Why I think Michael was the way that he was.
In Michael’s case what happened was a confluence of events from childhood to his formative years. Joe’s sexual abuse of Rebbie, Latoya, and possibly even Janet was not only normalized but he also grew up in an ineffective social environment which did nothing to challenge that normalization - Gary, Indiana - one of the poorest most crime ridden and downtrodden cities in the United States and then Hollywood - where everything is superficial and exploitative.
Michael was more than likely abused sexually.
He watched his brothers use girls for sex and discard them; plus being surrounded by yes men didn’t help. He watched and learned how to tell people what they want to hear and he saw the effectiveness of that superficiality.
During adolescence and puberty I think he realized that he was attracted to boys but with no stable moral center to ground him, he came out of puberty having internalized the sexual deviance inflicted upon him. Unlike the majority of people, Michael’s sexual preferences didn’t age with him.
If he had any conflict about it, any reservations about how what happened to him might’ve been wrong it would’ve been his early teenage years. I’d be curious to know when the “battle for his soul” moment took place? Most likely the early 70’s.
All of this is learned behavior and patterned responses.