Raise Your Hand If You Never Believed This Man Hurt Children

[LevelUP]

Trending now, people on social media are showing support for MJ ahead of the movie Michael, set to release in theaters on April 24.
https://variety.com/2026/film/news/micha...236625431/


Trailer

[Jonathan Whatley]

This is a tough one.

The world first got to know Michael Jackson when he was a child of exceptional talent and charisma, owning all-time great songs like “I Want You Back” and “Ben.”

We later learned he was mistreated physically and emotionally. The story is terrible and heartbreaking.

Maybe every serious claim against the adult Michael Jackson is true. Maybe every serious claim is false. Maybe the truth is something in between. Maybe, for one example, he hurt children through serious but unwitting misjudgment about appropriate boundaries without any sexual motive.

It’s understandable that for some people listening to his music today doesn’t bring the joy it might have in the past. It’s understandable that for others the joy is still there.

It’s reasonable to tie your thoughts and feelings about Michael Jackson songs pretty closely to your thoughts and feelings about Michael Jackson, which could reasonably be negative. It’s also reasonable to think of “Michael Jackson songs” more as collective works, their authorships shared with songwriters and session musicians and production staff. It’s also reasonable to separate the works from their creators like in Barthes’ Death of the Author.

[SteveFoerster]

Since we can't actually know, this seems more like a Rorschach test than anything else, especially when people feel certainty one way or the other.