Leaving Neverland

I wouldn't consider myself a diehard MJ fan but as a child growing up in the 80's I understood the super star power that MJ had. I get why these families were awestruck by MJ wanting them to be a part of his family. Ultimately it blinded them from the sick realities of MJ's own struggles with pedophilia. This film did a great job at laying out the facts and focusing on the two men and their experiences. Anyone that actually watches this movie will have a tough time denying the stories from these two men.

The frankness of the interviews with the main characters, James and Wade, was stunningly raw. Before this documentary , I had doubts as to the validity of their stories but listening to the interviews, I have little doubt this is how it went down. This isn't for kids to watch.

I'm a big fan of Michael Jackson and I wasn't in the US at the time of the scandals so I missed all the media coverage and seeing this documentary was an eye opening experience. Understanding MJ's life, however, was not as important as my realization and understanding of sexual abuse and the life long lasting physiological effect it has on people. I feel a little ashamed for defending MJ for so many years as I was convinced these gentlemen were speaking the truth. You can't make this up with so much detail that matches the documented parts of his life. The entire family feels shaken up when they portray their experience and I just can't imagine that all members of two families would be such good actors to make this all up. I am certain there will be much more talk about this documentary but I hope these gents and many other victims who watch this piece will benefit from it on their journey of healing. I wouldn't have watched it, had it not involved MJ and now I am educated about sexual abuse. So some good came out of it. I hope more people watch it.

As an adult who grew up in the 80's and remembers Michael and his influence very well, I watched this documentary with my own experiences with his music in mind. When he first began being accused of various acts of pedophilia in the late 80's and early 90's, it seemed clear that he had some extremely disgusting proclivities. As a survivor of molestation myself, I watched this documentary and went right back to my own experiences and found their stories very believable. This movie was not about providing evidence, although I believe that they did with their personal testimonies, witnesses to his behavior and faxes, videos, and recordings. This movie was about their experiences with him personally and what they went through. There is no situation wherein it is appropriate for a grown man to keep a young boy in his bed unless it is a father/son. I give this movie a 10. I hope that they can someday heal.

The Jacksonphiles are screaming like banshees in denial...well they are just that: peripheral extras buying into the illusion for years and now seeing it crumble whilst refusing point blank to accept the evidence, any evidence. I am very concerned about the "reviewers" here saying the testimonies of the two protagonists are not credible: they are amongst the most believable and moving things I have ever seen, The Jackson cultists have crossed the (perhaps thin to start with) threshold away from human empathy and nothing will shake them from their untenable position. Let us hope they will never be called to serve on jury dities. This documentary is a MUST. Let us hope that this and the #metoo movement will signal the turning of the tide and that we will be able to recognise more easily and we will adopt the belief in the victims as our default stance.