Was Michael Jackson a Pedophile? by Michael Bailey | July 1St 2009 12:11 PM | 210 Comments | Print | E-Mail | Track Comments
Was Michael Jackson A Pedophile? By Michael Bailey | July 1st 2009 12:11 PM | 210 comments | Print | E-mail | Track Comments J. Michael Bailey MORE ARTICLES • Michael Jackson: Erotic Identity Disorder? • Was Michael Jackson A Pedophile? • Transsexual Smokescreen: Ignoring Science In “The Man Who Would Be Queen” All Articles ABOUT MICHAEL I am Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University. I study sexual orientation and related traits such as sex atypicality and gender identity... View Michael's Profile Michael Bailey Search This Blog The predictably massive postmortem analysis of Michael Jackson has focused on both his enormous talent and his spectacular strangeness. Although there is lively debate whether Jackson or Elvis Presley is the all time King of Pop, there is no question which of them is the King of Weird. Elvis Presley had his quirks—secret meetings with Nixon, shooting at television sets, and of course, drug abuse. But these did not compare with Michael Jackson's bizarre physical appearance, abetted by untold plastic surgeries; child-like speech; enjoyment in sleeping with (and perhaps "sleeping with") boys; obsession with Peter Pan; and of course, drug abuse. Jackson's weirdness, unlike Presley's, was publicized for years before his death. So it is disappointing to read the banal psychological interpretations of his behavior. The most common thread is that Jackson's cruel and ambitious father robbed Michael of his childhood. Slate's Jacob Weisberg wrote, back in 2005: "Almost everything that seems freakish about him can be explained by his poignant, doomed effort to get his stolen childhood back." Really? How many musicians, athletes, and actors have had overbearing parents who made their childhoods miserable? How many of these resemble Jackson in any way whatsoever: the freakish surgically altered face, the affected voice, Neverland, llamas and chimps, and sleeping with pubescent boys? A unique person like Michael Jackson requires a unique explanation.
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