Do I think it would play in court, however? Probably not. No matter how true it might be.

And ultimately, I'm not sure it would play in court, either. Or with me. But it gets my consideration.

assessed that Jackson didn't fit the profile of a pedophile but was rather a regressed ten year old.

Which has always made sense to me.

Me, too. He tried very hard to re-create the childhood he never had.

I'm not making an assessment of whether or not he sexually abused kids. I have no way of knowing.

I guess what I'm getting at with Jackson's complete divorce from normality is to wonder, with an abusive upbringing himself, and an entire life spent insulated and surrounded by protecters and enablers, did he ever have a chance of being able to tell right from wrong? Especially in this one area. I suspect the life he led is as foreign to us as any kind of normal life was to him.

Was his life as a child significantly different than other child stars? Or, at least, significantly different than other child stars with abusive parents (of which there have unfortunately been a ton)? I can think of a lot of those former child stars who have had drug or alcohol problems, or who do seem to have some psychological issues, but I can't think of any other who's as far off from the adult definition of "normal" in any direction as Michael Jackson.

I'm glad that the therapeutic model isn't the basis for our legal system. But rather adults are held responsible for their behavior.

Problem is, Sean, as uniquely fucked up and insulated as MJ's life was, he still has a moral obligation to examine his actions and know their consequences. I expect this of every mentally competent adult. To put it in Sartrean terms, his failing is that he lied to himself. That he chose to believe the lies that were perpetuated around him. Because of that he had no check on reality. That he could believe that his lack of boundaries (at the very least) was not damaging to other children.

Me, too. He tried very hard to re-create the childhood he never had.

As Scrappy notes, that's what people who are pedophiles do as well. They are fixated on that age.

I can't think of any other who's as far off from the adult definition of "normal" in any direction as Michael Jackson.

He was able to be so far off the definition of "normal" in large part because he had the money to do so.

Other people who have been fucked up in the same way that he was might very well have done similar far-out shit, if they had piles and piles of money to do so.

Me, too. He tried very hard to re-create the childhood he never had.

As Scrappy notes, that's what people who are pedophiles do as well. They are fixated on that age.

Not all people who try to re-create a childhood that they never experienced are pedophiles. I'd wager the vast majority are not.

I can think of a lot of those former child stars who have had drug or alcohol problems, or who do seem to have some psychological issues, but I can't think of any other who's as far off from the adult definition of "normal" in any direction as Michael Jackson.

Well, maybe with him it was a combination of of upbringing and some other inherent psychiatric issue. There certainly seemed to have been some dissociative behaviors at work here.

So much of the public spirit of despising him was based on homophobia -- his voice, his mannerisms, his clothes, constant comments about him and little boys (even though he was generally surrounded by children of both genders) long before any allegations of impropriety. They loved calling him a fag. And they loved it when the "fag" fell.

Was his life as a child significantly different than other child stars?

Don't know. Though this does make me wonder what ways his life could have been different. Imagine a Michael who comes out honestly about his childhood, and makes child abuse a huge cause of his. I think he could have easily had the power to shine a light on it.