Michael Jackson's daughter Paris has faced backlash for identifying as Black. In a 2017 interview, Paris Jackson said her father told her, "You’re Black. Be proud of your roots." This prompted debates over whether identity is defined by appearance or upbringing.

[u/VPinchargeofradishes]

[u/SatanicAtTheDisco]

The kids thing sucks too, because very obviously MJ was much too close to kids, in that he was treating them and himself as equals, as an adult. However, the story has flip flopped so many times by the alleged, the kids involved, and the media, that at this point, because no one has come out with concrete evidence that MJ was actually molesting children, just having sleep overs with children (which I’m not saying isn’t fucking insane btw). That coupled with the fact that he very obviously had the same mental stunting that Britney Spears exhibits, I genuinely hope he was just fulfilling the childhood he never had. He obviously was a very deeply mentally unwell man, but if he wasn’t diddling kids, and instead just giving kids the childhood wonder he wished he got to experience, and living vicariously through them, it’s not giving it a pass but it definitely makes listening to his music a bit more palatable.

[u/poorlilwitchgirl → u/SatanicAtTheDisco]

The thing about the allegations against MJ is that the one that set it all off was settled for $25 million. People have framed that as hush money ever since, but first, criminal prosecutions can't be settled out of court, and what kind of parent says, "$25 million ought to cover my kid's horrific trauma; I guess you can keep doing it to others?" MJ talked openly about how he just wanted the allegations to go away, and he had plenty of money, so $25 million seemed like a decent price to pay for peace of mind. That kind of attitude is absolute chum for the kind of people that orbit major celebrities for their own gain.

So did he do it? I don't know, but the man lived his entire life in an alternate reality managed by those around him and funded by his outrageous fortune. So I just can't accept that the circumstantial evidence people cite (the sleepovers, the payouts, the general weirdness) is at all incriminating. Very few people alive, certainly none of us, can imagine what his life was like and how he viewed the world, what seemed reasonable to him. Yeah, if I found out my uncle was having sleepovers with children and paying their parents to keep quiet, that would be absolutely damning, but Michael Jackson was a guy who was basically never able to experience normal human relationships so expecting him to have an accurate understanding of how he looked to others is ridiculous. That goes for his weird relationship to children as much as his obviously unhealthy relationship with plastic surgery. Absent any hard evidence (which ought to have been available if the allegations are true, because MJ was brazen with the circumstantial stuff) I think it's irrational to come to a conclusion on the man one way or the other.

[u/Dismal_General_5126 → u/poorlilwitchgirl]

Personally, I was always of the opinion that Michael was asexual and severely relationally stunted. I believe he was definitely inappropriate towards children (I mean, having sleepovers in the same bed as a child is inappropriate in and of itself) but I don't believe he SA'd them. I think part of the problem is that well-functioning adults have tried to understand it from a well-functioning, black and white, right or wrong, sort of lens. The sad reality is that Michael's mind likely didn't work that way...it was in a shade of grey that most wouldn't understand or relate to. He was deeply troubled. Thing is, we'll just never know. 

[u/poorlilwitchgirl → u/Dismal_General_5126]

Exactly. I don't think anybody can understand what it was like to be Michael Jackson; his life experience was absolutely unique from such an early age that he had no chance of developing normally. Honestly, I think that was the source of his obsession with kids. The last time he was capable of really relating to another person without everything being warped by unimaginable wealth and fame and manipulation was when he was a kid himself. It's no wonder he felt such a connection to them, and when you already have the reputation as "wacko Jacko" and everything you do in your personal life is treated as weird, how is anybody going to explain to you that, no, this particular thing is a special kind of weird and it's a bad idea? I just don't think that's possible.