u/reveriedelarose

I have tried listening to this many times. I don’t like how much hate this song gets. I can’t fully relate because while I had adverse childhood experiences, I had a childhood. I can’t imagine practically having none at all. And I’m trying hard to get into his shoes. The lyrics that break my heart are:
“Before you judge me, try hard to love me”

I thought this was a really good comprehensive analysis. It covers both why MJ’s genuinely innocent childlike side was extremely plausible and why the leaving Neverland claims line up with real abuse patterns. Now, this video doesn’t decide anything. And the abuse pattern claims from the documentary being accurate don’t necessarily mean those patterns did happen. But regardless of what you believe this is all good education for anyone genuinely wanting to know the psychology of Michael Jackson or the psychology of abuse.

I think that Michael had multiple different competing ideas of his own race. He explicitly took after Black music and was proud to be a Black artist. However, he did want to shrink his nose to be more and more Eurocentric. I don’t believe he was doing this on purpose. But it does reflect internalized racism. On the other hand, he has never lightened his skin with the purpose of becoming white. He had vitiligo and the creams he used were created to even out the skin tone for people with vitiligo. I think A Michael able to embrace the blotches would’ve been very inspiring. But he was just too self conscious for that. And the makeup required to keep his original tone would’ve been astronomical. So, I don’t fault him for the lightened skin. But I do acknowledge the nose shrinking, while related to his father’s bullying, was also internalized racism.

While this sub is a safe place to discuss and debunk the allegations, I would like to take a week to generate content about the beautiful human Michael was without thinking of those things. Unfortunately we will always have to consider them and discuss the reality of them because those who hate him will not let them go. However, I want to occasionally reserve some time for just focusing on Michael and what HE wants to be remembered for. I won’t delete allegation debunking posts. I just ask that we try for the next week to focus on his music, philanthropy, and his heart.

On this anniversary of MJ’s death let’s reflect on what Michael wants most out of his memory. I think it would be his artistic prowess, his heart, his empathy, and his ability to be himself in a world that thought he was overwhelmingly strange.

[Let me explain] I have noticed that a lot of the things that the general public talks about when it comes to the false allegations are misconceptions (because they don't have deeper knowledge about him). Beyond looking at the court documents, one thing that really speaks volumes about Michael's innocence is his videos (playing with kids, how he interacted with people in Neverland, how playful he was, videos of him visiting children in the hospital, videos of him with his children...). That shows how innocent, lovely and joyful his relationship with children were, and how he dealt with adults also.

Another thing is: people that think Michael was gay should see the videos where he interacted with female fans, videos of him talking about women. He was respectful of women in general, because he did not like how his brothers used to sleep around when they were younger.

Also, the Glenda tapes: he talks about relationships with women, very very clearly, have you seen guilters mention those tapes? He talked about women SO MANY TIMES, in many situations. With the Rabi, in the early 2000s, he talked about his divorce with Lisa Marie...

I just feel like these aspects are overlooked by the general public when it comes to understanding his behavior more. I don't claim that I (or us as a fandom), had a personal relationship with him, but I am saying that we recognize behaviors, habits that were consistent his whole life (the kindness, the playfulness, the innocence of his art and his charity work, being non-confrontational, as well as always demonstrating respect and interest towards women). He was not perfect, but I would say that his good will and kind attitude were things that could not be faked and are really consistent across people that interacted with him and his public life.

A really nice interview from Brett Barnes. What sticks out to me is that Brett confirms he was never isolated from his parents. And explains the stress of being someone who knew Michael as a child and refuses to accuse him of any wrongdoing. People hound him so much it would explain why more people who knew him as a child aren’t speaking up.

If you want to catch us during our read through of Moonwalk now is the time to join!! DM me for link! It’s on Fable!

I’d start with the 17th Doctor and halfway through the season they are still struggling to get along with their companion. At some point the Doctor opens up and explains that they once got so close to someone their subconscious caused them to regenerate with their face. It was highly traumatic. They talk about Rose briefly in a way that makes sense to a completely new audience. Kind of like the time war. They just have to explain this is someone they loved very deeply and will always miss. They don’t even have to say her name. The new companion says they can’t take Rose’s place but they can be a new sort of friend and want to forge their own unique relationship with the Doctor. They encourage the Doctor to talk about Rose when they need to rather than push the memory down in a way that will cause it to erupt later (these discussions don’t have to happen onscreen at all). They bond over it and get closer. New companion suggests the Doctor learn to control their regenerations better and the Doctor finally does just that because they understand it is a valuable skill. They learn to control their regenerations like Romana and the next face is a choice and not random. Now this incident can be used to progress the Doctor as a character. They take more agency over themselves and their own life and go forward with more purpose on who they want to become.

Despite what Dimond would want you to think, it is nearly impossible to decide that there is not high levels of bias and racism in the American police system. And it’s dangerous to downplay that. I never advocated for defund the police. But the police system needs reform.

https://rocklandtimes.com/2014/11/26/are-we-asking-the-right-questions-about-police-and-race/

How is this relevant to a subreddit about Michael Jackson? Diane Dimond is one of the most vocal detractors out there who has done any and everything to try to convince the media Michael was guilty. Including making up unsubstantiated stories about German drinking parties with teenagers and a non existent tape of Michael supposedly molesting a child. A tape that has never been found to have existed.

And Michael Jackson was a Black man. If you believe at all in the ongoing existence deep rooted racism, you must admit that it is more likely a Black man would falsely accused AND falsely imprisoned than it would be for him to be throughly investigated and acquitted. Dimond would have you believe you don’t need to worry about racial bias against ANY Black man within the justice system.

For me it’s the relationship aspect. We had sci fi that was grounded in real emotions that we could connect to. Rose was the Doctor’s true love that he had to lose. Then Martha was the extraordinary person who deserved love too but couldn’t get it from him. And we got to see both her longing and his guilt for not being able to reciprocate. And finally, Donna was that incredible best friend that challenges you in all the right ways.

I think we need more of that. Every companion bringing out a different side of the Doctor in such a way that it feels real. Even though it’s so extra ordinary.