nobody is 100% anything. i'm sure Michael had many sides to him like most people. these titles place him on a pedestal above everybody else. an unrealistic standard that nobody can live up to.
it's not surprising that fans do this, as he encouraged it himself, with certain paintings he commissioned of himself (portraying jesus at the last supper), photoshoots, videos ('history teaser'), and performances, etc..
strangely enough, none of this was happening in '83 - which was his most innovative and successful year. sure, he was known for being 'special' and 'different', but that fascination was based on something genuine. slowly but surely after that year, a larger than life image was manufactured and his art (which he was known for in the first place) was pushed to the background.
Michael was warned about the implications of certain behaviours. he didn't listen. it cost him his reputation, and led him down a downward spiral. I don't think the conversation is as simple as 'innocent' and 'guilty'. I believe there is a middle ground; it's one thing to care about children and enjoy spending time with them. it's another to be obsessed to the point where you state that you want to be buried next to them, and you would kill yourself if they ceased to exist. now did that obsession shift into something sinister? I hope not, and I've yet to see any real convincing evidence of that. it's not hard to see why some would doubt him though. there was no reason for children to be in his bed at all (he admitted to being in bed with the culkins, and brett barnes admitted that he slept in bed with Michael). especially after the first allegations where he settled out of court. I blame the parents and everybody around him as much as I blame him. as some others have stated, he should have sought help. yet fans just want to make excuses and point the finger at everybody else. why is he immune from taking responsibility for his own actions? how can you claim he's a genius in one breath then claim he was oblivious to the obvious in the next?
for what it's worth, I think it's extremely unfair that this documentary was allowed to be made since he's not here to defend himself. he was cleared during his lifetime, and the current accusers changed their stories. I certainly don't think he should be cancelled and I certainly will never do that. still, all of that could have been avoided from the beginning..
this thread was supposed to be a safe space for people with unpopular opinions to express themselves (in a respectful way of course). yet we're still being sucked into group-think and told that we're annoying. i'm only here because I was quoted. haven't been here in ages.. one can just check my post history to see that I mainly keep it focused on the music.
