Leaving Neverland

A powerful telling of the destructive power innate in the cult of celebrity. This is a really well told narrative of the excruciating rape of innocents and the long term damage of kept suppressed truths. The story is told with incontrovertible authenticity. This is an important film, not because of the perpetrator but because of the heart wrenching destruction that littered his legacy. This is only two testimonies of what was probably dozens of others whose lives were profoundly compromised by one man, masked by an illusion. I think it is also a wake-up call to a society blind to the danger of building its hopes and dreams around, and placing its faith in, the perceived intimacies and hollow promises of celebrity. I give this film a 9 (important) out of 10. [Documentary]

This is not the story of Michael Jackson. This is the story of two boys growing up in the shadow of terrible sexual abuse without being able, for multiple reasons, to speak up. This is the story of how they leave that horrifying nightmare behind them and are able to speak their truth. This is the story of how justice failed over and over to other kids who had the mindset to speak up when they were children and who were vilified by the whole world because society was too in love with a singer to believe them. The testimonies are powerful, raw, real. You can tell they still have mixed feelings, about what "loving MJ" meant for them and how it affects them still to this day. You are allowed to have whatever feelings you want towards this documentary, except for surprise. The truth was there all along.