Disney Hit's All Time Low With ABC INTERVIEW WITH JACKSON

[mkyears]

For those of you who are Michael Jackson fans and Saw the terrible terrible crap ABC pulled with there Michael Jackson interview. I want to know what you think I know this Is a Disneyland board but I think it is so wrong for Disney to be apart of a total bashing of a man that was highly involved in the Disney Company. Tv is reaching new lows and I couldn't beleive what I saw tonight.

If you want more info go to ABCNEWS.COM I'm sure it's one of there headlines

[Techie7]

ABC did not directly conduct the interview. It was a documentary created for a British TV network. ABC won out the bidding war to get the documentary. While it may not have appealed to many it certainly should draw viewers if for nothing else than shock value.

[tod]

The thing that bothers me is that after NBC committed time and money to do their own special on Jackson -- given, afther this BBC production gave them the idea -- that ABC went and bought the original from BBC, beating NBC to it.

Reminds me of Allan Carr and the "Alive" movie back in the '70s.

--T

[justagrrl]

I did not watch the entire show. I watched, maybe, a half hour or so near the beginning.

The part I saw was nothing bad. If anything, it made him appear to be more normal then I suspected. (normal - I guess it's all subjective) If I had all his money, who's to say I wouldn't have my own amusement park and zoo.

What was the part that was sooooo terrible? (I'm guessing it was after I fell asleep.)

[mkyears]

The bad Part was when in the interview he was being questioned about having children in his room. Applying that sexual things go on there. Michael told them that people always think it's a sexual thing when it's not. The kid that sleeps in his room has cancer and he feels like he is helping him . I don't know I mean to us this does sound odd but after watching the whole interview I find it hard to beleive he is doing any harm to these kids. Michael Jackson is who he is and I think people need to stop harrasing him. Then after they showed how Michael's face has changed and blah blah. I dunno it just seems like a crappy way to treat him if not anyone

[Sheila]

Okay, I really have to respond to a bit of the comments on MJ here. I did watch the entire show last night. Although MJ is truly a strange person, I thought Bashir was way out of line with stating his personal opinions as a matter of fact.

I do know a bit about the story of the allegedly molested boy (from working for an attorney that represented one of the parties). I can't say much about the charges as I was not privy to those, but I can tell you this: Once the settlement was paid, a certain party took all the money and deserted the family (including the boy).

You can draw your own conclusions. But my opinion is if the person involved was that much of a scumbag, then this person's filing charges and demanding a large settlement is somewhat suspect, if you get my drift.....

I hate it when people jump to the conclusion that if an out-of-court settlement was reached, the defendant was really guilty. I'm definitely not saying MJ has clean hands but the whole affair was just weird.

Sheila

[Alex S.]

Without getting into the questions about Michael Jackson himself, I have some significant issues with the way this "documentary" was presented.

The journalist involved made himself too big a part of the story. The 20/20 interview that followed was really telling. Every sentence from Bashir started with "I was disturbed..." or "While I never saw anything wrong, I was troubled..."

In was a documentary in the way that Michael Moore creates documentaries. It uses reality, but it was presenting a message.

Yes, I think it weird that Michael Jackson wants to sleep with unrelated children (heck, I find it weird that Michael Jackson likes children). I find it weirder that each of these children apparently has a parent that let's them sleep with Michael Jackson.

But, unless there is some real allegation of abuse, it is all the personal decisions of those involved.

Gloria Allred's little campaign is pretty silly.

[cutelittleartist]

Gloria Allred makes me ill.

That said, does anyone remember this article regarding the molestation alligation?

GQ Magazine

It's quite a read. I suggest printing it out then reading it.

[Laffite]

They pulled in 27 million viewers; good for them; I was watching Friends

[Instidude]

I first of all must admit that I didn't watch it (with young kids I didn't want to have to explain MJ to them), but being old enough to have watched Michael since his days with the jackson 5 (and their animated show, even), I have to say that he has become one thoroughly confused individual. It's a shame that reality and Michael have taken divergent paths. I did watch the Primetime afterwards, and what I saw was rather scary. While I do realize that the man who put the show together had an agenda, what Michael shows and volunteered of himself was not that of a stable person.

It's a shame that all that talent is slowly being whittled away by the lack of reality in his life.

[Tref]

What exactly I want to know is: where the heck does Todd get off using an Allan Carr reference?

[cstephens]

I didn't watch the show myself, but it's been interesting to listen to various morning radio talk shows discuss the show, and the general consensus among the ones I heard seems to be sympathy for Michael. Not if he's actually molested any children, but there seem to be readily apparent reasons for some of the stranger things that he does. And they all seem to agree that his upbringing, weird childhood and treatment (abuse?) by his father is responsible for most of what's completely screwed him up. It does make me feel sad for him, if that's true, as he had no control of the situation as a child and can't seem to find help for himself as an adult. Again, this is not based on my having seen the show, but from snippets I heard, both soundbites from the show and commentary of the people who saw it.

[MouseWife]

Originally posted by Tref
What exactly I want to know is: where the heck does Todd get off using an Allan Carr reference?

Sounds to me like a time when ABC might have beat NBC on a movie rights deal.

Gosh, how his family made fun of him for his looks, it is no wonder why he has constantly tried to change them. {first surgery must have given him so much power, in a way} And, going from a cute kid to a gawky teen and then having it rubbed in to your face that you are no longer cute?

I know a lot of families who behave this was. No problem for them. But for the member who is not like that it can be very difficult and painful.

[Germboy]

Obviously fame and money don't buy everything.

[tod]

Originally posted by Tref
What exactly I want to know is: where the heck does Todd get off using an Allan Carr reference?

Tod -- one "d," if you please -- is referring to Carr's hijacking of the story about the soccer team that crashed in the Andes and had to resort to cannibalism of their dead to survive. Piers Paul Read wrote a book about their ordeal called "Alive!" and it was optioned by a major Hollywood studio in 1976. Carr found a crappy Mexican film about the same story, dubbed and recut it (adding an avalanche scene he bought from Disney), re-titled it "Survive!" and released it through Paramount, killing the market for "Alive!" -- which finally was made in 1993.

Carr is also responsible for the execrable locution "...and the Oscar goes to..." which he mandated the year he produced the Oscar telecast. "...and the Oscar goes to..." makes the winner look like a selection by random chance rather than a choice by the membership of the Academy.

Why Tref thinks I am unworthy to invoke Carr's name is anybody's guess.

--T

[Darkbeer]

The Smoking Gun posted a declaration from 1993 that includes a graphic account of alleged sexual encounters with Jackson at the performer's Neverland Ranch and various hotels.

[MouseWife]

Wow.

[MouseWife]

Darkbeer~ What are the pictures of Knott's WSC? You know, the ones of the bar? Where were those taken?

Thanks!

[wdtv]

Jackson is gonna release footage of his own videotaped by his staff showing Bashir praising MJ for his love and utter devotion to children.

I am a huge MJ fan, and Bashir did treat him 100% unfairly!

This interview program implied -- in a sneaky way -- that MJ abuses children, which is in no way true

[Germboy]

WDTV, I know you are a big MJ fan, but do you think maybe Bashir told Michael what he wanted to hear to coax him to continue spilling his guts? I think anyone would agree child molesters have a "love and utter devotion to children".

Did you read the sworn testimony of the 13 year old boy? You say that it is in "no way true" that MJ "abuses children". You must have more access to his bedroom than his publicist!

I'm not necessarily accusing him of anything, but I guess I wish I had your "proof" so that I could be convinced otherwise.

If my best friend, who recently had a baby, told me that he snatched the baby from the doctor and ran away with "placenta" all over him, I'd question his judgement a little. Sorry, maybe I'm ill-advised.

[SoCalSnowWhite]

I found the documentary very interesting. It's very rare that he talks about himself let alone his children. I can't say that I believe everything he had to say. I believe Bashir was a little dogmatic in some of his comments. He was a little harsh.
Despite it all, I am still a fan. I will still listen to his music. I will still keep my Michael jackson doll and glove.
(that was not a joke, i really do have the doll and glove )

[adriennek]

Originally posted by Germboy
If my best friend, who recently had a baby, told me that he snatched the baby from the doctor and ran away with "placenta" all over him, I'd question his judgement a little. Sorry, maybe I'm ill-advised.

That part really bothered me.

Michael volunteered that information- you can't say that Bashir coaxed it out of him or tricked him into saying anything or that he editorialized on it.

In the other MJ thread I mentioned that MJ seemed really selfish to me in his answers, and a bit of a control-freak or someone desparately trying to control his surroundings. This was a key example of this. I have two children and I lost a third pregnancy. Michael's reasoning for taking his child from the hospital was that he was scared that everything would be alright with her. Well, HELLO. That's what doctors and hospitals are for! That's why I had my babies in hospitals, so that I'd have professionals there to care for us and make sure we were healthy and safe.

He later was saying that the doctors were all telling him that it was ok. Well, look what doctors have let him do to his face... Eh- it doesn't sit well with me. As the daughter-in-law and sister of pediatricians, I really have to question what doctors would let a child be taken away under such conditions. If MJ was telling the truth about that part.

Adrienne K

[wdtv]

You want proof that MJ was framed? Click here:
http://steveharvey.com/michaeljackson.htm

Sickens me to think that some people think MJ is a pedophile.

He is not sexually molesting children; they just fall asleep. No harm in that. People in this country are too hung up on sex ... they hear "sleep", they immediately assume "having sex."

Immediately following the program, Debbie Rowe had a statement videotaped. In it, she is clearly in tears, saying that there could be no better father than MJ & she had given him this gift -- his two children -- because she said "You should be a father" cause he's so wonderful with children.

Throughout his lifetime, MJ has donated over $100 million to charity.

If only everyone in this world were as loving & giving as MJ, we'd all be much happier.

Why is he a bad father? And How is exhibiting childlike qualities being disturbed? MJ may be a child at heart, but he is also as crude a businessman as any.

Some people r just out to get him. The 1993 allegations were plantedd this interview was edited to make him look like an abuser. I mean ... listen to Bashir's commentary!

[adriennek]

Originally posted by wdtv
Why is he a bad father? And How is exhibiting childlike qualities being disturbed? MJ may be a child at heart, but he is also as crude a businessman as any.

I think you're asking a bunch of different questions about different issues. The first issue is the child molestation issue. The second is his ability as a father. The third you bring up is his business abilities.

Being a good businessman and being a good father are two totally separate issues, IMO. Being good at business does not make one a good father, nor does being bad at business make one a bad father.

In the lounge, we had a thread about parenting learning experiences and parenting mistakes. One of the first rules of parenting, from my experience, is that you learn from your "learning experiences" to try to avoid mistakes. I'm not convinced that MJ's self-evaluating or learning from his experiences. Good parents can use therapy too. In fact, sometimes I think it's the good parents who go out there and say, "I'm mixed up here, I think I could use some help."

In my opinion, MJ's doing some really strange stuff as a dad. I'm not sure that makes him a bad dad. There are lots of parents who've done strange things to their kids. But I'm not to willing to jump out there and defend his parenting choices, frankly.

Adrienne K

[wdtv]

Until MJ starts hurting children or attempts a Heaven's Gate-esque thing, those kids'll be just fine. They're happy, he's happy; no harm done.