubbles in the shaking bottle, etc...). If she noticed these things, then they were quite obvious! There is nothing wrong with being a juvenile man. To me, there is something unsettling about a juvenile parent. I can act like a kid but still be an adult. He didn't.

I am also curious about his children's genetics. If he had not made it public (i/e/ his sperm, etc....) I would not have batted an eye. He has always been quite vocal about them being his biological kids. As I recall my college genetics class, blond & blue-eyed are recessive genes. His oldest looked like he was filled with recessive genes. This is not a racist remark: I could care less about race. I am just wondering about the validity of his statements, therby raising questions about other things he said.

If I were at WDW, in a crowd, and my kids were not completely under my protection, I would have been blasted (and rightfully so). Whoever you are, anything done is public is, ...well,... public. His public comments & actions plus the interview have given a picture of somebody to be watched.

JMHO.

 

[amid chaos]

I kept thinking that he is protecting his children from something he is creating.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think he is a child who never grew up, and doesn't intend to. He was the center of attention as a perfoming child, and I think he tries to keep himself that way now. I think that is why he works at the childlike voice and demeanor.

 

[zurgswife]

Claudia1....I made the observation last night in the other MJ thread....it didn't look like to me that any of his children had any african american DNA....specifically that they didn't look like they could be his biological children....

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Only saw part of it. It was quite shocking to learn the abuse he suffered.
Is he Dr. Jeykell/ Mr. Hyde????
I don't know...

 

[Annie&Hallie'sMom]

Ok, just a few observations. I didn't see the whole interview, as I was out at a meeting, but...

MJ seems like a nice guy, but a very mentally & emotionally stunted one. While he's 44, in many cases I felt his mental abilities were on par with a 4 year old. I felt his actions in some cases were similiar to those who was mentally impaired/challenged. He has some serious psychological problems in my opinion.

I honestly doubt as if he has sexually abused children. I don't think he is sexual at all. (I know he has three children, but...). Because his mind set is that of a child, and he WANTS to be a child, he surrounds himself by children and honestly sees no wrong in this and sharing a bedroom/bed with them.

On the other hand, if you have children and want to be a parent, you cannot be a child. You have to be emotionally responsible. I'm not saying you can't still be childlike or act like a child and climb trees. There is a time and place for that, just as there is a time and place for disipline.

I know there is some debate over the "color" of his children. While I still do have my doubts about his "biological" parentage, I do have a racially mixed family in my neighbor hood and believe me the son has bluer eyes and blonder hair than any "purebreed caucasian" that I have ever seen.

 

[ChefBilly]

What shocked me was the way I reacted to it. I actually felt <i>bad</i> for the guy, and I never expected to.

I've always hated his music, had no interest in his dancing, and thought he looked like a freakshow who did very, very weird things.

But last night - during the first hour - I saw someone who seems a little nicer than I would've thought.
But at the same time his interaction with his baby "Blanket" was frightening and his moods seemed erratic. And sleeping with kids is just weird. I didn't exactly get a pedophile vibe - he seemed fairly asexual. But I'm no psychologist. I do think it's <i>potentially</i> dangerous.

I guess it didn't change the way I thought of him, it just made me feel a little sad for him. And I've never, ever felt sad for him before. I never felt anything for him before. It just made him appear a little more real and a little less the abstract charicature he always seemed.

I do think Bashear (Brashear?) did a great job.

 

[RitaZ.]

I kept thinking that he is protecting his children from something he is creating.

I thought the same thing. I watched some of the interview and it was bizarre and sad at the same time.

 

[KaterBell]

Rita, you're right about "bizarre"...

The Neverland Ranch blew my mind. This guy has more money than I could ever think of spending in my life, and he builds an amusement park in his backyard. Did anyone else think that the train station looked very "Main Street USA" ?

I felt bad for him, too. And I was angry. I think most of the DISers shared the same emotions toward the show. I was speechless at some parts...