Leaving Neverland
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 Hard to watch, tougher to ignore, impossible to forget that people believed this, even though Michael Jackson's pedophilic allegations are a dead horse at this point.
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"Hey, rat greed, here is "Documentary Making 101" for you: "documentary" is a factual program that provides fact-based evidence or report, not your sick child porn fantasies. You got the genre wrong!"
— JacksonPassion, ["Time to Reed James and Wade!"[1]]
Leaving Neverland is a 2019 "documentary" propaganda film directed and produced by British filmmaker Dan Reed. The documentary is about Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege that they were sexually abused as children by the late singer Michael Jackson at his home, Neverland Ranch, and other locations. The documentary was broadcast on HBO in two parts in March 2019.
The release of the broadcast resulted in a backlash against Jackson and a reassessment of his legacy; however, it boosted sales of his music. Some dismissed the film as one-sided and questioned its veracity; the Jackson estate condemned it as a "tabloid character assassination". The film led to protests from Jackson's fans. Michael Jackson: Chase the Truth, a documentary challenging the allegations of Leaving Neverland and asserting omissions and inconsistencies in that account, was released on August 13, 2019, on Amazon Prime Video.
The film received an 18 certificate from the British Board of Film Classification for graphic child sexual abuse references, making it restricted to adults in the UK.[2]
Plot
At the height of his stardom, Michael Jackson began long-running relationships with two boys, aged seven and ten, respectively, and their families. Now in their thirties, they tell the story of how they were allegedly sexually abused by Michael Jackson.
Why It Should Leave Michael Jackson Alone
- The documentary movie about iconic singer Michael Jackson is full of bogus slander; based on accusations that are heavily inaccurate, especially in terms of history, and lack any evidence whatsoever:
- Safechuck claims he was abused by Jackson at a train station at Jackson's Neverland ranch from 1988-1992, even though it did not even open until 1994;[3] he also claimed the abuse got worse after a Grammy performance in New York in 1989 when the Grammys that year took place in Los Angeles and Michael Jackson didn't perform there that year.
- Robson claims he was sexually assaulted at Disneyland Paris in 1988 when it was Euro Disney Resort, even though the construction of Disneyland Paris was not complete until 1992.[4]
- Not only are some of the shots taken from a drone, but they were also actually staged and re-shot, which also shows the inaccuracy.
- Robson claims that Jackson abused him when he was alone when his family went to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, even though he actually did go with his family.[citation needed]
- Safechuck claims that Jackson was with him during Thanksgiving when the latter was actually in Australia during his Bad Tour. [citation needed]
- Safechuck also claimed that he cried himself to sleep in Los Angeles in September 1992 after Jackson preferred another child over him, even though Jackson was in Europe during his Dangerous Tour.[5]
- At one point, Safechuck claimed that Jackson gave him his old Thriller jacket, even though it is on display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and was sold on Music Icons Auctions.[6]
- Some of the claims are unrealistic. One of them was from Safechuck where he claimed that his private parts were swelling from the abuse from Michael Jackson.
- Wade Robson testified as an adult to defend Michael Jackson in 2005; keep in mind that nobody asked him to testify, and he was a grown man.[7]
- The entirety of this documentary is, all in all, morally wrong as it's extremely disrespectful to Michael Jackson's legacy, as it tries to defame a deceased man who was proven innocent by showing evidence against the accusers and currently cannot defend himself; an entire decade after his death; and disrespecting the dead is quite an immoral act.
- Consequently, this resulted in everything that involved Michael Jackson himself, such as his songs and his guest appearances like in The Simpsons episode "Stark Raving Dad", to be pulled out of circulation, all brought in as the result of public's overreaction to everything that is mentioned in this documentary.
- Furthermore, instead of covering Michael Jackson's other controversial aspects, like his perfectionism, this documentary exclusively focuses on Jackson's child abuse allegations, which have already been covered to death and debunked many times before.
- It is believed that Robson only did this out of spite after not being accepted to direct the Michael Jackson-Cirque du Soleil joint production Michael Jackson: One, which resulted in financial problems for Robson.
- According to many, the accusations seem to originate from the fictional fantasy novel Michael Jackson Was My Lover: The Secret Diary of Jordie Chandler.
- Safechuck claimed that he had a mock wedding with Jackson to earn the rings; however, the rings are too big for a ten-year-old.
- Lackluster and uninspiring cinematography in documentary standards.
- Deceptive film editing despite it's supposed to be a documentary focusing on Michael Jackson. For instance, the scene where James Safechuck claims Jackson gave him jewelry for sex may seem like one seamless scene but was in actuality edited together from filming done on two separate occasions seventeen months apart from each other. The biggest giveaways of this are the fact that even though Safechuck is wearing the same clothes in both shots, his white undershirt is missing in the second one, and that the view out the window clearly shows different seasons, with the plants trimmed in one shot, but untrimmed in the other.
- Hypocrisy: Robson proved that he dated Jackson's niece Brandi for seven years, even though he claimed that Jackson told him to distrust women.[8]
- The ending is beyond abysmal and adds insult to injury, as it shows the Michael Jackson memorabilia being burnt, even though Robson sold the real ones for nearly $100,000 back in 2011.
- The film's promotional poster (pictured on the page) is bland, uncreative, and lazily made, as it only shows a blank background with text and nothing else. As if it's trying to be profound; but in reality, it's pretentious.
- The film is also very boring, with nothing interesting going on.
- It pretty much duped celebrities, politicians, and brands into believing that the allegations are real, such as:
- 50 Cent[9]
- Al Jean (as well as other members of the crew who work on The Simpsons, including series creator Matt Groening and co-developer James L. Brooks)[10]
- Ben Shapiro[11]
- Caito Potatoe[citation needed]
- Corey Feldman[12]
- Drake (Ironically, would later be dissed by Kendrick Lamar with the line, "Why you trollin' like a bitch? Ain't you tired?; Tryna strike a chord and it's prolly A minor" in his song "Not Like Us")[13]
- Ellen DeGeneres[14]
- Ethan Klein from h3h3Productions[15]
- FaZe Banks[citation needed]
- Jamie Lee Curtis[16]
- Jimmy Kimmel[17]
- John Legend[18]
- Katelyn Ohashi[19]
- Lil Boosie[citation needed]
- Katie Couric[citation needed]
- Louis Theroux[20][21][22]
- Matt Lucas[23]
- Matt Walsh (Ironically, he would later make controversial remarks suggesting that 16-year-old girls being impregnated is perfectly normal.)[24]
- Molly Ringwald[citation needed]
- Quincy Jones[25]
- Rose McGowan[26]
- Sega (Though, this was likely due to a copyright dispute that's been going on since his death, considering Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles lacked a mobile port in 2013.)[27]
- Sia[28]
- Sour Simpsons[29]
- Oprah Winfrey[30]
- McDonald's[31]
- Starbucks[32]
- H&M[33]
- The Children's Museum of Indianapolis[34]
- Warner Bros. Discovery (then known as WarnerMedia; given that they have the film on their streaming service Max)[35]
- And last but not least: Filmmaker Judd Apatow. After the documentary's release, this guy hasn't stopped writing disrespectful tweets towards Michael Jackson whenever he gets the chance, expressing his hatred towards him very directly.[36]
- Not helping with the sixth pointer and the previous pointer, the film feels more like a propaganda piece rather than an actual documentary.
- As a result of these pointers above, this documentary damaged Michael Jackson's legacy as it made certain people believe its false allegations and turned against Michael.
Reception
Despite Leaving Neverland receiving critical acclaim from critics (likely because again, people fell for this), it received a generally negative response from casual viewers and fans of Michael Jackson. Sales for Jackson's albums went high in the billboard charts following the release of the documentary. It received a 98% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 93 reviews with an average score of 7.97/10 with the critic consensus "Crucial and careful, Leaving Neverland gives empathetic breadth and depth to the complicated afterlife of child sexual abuse as experienced by adult survivors." It has also earned an 85/100 on Metacritic based on 23 reviews, meaning universal acclaim. It originally had a 61% fresh audience score at release, before being redacted and put back up with a 24%.
Many people believed that the documentary was true, leading to radio stations removing Jackson's music, statues, and items of memorabilia being taken down (including the cancellation of certain merchandise of his that would've launched had this not been released, like Funko Pops), The Simpsons pulling the episode "Stark Raving Dad" from circulation, Drake removing "Don't Matter to Me", a posthumous collaboration with Jackson, from his tour setlist, some celebrities turning against him, and a documentary about the Jackson 5 being canceled. Jackson's estate later sued HBO for $100 million after the documentary was released. It even persuaded Corey Feldman to turn his back on him even though he defended Michael Jackson earlier. As a result, this "documentary" singlehandedly ruined his reputation.
Some fans that still support him even after all this have researched everything Wade Robson and James Safechuck made claims of and debunked the entire documentary within a week.
Regarding criticism, Robson puts his Twitter account on private for his haters and blocks people who criticize him, Safechuck, and/or this documentary, and Safechuck blocks people who criticize and/or expose him.
Despite the controversy, it would win the Emmy for "Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special" at the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards.
FilmMasterAdam named the documentary the worst movie he saw in 2019.[37]
Despite numerous celebrities that believe in the allegations, there are luckily still a handful of celebrities and companies who didn't fall for the allegations and still defend and support Michael Jackson, such as:
- Aaron Carter[citation needed]
- Akon[citation needed]
- Alfonso Ribeiro[17]
- Alicia Keys[38]
- Barbara Streisand[citation needed]
- Britney Spears[39]
- Diana Ross[citation needed]
- Emmanuel Lewis[citation needed]
- Geraldo Rivera[citation needed]
- Illumination[40]
- Macaulay Culkin[41]
- James Lee[citation needed]
- Jermaine Jackson[citation needed]
- Kanye West[42]
- LL Cool J[citation needed]
- Madonna[43]
- Mark Lester[citation needed]
- Michael Trapson (Michael Jackson's impersonator)[44]
- Nick Cannon[citation needed]
- Nicole Richie[citation needed]
- Paris Jackson[citation needed]
- Piers Morgan[citation needed]
- Questlove[citation needed]
- Snoop Dogg[citation needed]
- Stephanie Mills[citation needed]
- T.I.[citation needed]
- Tiffany Haddish[citation needed]
- Wendy Williams[citation needed]
- Whoopi Goldberg[citation needed]
- will.i.am[45]
- The crew who worked on South Park[citation needed]
Trivia
- The movie was released nearly ten years after Michael Jackson died.
Videos
References
- ↑ https://youtu.be/oIFDm3nlHTU?t=393
- ↑ https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/leaving-neverland-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0ymze1nzi
- ↑ https://blog.usejournal.com/why-michael-jacksons-train-derailed-leaving-neverland-30086e77766f
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/08/business/slow-start-at-europe-s-disneyland.html
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dangerous_World_Tour
- ↑ https://www.latimes.com/archives/blogs/pop-hiss/story/2011-06-06/michael-jacksons-thriller-jacket-highlights-music-icons-memorabilia-auction-june-25-26
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/28/child-s*x-ab*se-claims-against-michael-jacksons-estate-ruled-to-be-too-late
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/features/8503375/brandi-jackson-on-leaving-neverland-and-wade-robson-relationship
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj2Pu_oK1iU
- ↑ https://www.tvguide.com/news/the-simpsons-michael-jackson-al-jean/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/MichaelJackson/comments/aydf9u/ben_shapiro_was_wrong_to_label_michael_jackson_a/
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4iDbssmTdY
- ↑ https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/entertainment/a26780434/drake-dropped-michael-jackson-song-setlist-leaving-neverland/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/TheEllenShow/status/1102781239818256384
- ↑ https://youtu.be/nwMAILpNigI
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F3jdi94n6k3n21.jpg
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 [1]
- ↑ https://amp.heart.co.uk/news/showbiz/john-legend-michael-jackson-documentary/
- ↑ https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/04/09/us/katelyn-ohashi-michael-jackson-music-change-trnd/index.html
- ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/aug/22/louis-theroux-i-backed-accusers-of-michael-jackson-due-to-my-time-with-savile
- ↑ https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/tv/features/louis-theroux-interview-the-night-in-question-michael-jackson-jimmy-savile-a8803561.html
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/news/music/louis-theroux-says-fans-defending-michael-jackson-wilfully-blind-2458652
- ↑ https://x.com/RealMattLucas/status/1095624188256169985
- ↑ https://twitter.com/RAZ0RFIST/status/1563160470395097088/
- ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/michael-jackson-quincy-jones-london-concert-o2-leaving-neverland-a8904051.html
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/news/music/rose-mcgowan-tells-michael-jackson-fans-im-sorry-hero-bad-man-2457562
- ↑ https://www.cbr.com/michael-jackson-sega-sonic-3-history/
- ↑ https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/sia-support-alleged-michael-jackson-victims-leaving-neverland-8501473/
- ↑ https://youtu.be/26I_OiLSGxo?si=1GtlUnilTBu9LkNW
- ↑ https://people.com/movies/oprah-winfrey-doesnt-regret-leaving-neverland-interviews/
- ↑ https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8774935/michael-jackson-staue-removed-mcdonalds/
- ↑ https://perezhilton.com/starbucks-brand-distance-michael-jackson-leaving-neverland/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/MJs_Angela/status/1105060403975983106
- ↑ https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/17/us/michael-jackson-indianapolis-museum-artifacts-leaving-neverland/index.html
- ↑ https://www.androidauthority.com/hbo-max-movies-tv-shows-1123768/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/juddapatow/status/1089325077298987008
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPsS6gEJl9k&t=715s
- ↑ https://thefrisky.com/leaving-neverland-the-stars-came-to-the-defense-of-king-of-pop/
- ↑ https://people.com/music/britney-spears-dancing-video-after-manager-comments-about-not-working/
- ↑ https://x.com/hollywoodhandle/status/1846223770488606722?s=46&t=glDu6oww6BCaIEGNJevYqA
- ↑ https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/02/macaulay-culkin-michael-jackson-james-franco-story
- ↑ https://www.nme.com/news/music/kanye-west-defends-michael-jackson-cant-allow-any-company-to-tear-down-heroes-2685948
- ↑ https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/madonna-michael-jackson-sexual-abuse-allegations-leaving-neverland-a8903146.html
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_Me5GYmZBI
- ↑ https://www.capitalxtra.com/news/will-i-am-michael-jackson-leaving-neverland-holoca/
External links
Leaving Neverland at the Internet Movie Database
Leaving Neverland on Rotten Tomatoes
Leaving Neverland on Metacritic
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