How do you deal with people who assume?(rant)

[MykelTheSuperfan]

So today I was having a conversation with a group of friends and I mentioned Michael to them and then one of the them said to me "did you know MJ sexually assaulted kids" and I asked her why she thinks that and then she replied "because I read two articles and I believe the internet" (I am not exaggerating what she said, this is what actually happened) Then I told her not to believe what all of the what the media told her, then she said "you should always believe the victim, what if someone else get abused". Later I asked her if she had researched the other side of the tale then she explained that she couldn't find anything on his innocence, when I tried to make a reasonable argument with her she and other friends who had joined in made up "you just defend him because you like his music" and "you should separate him from his music". I have respect for people's opinions but I laid out the entire conversation because I want to get advice on how to defend Michael and stop people from using the same tactic to shut down my argument, I have respect for what they think but I am fed up with people being unreasonable like this

 

[staywild23]

hmm this is a hard situation. I don't blame you for getting upset by this, especially because they are your friends and you care so much about Michael. In a situation like this, any kind of persuasive techniques are helpful lol. So I would first start with validating their opinion/concern. For example, it is important to take all allegations seriously. These are horrible allegations and to ignore them, especially if there is proof, just because you love an artist would be wrong. So I think you can straight up say that to your friends. Sexual abuse is terrible. But it is because it is so terrible that you don't take the allegations lightly and decided to learn more about what happened. Once you began researching, you discovered mountains of evidence that indicate that Michael was the victim of extortion. He is also part of an extensive history in the United States of black men being wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct or other heinous crimes by white people. This is something I feel is not talked about enough. Since it sounds like your friends probably care about social issues, that could be a good thing to remind them of.

Regarding the "you should separate him from his music thing" you could always answer that it's just not possible for you. For most of Michael's fans I would say that they would struggle to be a fan still if they knew he actually did what he was accused of. It is because it is such a big deal that you can't separate him from his music and why you made sure to understand the allegations and the context around them. I would also maybe ask any of those friends to watch Square one with you. There are tons of resources they could read, podcasts they could listen to, court transcripts they can cite, but assuming they won't want to, I suggest you organize a little watch party with a friend or two. Maybe the friend you mentioned above.

Anyway, I'm sorry this has caused you such grief. It is really hard to feel so passionately about something and have other people not understand it. Keep your head up though! You have a huge fan community to connect with and your friends may come around

 

[MacMandy90]

@staywild23 I absolutely agree with this doll!

I've been through that experience as well and believe me, it can be very tough being in that situation. We all know very well that Michael was and always has been innocent, case in point. To those who do not believe in the truth and facts, and the evidence against him was incredulous and downright false, those people are very ignorant and they are blind sheep in a lost flock.

In other words, you have every right to believe in your heart and soul in Michael and to support the fans and legacy that are with him, we all absolutely do too especially. For those that cannot associate him as a human being that would never do any harm and has the gift of talent and grace, unfortunately we don't always have the capacity to fully convince them otherwise but to put in context what is being understood, they'll never fully understand how serious those allegations are and how blind they are to believing the media and internet for all of their so called "100 percent reliably credible sources". At the end of the day love and justice conquers all and Michael is proof of that.