Michael Jackson - A Simple Complexity
I'm sure most would agree that Michael Jackson is a hard one to figure out. Many questions and bewilderment bounces of the reflection of the man in the mirror. The biggest question being, "what is the reason behind his physical transformation?" The result of a rare skin disease or plastic surgery and bleaching of the skin? Plastic surgery on the nose is obvious, but Jackson insists that the skin coloration or lack thereof is a result of a rare skin disease.
It appears as if he was obsessed with being white. Even though, through his words he insisted that he loved being black, his actions were contrary. The people he loved and admired most (apart from family, I would imagine,) are white - Elizabeth Taylor, Lisa Presley, Brooke Shields. Yes, he may have loved Diana Ross and others, but his verbal admiration for the former three was more intense and worship-like. This, coupled with the report that he wanted his children to have blond hair and blue eyes, seems to suggest that he was infatuated with white features.
After being reminded of Jackson's enormous talent and learning more about his humanitarian side, it occurred to me that if indeed his children do not share his DNA, it would be sad that such a wonderful make up of a person would not be carried on in an offspring. Not to say talent cannot be taught and a good and kind personality cannot be formed from one's environment, but there is a lot to be said of natural talent and DNA traits. Personally , I don't believe, Michael's first two children share his DNA. Thats my opinion. Its not a professional conclusion and its not gospel. It's simply my opinion, based on obvious observation. This point of view has nothing to do with custody battle or anything of the sort. Michael is the father of those children - he raised them and his wishes should be carried out according to his will. I make the point about DNA, because it would be nice if such wonderful traits and unique musical talents were passed on to his offspring. And, maybe they were. Blanket, his third child have some of Michael's features. His beautiful large eyes resembles Michaels, especially when he was much younger. Blanket's slightly protruding cheekbones resemble Michael's as well. I say look out for that one!!!! Again my opinion - take it or leave it.
Its amazing that such great talent and such a complex mysterious person can be as equally shy and demur. Time and time again, we hear others describing him as sweet and gentle and "Pure." People that were very close to him always seem to use words such as innocent and naive to describe this otherwise, fabulous and unique larger-than-life phenomenon.
This simple complexity that surrounded Michael is all the more reason for study and discussion. I don't believe Michael hated black people - of course not; but I believe he was indoctrinated to believe that white was better than black and that white was close to sublime and he worshiped the thought of being white. I also believe that he was miserable and uncomfortable with his former features which changed over the years. This is totally based on his actions. Let me add that I am not against plastic surgery to achieve aesthetics; but some would argue that some of this former pictures were much more attractive than what became the result of multiple surgeries and the questionable extreme skin color change. Which leaves the question, what was he aiming for?
With all that Michael had to endure at an early age, I do believe he could have greatly benefited from Therapy. Maybe he did have a therapist, maybe he did not. I have not heard of any one coming forward to say he did. I believe that most celebrities that have to be in the limelight all the time and is under enormous scrutiny and pressure can greatly benefit from therapy. Instead many seem to believe that popping a pill is easier and that it eases the pain quicker.
Michael Jackson - a simple complexity. They say still waters run deep!!
Pat, regarding your assertion that the people Michael admired the most were white is betrayed by the fact that the two people he trusted most to take care of his children in the event of his death were his mother and Diana Ross, both of whom are, you you are aware, not white. In addition, the nanny of his three children, who for all intents and purposes was the mother to them all, was not white.
Since his death, many new truths about Michael are coming to light, dispelling a lot of the previously held, but media generated, labels.
Vitiligo is not as rare as you make it out to be. In the USA alone, 1-2% of the population are affected. That is 2 to 4 million people. Worldwide the figure is as high as 65 million people. Right here in Jamaica I have a friend that has lost all, and I mean all, of his original skin pigmentation as a result of the disease. There is not one trace of his original brown hue anywhere on his body. Now, he is simply pink, and very sensitive to sunlight. If you were to meet him now, you would have no clue that he was born with brown skin. In Michael's case, which has been confirmed by doctors, his condition was accompanied by Lupus. A person with Lupus experiences the unfortunate circumstance of having his/her own immune system attack healthy cells and tissue. One of the areas affected by such attacks is the skin. In short, Michael had a double whammy, neither of which is curable. If you search hard enough you can find pictures of Michael showing the early onset of Vitiligo. My point is this: Michael skin tone in later life is not necessarily a reflection of his dislike of his original brown skin or a preference for white skin. It is, for better or worse, a direct result of a known and verified skin condition over which he had no control. The mass media fed the public lies for so many years it is difficult to know what to believe, but I do think that his action of leaving his children in the care of brown women refutes your assertion of his preference for white.
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I appreciate your points Stephen, but I submit that trust, admiration and infatuation are three different things. The people you mentioned that he trusted were (like) family to him. Maybe he was infatuated by the others because they had something he could never really have? They say the grass is always greener.........
I can apprecaite the skin disease theory as well, by why so many surgeries on his nose? Why go out of your way to have white kids?
Why...,why.....why...??? If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck.... (no puns intended, really...)
We want to defend Michael because we love him. I admire a lot about him too, but I do also have some concerns and I will verbalize them along with the admiration.
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Pat,
I was about to say the same thing Stephen did, but he said it perfectly so I will only agree with what he said.
I felt the same way and I tried to explain this to people but not everyone can understand the combination of lupus and his skin disorder.
The nose part, first of all he fell on stage and broke his nose, that how he first started with the cosmetic surgery.
I love MJ and his music,and I dont care about the negative things people say "HE IS THE KING OF POP" and that's all their is to it.
Lilly
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I think you bring up some excellent points and enjoyed your article. I agree with Stephen that the media played a major role in the public's view of the change in Michael's pigmentation - that it was a chosen path rather than the result of the disease afflicting him. The thing that makes me the saddest about his passing is that there weren't enough people around him telling him how attractive he was, that he was so uncomfortable with his looks that no plastic surgery was enough. Yes, he may have been a little more attractive after the first nose job, but it should have stopped there. If you go back to 1983, you'll see what I mean - he was SUCH a good looking young man.
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