Busting Every MJ Fan Myth About the ‘Boys Will Be Boys’ Book
**1.) They were legal art/photography books, not illegal child pornography
Law professor Mary Graw Leary’s 2009 paper “Death to Child Erotica” argues that the term “child erotica” is misleading. It falsely implies an artistic genre, when most such material is created primarily to sexually arouse adults with an interest in children—not art.
This critique applies directly to the defense of Michael Jackson: labeling the controversial books as “purely artistic” or “innocent illustrations” ignores their actual purpose. By doing so, defenders inadvertently downplay the actions of photographers like Swithinbank and Drew, who produced suggestive images of children with clear sexual intent. These books are not art.
2.)The images were “non-sexual” in context
“Boys Will Be Boys!” (1966) — About 90% pictures of nude boys according to prosecutor Ron Zonen.
You might have seen Playboy magazines where women are completely naked and posed in a sexualized way. In the case of these books, it's similar in the sense that the children are also completely naked and photographed in posed ways.
So if Playboy is considered pornography, then why aren't these books considered child pornography?
Martin Swithinbank and Ronald Drew
There soul intention was to normalise pedophilia with there work
They were
reportedly sentenced to about 7½–15 years in prison for child sexual abuse.
It’s crazy how the law can sometimes classify material like Boys Will Be Boys as “art” even when the intent behind the creators and promoters was openly connected to normalizing pedophilia. History has shown that when authorities concluded certain “art” or media had exploitative intent toward children, it was often seized, banned, or destroyed instead of defended as artistic expression. For example, the “Wonderland Club” child abuse network in the 1970s was dismantled and its material seized after authorities recognized it as child exploitation, despite some attempting to frame it as photography or expression.
Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis (2010)
Few law-enforcement officers would ignore or fail to seize sexually explicit child pornography found during a search. But, over and over again, officers ignore and leave behind the child erotica and collateral evidence. In some cases even adult pornography can be child erotica and, therefore, of investigative interest.
Although not as significant or damaging as child pornography, child erotica is valuable evidence of intent and a source of valuable intelligence information. The ledgers, diaries, letters, books, souvenirs, adult pornography, or nonsexually explicit images of children that can be part of a child-erotica collection can be used as supportive or corroborative evidence.
The recognition and evaluation of the significance of this type of material requires insight, common sense, and good judgment.
3.) Defenders claim of having no fingerprints on the book as evidence
It’s also funny how some creators who defend MJ claim there was forensic evidence proving no fingerprints were found on these books.
But in reality, no forensic fingerprint examination was ever done on the books.
So this is another claim that keeps getting repeated and spread around as fact, even though there’s no evidence for it.
4.) Jackson collected huge numbers of books and art items
There is a myth that Jackson received thousands of things from fans, which he had no opportunity to review, but this is not correct, taking into account the testimony of Joseph Marcus, the Neverland property manager, who worked there 17 years. He testified in 2005 that any gifts from fans addressed to Jackson in the past were first filtered and only the "best things" were chosen, the ones they thought Jackson would like to take back to his properties (Page 9710).
5) The “he wanted to send the book back to the fan”
The “he probably wanted to return the book to the fan” argument becomes even weaker when you look at the timeline.
The inscription from “Rhonda” is dated 1983, meaning Michael Jackson had the book since at least that year.
The books were then discovered during the 1993 Neverland raid — that is already around 10 years later.
And the books were brought up again publicly during the 2005 trial, which is around 22 years after 1983.
Even if someone ignores the 1983 inscription and only starts counting from the 1993 raid, the books were still being discussed again in court in 2005 meaning he had kept them for at least 12 more years after they were discovered.
So the idea that the books were simply forgotten gifts he intended to “eventually return” becomes harder to believe when you look at how long they remained in his possession.
Michael Jackson lied on TV when asked about these books in 1995
In an interview with Diane Sawyer from 1995 when asked about the books, MJ lied saying that he was not aware of them and had not seen them, despite having them locked in his room and having written inside the cover of "Boys will be boys" (p. 8173):
"Look at the true spirit of happiness and joy in these boys' faces. This is the spirit of boyhood, a life I never had and will always dream of. This is the life I want for my children. M.J."
(Note: Read the preface of the book written by the authors, and you will find similarities with Jackson's way of speaking: the speech about joy, the innocence of children, the celebration of childhood and boyhood, etc.)
6.) The book is in the library of congress
True ,but
The book being in the Library of Congress does not automatically prove a book is morally good, harmless, or endorsed by the government. The Library of Congress archives and preserves materials for historical, cultural, legal, academic, and research purposes including controversial, disturbing, or offensive works.
A book being there mainly means it was cataloged or preserved as part of documenting human history and published material, not that the Library agrees with its content or considers it ethical. Libraries and archives often keep difficult or controversial material so researchers, historians, courts, and the public can study society, history, crime, propaganda, psychology, art, and cultural debates.
History also shows that works later viewed as harmful, exploitative, racist, or abusive were still preserved in archives or libraries for documentation purposes. Preservation is not the same thing as moral approval.
Some of the books which are present in
library of congress :-
Mein Kampf — widely condemned for promoting antisemitism and Nazi ideology.
The Turner Diaries — associated with white supremacist extremism and violent ideology.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion — a notorious antisemitic forgery used to spread conspiracy theories.
The Anarchist Cookbook — controversial because of instructions related to explosives and illegal acts.
Historical racist propaganda pamphlets from segregation eras in the United States.
Wartime propaganda publications from regimes such as Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union.
Bonus: In Latoya's 1991 book, she described how Jackson once told her, "If you really want to know someone, look in the bottom of their bedroom drawers." (Link to the photo).