‘The Michael Jackson cacophony is fascinating in that it is not about Jackson at all. I hope he has the good sense to know it and the good fortune to snatch his life out of the jaws of a carnivorous success. He will not swiftly be forgiven for having turned so many tables, for he sure grabbed the brass ring, and the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo has nothing on Michael. All that noise is about America, as the dishonest custodian of black life and wealth;the blacks, especially males,in American;and the burning,buried American guilt;and sex and sexual roles and sexual panic; money,success and despair’ ~James Baldwin
James Baldwin’s prophecy about the Michael Jackson cacophony was indeed correct, especially today as we witness the current hysteria surrounding Michael Jackson and the 4 hour movie ‘Leaving Neverland’ (if we go by the definition, it doesn’t qualify as a documentary), directed by Dan Reed in which two men Wade Robson and James Safechuck make detailed and graphic allegations of sexual abuse, that they had allegedly faced at the hands of the star when they were of age 7 and 10 respectively, and they now claim continued for years.Mainstream media and the press yet, got another opportunity to finally convince the world that they were right, for the last two decades in their assertions that Michael Jackson was undoubtedly a pedophile and that Leaving Neverland is the ultimate proof. HBO and every media outlet went to great lengths to promote the documentary days after days since it’s screening at the Sundance Film Festival this year; referring to it as ‘powerful’ and ‘shocking’. Indeed, it is shocking given the explicit and graphic accounts of sexual abuse depicted in the documentary.Dan Reed said to the LA TIMES,”We agreed that the sexual abuse had to be described exactly as it happened.We had to go graphic,because there’s no point making a film like this and just saying well,then the bedroom door closes and we skip ahead”.
But does it necessarily mean that the accusations are true?