From getting whippings from his father, no childhood, plastic surgery, his skin turning pale white, rumours being made by tabloids, the media calling him "Wacko Jacko", his behavior, accused of sexual abuse twice, tarnished reputation and career, baby incident, having sleepovers with kids that are not related to him.

A stunning rise to superstardom turned into a nightmare.

So I want to know; do you feel sorry for Michael for what he's been through?

this is gonna get nasty

better put TWO gloves 4

this kitty

It's hard to describe the way I feel about Michael Jackson. On one hand, I feel sorry for him because my "father" was very abusive to me when I was growing up so I can understand and relate to him on that.

On the other hand, it makes me mad to see the way he copes with it by never growing up and hanging out with kids. I disowned my father years ago, and gained much strength when I did, but Michael's father is still in his life. I think if he had disowned his father as soon as he reached legal age, he wouldn't have turned out so fucked up. He certainly had enough money back then to make it on his own.

vainandy said:

Sorry to hear about your dad, and I agree with you.

His such a talented artist. I loved his music way back in the 80's, but now I just can't get him seriously. I feel sorry for what he made of himself. What a waste of talent. Poor Michael! Poor, poor Michael!

Krytonite said:

Hummm....























































No...

You know, if he resented having working through his childhood, he could have made the decision to leave the business once he became an adult.

How can you "feel sorry" for him, when alot of this stuff was based on Michael's own decision making?

I do feel sorry that he has vitiligo, though.

fuck no ! I feel sorry for the kids he molested and his own kids who can only have fucked up lives now through their insane father.

my sympathy and 'let's just wait and see' judgements have been exhausted...HE IS NOT THE POOR LITTLE VICTIM!!

I do feel sorry for MJ,but let's face it....he brought alot of this stuff on himself.He's the one who had all that ridiculous plastic surgery.He's the one who insisted on having "sleepovers" with young boys,and continued doing so even after he was already accused of child molestation.He's the one who has turned himself into a media freak,with eccentric behavior and never-ending scandals that don't have anything to do with music.

Yes,I realize that he had a "tough" childhood,blah blah blah.But there is a such thing as therapy to help a person deal with whatever they're going through.At 46,Michael is too old to be clinging to a childhood.It's time to deal with all the BS that troubles him,and move on.There are many other people (including many celebrities) who had alot of drama and sadness in their lives,and yet they still find a way to work it out and get their lives together.

Yep!

Exactly.

I agree 100%. He's got more than enough money to get therapy and he should have done it a long time ago. Instead, he used his money to make his problem even worse.

vainandy said:

Thanks

I knew you´d say that.

Anyways, there are things i feel sorry for about him, like vitiligo and this shit he´s been through right now, cause no matter if he was "responsible" for it as some of you say or not, he didn´t deserve it.

But I don´t feel sorry for him in general, I love him!

My gut feelings tell me that Mike will survive these latest charges,but the question remains....what happens next? Is he finally gonna get help and deal with his problems once and for all? Will the sleepovers continue? Will he still continue to cling to his childhood? Will he be accused of molesting a child in the future? Seriously,unless he finally gets help,he will be in trouble again.

I feel sorry that the media makes a big issue out of every thing he does. That would make anyone's life hard.
However, i also feel sorry for Britney in that same aspect.

Michael had control to do whatever he wanted to do with his physical figure. He didn't have to go and get all those surgeries done.
He didn't have to build a suspicious fairy tale land where he invites children to stay over.
So in that sense i cannot blame the media's interest. Especially when you're a cultural figure, i mean c'mon!

Nope, not in the least.

I didn´t expect that though.

Poor Michael. Did nobody else notice the gun being held to his head when he dangled a baby off a balcony?

SquirrelMeat said:

Hey, how could you notice me?

exactly my feelings. I refuse put all the blame on him because he helped bring all this to himself. That's like saying you dont feel sorry for someone who gets shot because he/she was walking outside alone at 3.00 am.
[Edited 4/20/05 5:09am]

I'd like to see how anyone here would've enjoyed living in the public eye for as long as he has. And for all those who say "Well, it's his choice. He could've backed away from the limelight", I say "Why the fuck should he?" He enjoys making and releasing his music, just like any other artist does. No-one deserves the treatment that he's been dealt, no matter the decisions he's made. I don't know of anyone who doesn't wish they'd done some things differently.

Cloudbuster said:

That's understandable.
People like Madonna and Cher who have been in the media for a long time suffer the harsh criticsm day after day as well.

But when you build Neverland and invite children to come over and sleep in your bed and openly admint it, do you not expect the media to be harsh. Especially with child molestation and child porn being such a big problem in America.
Here's a man in the public eye inviting little kids to sleep in his bed. Can you really blame other's disguist?

Well, maybe the disgust is in the public's own hearts and minds and not in Michael's behaviour. Just maybe.


.
[Edited 4/20/05 5:27am]

No. I no longer feel sorry or have sympathy for Michael Jackson. He's not the first person to have grown up with an abusive parent nor the first to do so and face stardom.

Despite his childlike nature and supposed innocence to the world he is an adult and able to make his own decisions and if he is indecisive or irrational there are a few folks who I'm sure might suggest that some choices weren't the best. However, he has decided to live his life a certain way, one that I don't find appealing or sensible of a grown man.

The vitiligo situation only compounded his woes and perhaps if he had been upfront about it people would be more sensitive to it but as the most identifiable person in the world, it was a poor choice not to address such a visible disease.

I've been into Michael all my life but at some point I realized I had grown, I had matured, my ideas about people and the welfare of children had changed and so my empathy or interest in him waned especially when I learned about true hardship and misfortune. My defense for him was no longer logical.

I wish him well and he will always be a great artist but I will never look at him the same way.
[Edited 4/20/05 5:43am]

MJ has obviously not developed into adulthood in a healthy way and he needs help. Im not saying that he is guilty of child molestation but he spends too much time with children and he needs help for that. He has had excessive cosmetic surgery, and seems to live in his own world. His career has not afforded him the experiences that everyday people have and as a result, he hasnt developed normally and for that he needs help. Its not a question of whether or not I feel sorry for him, but he does need help. I feel compassion for anyone who is in need of psychological help.

The idea of professional mental health therapy shouldnt be stigmatized either. People should be able to admit that they need help without being scrutinized.

dreamfactory313 said:

Exactly.

DavidEye said:

You took the words right out of my mouth. Now I was a big fan of Michael, I grew up listening to him & his brothers. But now he's just sad & pathetic. A self-hating black man(I don't believe that disease crap for a minute) who refuses to grow up.

Absolutely not.

Many things have happened to this man that he could not help, but he has chosen to deal with his life his own way. We can't assume that every experience is an extension of one's childhood. Much of it is a direct result of harmful decisions made by the individual.
I don't feel sorry for him, but I hope he can pull himself together, for his own sake and for the sake of his family.

OdysseyMiles said:

Yeah, it's called Taking Responsibility For Yourself And Your Life. Gotta start one day. If you don't, you wind up like Michael.

There are people who endure unparalleled abuse during their childhood and come out of it and make something of themselves and don't use their past as an excuse to justify the present. These are the people I admire. And they certainly have a lot more shit to deal with than Michael ever did.