美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Leaving Neverland' Makes Powerful But One-Sided Case Against The King Of Pop

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland" hasn't aired yet, but it is already making headlines. It's a four hour film scheduled to air tonight and Monday. And it details claims by two men who say they were sexually abused as children by Michael Jackson.

NPR TV critic Eric Deggans has a review. And this is where we need to tell you it includes some direct talk about the sexual abuse of young children.

ERIC DEGGANS, BYLINE¹: Wade² Robson makes his feelings about Michael Jackson clear in the early moments of "Leaving Neverland."

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LEAVING NEVERLAND")

WADE ROBSON: He was one of the kindest, most gentle, loving, caring people I knew. And he also sexually abused me for seven years.

DEGGANS: James Safechuck still struggles to explain what it meant to have Michael Jackson as a close friend during his childhood.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LEAVING NEVERLAND")

JAMES SAFECHUCK: Michael Jackson, he's larger than life. There's no stars like that now, that kind of megastar. He's the biggest entertainer. And he's a creative genius, and that creative genius thinks that you're special. What's not to like, right?

DEGGANS: Safechuck's rueful tone hints at "Leaving Neverland's" devastating³ story. Both Safechuck and Robson say Jackson, whom they met as kids in the 1980s, sexually abused them for years. Robson says Jackson's fame enchanted⁴ his relatives, who lowered their guard. Eventually, they even let him sleep overnight with the pop star in the same bed.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LEAVING NEVERLAND")

ROBSON: That's the trippy part is because it felt like we knew him. Like, he had been in my living room every day, in my ears via his music and his posters. Like, I'd known him, I thought. And for some reason, it didn't feel strange.

DEGGANS: Jackson, who died in 2009, always denied any abuse or misconduct with children. And his estate filed a lawsuit⁵ against HBO, releasing a statement calling the film, quote, a "one-sided marathon of unvetted propaganda."

But "Leaving Neverland's" power comes from its focus on the stories of the two men, featuring in-depth original interviews with them, their mothers, their wives and a few relatives.

Robson, who went on to become a choreographer⁶ for Britney Spears and NSYNC, met Jackson as a 5-year-old in 1987 after winning a dance contest. He even danced with him on stage at a concert.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DEGGANS: Safechuck was a child actor who costarred with Jackson in a commercial for Pepsi in 1986, rummaging⁷ through his dressing⁸ room until the pop star surprises him.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MICHAEL JACKSON: Looking for me?

(SOUNDBITE OF MICHAEL JACKSON'S "BAD")

DEGGANS: Jackson's strategy, they say, was to befriend them and their families - showering them with gifts while he encouraged the boys to spend time with him alone. In one heartbreaking sequence, the film toggles between two stories. Safechuck's mother Stephanie saw nothing troubling when Jackson spent time alone with her son.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LEAVING NEVERLAND")

STEPHANIE SAFECHUCK: Playing, reading. Michael was reading - he bought him a lot of nice, good books, you know. And he'd - poems, he'd read poems to him. Just kid things. They were just doing kid things.

DEGGANS: But James Safechuck describes how the pop star used those private moments, especially when they shared the same bed, to molest⁹ him.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LEAVING NEVERLAND")

J SAFECHUCK: I remember one time I was sleeping. And I woke up, and Michael said that he had performed oral sex on me while I was sleeping.

DEGGANS: Jackson was accused by a different child's family of sexual abuse in 1993. They settled. Later, Jackson was arrested on separate child molestation¹⁰ charges in 2003. Back then, Safechuck and Robson denied Jackson abused them. Robson even testified for the pop star in his 2005 trial, which ended in an acquittal on all charges. He says he was happy at the verdict.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "LEAVING NEVERLAND")

ROBSON: I didn't believe or understand that the sexual stuff that happened between Michael and I was abuse. I didn't feel like I was hurt by it.

DEGGANS: Both men decided¹¹ to reverse their stories, they say, after years of grappling with depression and emotional trauma¹². They each filed lawsuits¹³ against Jackson's estate that were dismissed. They plan to appeal.

"Leaving Neverland's" greatest strength - its focus on the two men's personal testimony¹⁴ - is also its biggest weakness. No one outside of their families is featured in original interviews, and the filmmakers didn't ask representatives from Jackson's family or his estate to speak on camera.

Several of Jackson's relatives did deny the allegations on CBS This Morning last week. The singer's nephew Taj Jackson saw one motivation for the men's stories.

TAJ JACKSON: When it's my uncle, it's almost like they see a blank check. These people felt that they're owed something.

DEGGANS: The film's director, Dan Reed, has said he wanted to focus on people who had direct knowledge of the interactions between Jackson and Robson and Safechuck. The result is a film with a very personal focus that also asks viewers to connect the stories of Robson and Safechuck with the larger, damaging worship of celebrity¹⁵ and fame. I'm Eric Deggans.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

5 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

6 choreographer   

n.编舞者

参考例句：

• She is a leading professional belly dancer, choreographer, and teacher. 她既是杰出的专业肚皮舞演员，也是舞蹈设计者和老师。 来自辞典例句
• It'stands aside, my choreographer of grace, and blesses each finger and toe. 它站在一旁，我优雅的舞蹈指导，并祝福每个指尖与脚尖。 来自互联网

7 rummaging   

翻找，搜寻( rummage的现在分词 )； 海关检查

参考例句：

• She was rummaging around in her bag for her keys. 她在自己的包里翻来翻去找钥匙。
• Who's been rummaging through my papers? 谁乱翻我的文件来着？

8 dressing   

n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料

参考例句：

• Don't spend such a lot of time in dressing yourself.别花那么多时间来打扮自己。
• The children enjoy dressing up in mother's old clothes.孩子们喜欢穿上妈妈旧时的衣服玩。

9 molest   

vt.骚扰，干扰，调戏

参考例句：

• If the man continues to molest her,I promise to keep no measures with the delinquent.如果那人继续对她进行骚扰，我将对他这个违法者毫不宽容。
• If I were gone,all these would molest you.如果没有我，这一切都会来骚扰你。

10 molestation   

n.骚扰，干扰，调戏；折磨

参考例句：

• Michael Jackson is arrested by police on charges of child molestation. 2003年的今天，迈克尔·杰克逊因被警方指控有儿童性骚扰行为而被捕。 来自互联网
• Jackson pleads not guilty on the molestation charges. 2004年：杰克逊认罪不认罪的性骚扰指控。 来自互联网

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

13 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

14 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

15 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。