The director of the documentary Leaving Neverland It is argued that the upcoming biopic Michael Jackson will “glorify” a child rapist.
The 2019 documentary is “a blatantly honest account of two abusive relationships,” British director Dan Reed wrote in a commentary piece for The Guardianpublished on Sunday.
The documentary shows that the pop star first raped a boy, Wade Robson, when he was just seven years old, and abused another, James Safechuck, starting when the child was only 10 years old.
Mr Reed wrote that “the film was an opportunity to give the widest possible audience an insight into how children are victims of any sexual abuse, the psychology of the predator and, above all, the grooming process”.
He expressed his hope that the film could prevent other children from being abused, adding that it was not a “primary aim” to destroy Mr Jackson’s reputation, but that it appeared to It was a “necessary collateral effect”.
“If you know that your idol has abused children, shouldn’t that make the celebration of his personality more problematic, to say the least?” asked the director.
Mr Reed said he wrote the commentary piece because a film being made about Jackson will soon begin filming, produced “hand in hand” with “joint executors of the Jackson estate”.
The IS The Hollywood Reporter He says it is unclear how the film will address the many controversies surrounding the late music icon, given that the film is made in collaboration with his estate, which has defended him against allegations of child sexual abuse. “.
The director added: “In an era when anything that smacks of delegation or insensitivity against a vulnerable group is accompanied by full-throated anger, it’s a deafening silence. No one is talking about ‘cancelling’ this film, which will glorify a man who raped children.”
He said the “terrible insight” of his documentary is that “the predator makes the child fall in love with him, drags them into a kind of guilt tripping over the abuse” which means victims cover up for their abusers and that they will protect them. for years or years”.
Mr Reed noted that Mr Robson now admits he lied in court in 2005 to protect Mr Jackson, leading to his acquittal in his child sexual abuse trial.
The director wrote that the lack of outrage over the announcement of the biopic shows that “Jackson’s allure is still a living force, operating from beyond the grave”.
He said the media and their fans seem willing to ignore the child abuse and “go with the music”.
The director then proceeded to address the fans and press directly.
“Even if you don’t believe a word of what his accusers have said; Even if you don’t care about the police investigations and the huge payouts to stop legal proceedings, how do you explain the completely undisputed fact that Jackson spent countless nights alone for years in bed with younger boys? ” he asked. “What was he doing with them, alone in his bedroom in Neverland, with alarm bells in the corridor? That is unacceptable by any measure.”
Turning his attention to the makers of the pic, Mr Reed asked, “how do you show the moment when Jackson, a grown man in his 30s, takes a child by the hand and leads him into the bedroom? How do you show what happens next?”
“By asking about Jackson’s prediction about sleeping with young boys, you are broadcasting a message to millions of survivors of child sexual abuse. That message is: if a pedophile is rich and popular enough, society will forgive him,” he said.