Well there was the 2-hour repeat of "Living with Michael Jackson" preced by the one-hour "The Many Face of Michael Jackson" and something else on NBC. And since it's sweeps, it's up against Joe Millionaire. On Thursday, Jackson's counter-documentary or whatever on FOX, opposite "Hot or Not" on ABC (again, sweeps). AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Quote of the evening: "He's like a mix between Willy Wonka and a pedophile."
Actually this new special shoud be interesting because it has Martin Bashir on camera saying what a great father Michael is and how he's so great with his kids. When the first special aired he was trying to make Michael out to be a terrible father he said he worried about his chldrens saftey. Its clear Martin Bashir is no bigger scumbag than Michael is and he tried to railroad Michael by carefully editing the footage so Michael would look bad.
Very clear that masked kids who "have no mommy" and who can't even go to the zoo quietly because their father insists on seeing the gorillas was all "careful editing"... I think that Bashir did kind of sweet-talk MJ to get some info, but isn't that his job? He didn't make up the stuff that MJ said.
But he said good things and bad things about Jackson but he only showed himself saying the bad. How can you say he's a great father and also say your afraid for the childrens saftey. Form an opinion and stick with it. Is he a good guy or a bad guy how can you say he's both and then edit out the good.
He said that he was concerned for the children's safety AND (in the yet-to-air one) that Michael has "a spectacular relationship with his children". These two aren't mutually exclusive.
You can edit anything to make it sound bad. I didn't take much out of that first special because it was clear Bashir was just egging him on to do stupid and say stupid stuff. I thought that was very clear. I grew more respect for, and understood Wacko Jacko more after that special than I did before. But there's also a reason why the only news I watch is The Daily Show, cause any serious news program treats you like an idiot and feeds you their own agenda.
I agree that Brashirs went in with an agenda. It's clear from his leading questioning of Jackson and how the special was edited. However, several things are quite clear and are cause for great concern regarding Jackson. They are things Jackson said that weven with out the benfit of editing are improper. 1. He has had numerous plastic surgeries and is in denial over them including, but not limited to his lips, nose, cleft chin and skin color. (minor stuff in the grand scheme, but a reflection on Jacksons mental state) 2. It is extremely inappropriate in todays witch hunt and conspiracy age for a man who lives without a wife to be inviting young children to sleep over in his house, on his bed. Particularly, after one of them filed or threaten to file legal action against him. (major) 3. Holding the hand of a minor during the interview. Look, if it truly is the case there is nothing sexual in the touch, it's still inappropriate for a grown man to be doing that with a child he barely even knows. His not being aware of it or the implications is frightening. (major) 4. Covering up his children when they go to the zoo or other public places. Talk about an attention grabber. This is going to cause more harm than good. It sends a very bad message to kids about how they fit in society and how they should react outside of the Neverneverland compound in the "real world". (major) 5. Where's the mother through this whole thing. Where is the parenting from a mother and father? Let's face it, Jackson either had this woman that claims to be his wife artifically inseminated or he married her just for the sake of having an heir or heirs. When these kids get older and they figure out that is the case it will fuck with their heads. He should not have been so selfish to do that. He should have thought about the implications. (major)
From my professional experience, journalist don't deal in gray areas If you've ever had the misfortune of dealing with the press, you'll find that they are all a bunch of scumbags with no concern for who gets hurt as long as they get the story. The film Absence of Malice, with Paul Neuman and Sally Field reflects exactly how the press operates. Depending on the circumstances they might first treat you like they are your friend when fishing for information, if that fails they try to appeal to your sense of fairness, if that fails they'll paint you with the same brush as the bad side of the story. Very few journalists present the entire complex picture of a given news event. It usually comes down to black and white issues. Either to sell newspapers or because the journalists don't have the time to get to know the subject matter before the story has to go to press. Bashirs should have been honest in his questioning. I agree he's a scumbag, but that doesn't change what Jackson is. At worst a pedophile at best a dysfunctional freak.
I dunno, I don't think there is any evidence to show that artifically inseminated children grow up with any psychological problems. I don't really see how their divorce is unlike any other, just a bad match. Bottom line is Jackson is a bit strange, we can all see that. But he's a far cry from the monster this countries media is trying to make him out to be. I do believe he has good intentions at all times, he's not an evil guy at all, he's just a guy that absolutely adores children. We shouldn't critisize him for that, because this world needs a lot more people that share that same passion for children. He does some strange things a lot of times, but he's not really hurting anyone. His kids are going to grow up fine, rich as hell, and taken care of for the rest of their lives. Jackson went through a lot as a kid, and also as an adult, and a lot of that stuff was tramatizing. He could be a lot worse off now that he is. I think he came out of it ok. Just get him a PR/Image consultant and he'll be fine, that's all he really needs, just to keep him from saying or doing some of the stupid things he thinks are ok to do.
True. I think that growing up not having to work a day in your life would cause some serious issues down the road. The guy is simply off his rocker. He sits there and literally cries about the family bond being broken and how families are all messed up these days, but then he sees no problem with his kids saying that they have no mother, and uses invitro fertilization as a means to have kids for his own selfish reasons. And it's frankly just a wierd environment in which to bring a child up. Their dad hangs out with random adolescent kids and decorates his hotel room with mannequins.
To top it all off what level of interaction do Jackson's kids have with other kids. For example, what type of socializing in school, sports,and other activities are his children exposed to. You can't raise kids in a hermetically sealed environment of your own construction and expect them to turn out to be happy, well adjusted children, adolescents and finally adults.
Do you seriously believe he came out of his upbringing okay? What he is doing with his children is an overreaction to what he was pressured into as a child by his Dad or parents. I wish his kids turn out okay, but I really doubt it and that's sad for them. I am surprised you don't see the inherit inappropriateness of his holding the hand or allowing the same child that is not more than an acquiantence to sleep in his bed. I am all for being affectionate to ones kids, but someone who is a total stranger? I wouldn't want it happening to my children and I would not do it to someone elses either. I'm a single father and I have my kids friends coming over fairly regularly for sleepovers. There is no way in hell that I would feel comfortable having one of their friends sleep in my bed. It's just wrong. Psychology studies point to the need for kids to establish their own sense of what's their's.
I'm still reeling from his declaration on why "Blanket" is so white despite his mother being Black: "They used to call us coloured people because we come in so many colours!" And even then, that Prince doesn't seem to have a drop of African blood in him...
Well what a difference a good director, editor and producer make. The 2 hour Fox piece of tripe could have been wrapped up in 15-20 minutes. They showed so much stock footage it wasn't even funny, and I only watched the second hour! There was nothing compelling in this waste of video and protons. So what did we learn? Well for starters Bashir is a hypocrite. In order to gain Jackson's confidence he buttered him up and lied by fawning on his parenting. Yeah, he still asked hard questions, and my opinion of Jackson remains fundamentally unchanged. I think a lot of the people that went on the air and were interviewed by Fox have a bias opinion on Jackson so I take what the hairdresser, family members and friends say with a grain of salt. Regarding the skin condition, I'd like to see Jackson sans makeup in a swimsuit or without a shirt. Call me from Missouri, but I bet there are no big splotches of pigmentless skin. I bet it's all uniformly the same color.
Here's a tip to distinguish journalism from fluff in specials like these: - If there's music made to influence your judgement, it's crap. Both specials did this, but FOX was the overwhelming winner (loser?)...
Who is more crazy? The fans went "nuts" when they got to hug Michael jackson or Michael Jackson himself. One of the German chicks was pretty hot. If it was Vince Neil, she would get more than a hug.