By Melissa Antoinette Garza
Like my brother Geno, I’m a huge fan of Law and Order SVU. Let me start by saying, I really miss Christopher Meloni and I want him to come back. Elliott and his family were key reasons why this show was so gripping.
Anyways, unsurprisingly many Michael Jackson fans take exception to this episode as it is situated on the premise that the character based on Michael is guilty of child molestation.
The show starts with this young kid J.J. (Shane Haboucha) saying crazy stuff online about murdering a 5 year old. He’s reported and Elliot (Chris Meloni) and Olivia (Mariska Hargitay) along with a swat team go into the home preparing for some psychopath. Instead, they find J.J.
Dr. Huang (B.D. Wong) talks to the troubled youth and finds out that his parents made a deal for millions of dollars with Billy Tripley (Will Keenan) to keep quiet about J.J. being molested.
Soon, April (Madeleine Martin) a young girl seemingly suffering from cancer and being cared for by her grandmother Nora (Cindy Williams) claims to be molested as well. It is soon found out that though J.J.’s claim was true, April’s was false and coerced by her grandmother.
Billy meanwhile is an eccentric man with many toys in his house including a treasure room where the kids dress up in costumes.
I highly recommend fans to check this one out. I won’t give away the ending.
It was great to see Cindy Williams again. I thought it would be great to see Lenny and Squiggy show up in that episode.
I do also want to give a quick kudos to Ice-T for sticking up for Gwyneth Paltrow when she twitted what some perceive as a racist slang. It was merely the name of a rap album but the media jumped on it. Ice-T is great. I even love his wife and I usually hate celebrity wives. Anyone who hasn’t read his book should jump on it. His life story is extremely interesting. Check out my review on his book here: http://www.scaredstiffreviews.com/?p=867
Also, for the MJ lovers…..he was a great singer. Man in the Mirror is one of the best songs of all time. Still, he messed with those kids and was a bastard.
Overall Rating: 8/10
Get your facts straight before saying he messed with kids. Michael Jackson fans are not a bunch of idiots who support their favourite singer no matter what. Have you ever questioned why his fans are so loyal? Because we have researched, some of them were in the court during the 2005 trial. And that trial was a JOKE. Nothing, nothing was ever found against Michael. The FBI was behind his tail for more than 10 years and the documents released in 2009 and available online say that nothing was ever found. What about the two families? Just search and you’ll see.
That episode is offensive to Michael, his family and his fans and it’s a prove of people’s ignorance and avidity.
He PAID OFF a child that accused him of molesting him. He paid him millions of dollars to shut up about it. Sounds like an innocent guy, doesn’t it?
Any grown man who admits to sleeping in the same bed as children, should be watched. So many witnesses have come out. Most recently, his maid came out and said he threatened her life.
Believe what you want to believe. He’s dead now so in my mind, at least he can’t hurt anymore kids. L&O has the right to draw comparisons to anyone they want within their television show. They broke no laws and made a very interesting program. If you don’t like the episode or the show don’t watch it. I’m sure fans of the Westboro Church were offended when L&O poked fun of them as well….and I can’t imagine what Mel Gibson fans thought of Chevy Chase’s portrayal.
On a serious note, it’s no secret that I am a survivor of child molestation. Though, I’m still in the coping process, I do my best to now be an advocate for children who were or are being victimized – and the children are the true victims. Anyone who would pay $22 million to one family and $3.5 million to another family to silence them about being molested is guilty. Molestation can destroy someone’s life. As a young teenager it made me suicidal and on one of two attempts I took an entire bottle of Tylenol. I haven’t a clue how I survived. Thankfully, I made it through that and now I have an amazing support system. So, I have a personal stake in situations like this and I honestly believe that Jackson’s actions speak for themselves. I’m sorry you are such a fan of his and feel the need to defend him so. Trust me when I say, I wish you were right and I was wrong – because then it would mean less victims. All the best – Melissa Antoinette Garza
1) MJ had the psychological profile of a man who had regressed or arrested development. No psychologist, that I know of, analyzed him as a pedophile. Pedophiles have a sick compulsion. As many kids as he was around over the years he would have dozens if not hundreds of victims. Not one or two.
2) A criminal allegation cannot be settled outside of court, and paying someone to drop a charge is a federal offense. Jackson would have been arrested on that alone if what you said was true. The settlement was a civil settlement for a separate civil case the father launched. The father asked MJ’s insurer for a settlement when he realized MJ intended to drag him to criminal court and put the civil case on hold. The questionable party is the father, if any. Civil settlements are not illegal and don’t stop criminal prosecution. No charges were ever filed against Jackson in the first case, the case criminal case was dismissed by 2 grand juries as the evidence was non-existent and the accusers shady. Accusers can’t drop a criminal case.
3) These “witnesses” you speak of (lol) all turned out to be frauds and grifters. They were all discredited in court and MJ successfully sued several of them. If the word of shady porn site operators, deranged celebrity stalkers, disgruntled fired ex-employees and criminals is trustworthy……I don’t know what to say.
4) However, MJ WAS cleared by the DCFS, FBI, 3 criminal searches and over 400 witnesses who testified on his behalf.
5) MJ routinely allowed young teen, older teen and fully-grown (some older than himself) men and women to sleep around him, in his house and in his room. Something that is not that uncommon in some places in the US among friends and relatives. He was a man child attempting (in vain) to recapture a lost childhood, from what I understand.
Try availing yourself of resources and please read the details of the case rather than repeating urban legends:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1993_child_sexual_abuse_accusations_against_Michael_Jackson
I say this as a child molestation victim myself. Not every man who likes kids or is different is an uncaught molester.