Moonwalking off the planet

Michael Jackson really was sad, bad and dangerous to know

THE AUTOPSYof Michael Jackson will produce shock results for sure. Forensic scientists will open a white guy's body and find a black guy inside.

One wonders which Michael Jackson will be immortalized in statues.

The nice young man with the curls?

Or His Royal Weirdness with the bleached skin and wig-like locks?

Which nose will sculptors recreate? The one that collapsed, the one made out of ear cartilage, or a random one from the biscuit tin under his bed?

*
Commentators keep talking about Jackson's contribution to race relations, but, with all due respect (none) they are talking garbage.

When the Jackson Five made their breakthrough in the 1970s, many people (including me) celebrated. For the first time, people with brown skin, black hair and big noses were entertainment superstars so big that there was a shockingly bad cartoon series made about them.

In the 1970s, this was the ultimate sign of success. If brown people could appear in execrable cartoons, we could do anything.

I realized that I no longer had to content myself with aspiring to be a waiter in a small cafe where no one goes. I could be a MAITRE D in a small cafe where no one goes. At last. Something to aim for.

In gratitude, I bought several copies of Off the Wall, Michael's first big hit album.
*
Later, I got a job in a cafe in Hampstead, London. The manager assigned me to permanent washing-up duty. This was even more menial than waiter. “Brown people are capable of greatness,” I complained, giving him a cassette of Off the Wall. “Have you heard this?”

The manager, whose heart and brain were twin lumps of granite, replied: “Jacko ain't brown any more. Check it out.”

During my lunch break I bought a copy of Melody Maker. It was true. Jackson had dyed his skin white. I was so shocked I threw my sandwich into the waste disposal grinder and kept the wrapper. How could Jackson, supposedly blazing a trail for brown people, abandon us?

But the following day Jackson told his fans that he'd contracted a weird skin disease which had turned him white. I believed him.
*
Then some time later, the manager showed me a picture of Jackson with white skin, Kirk Douglas's chin, an up-turned Caucasian nose, and long, flowing hair like Elizabeth Taylor.

For a day or so, I postulated the existence of a rare disease which whitened your skin, did cosmetic surgery on your nose, gave you a Kirk Douglas chin, and made your hair long and wavy.

Hero-worshippers like me put years of practice into fooling ourselves. But this time I failed.

Jackson had left his brothers. Not just Jermaine and gang, but all his brothers all over the world. Jackson, a once-beautiful brown boy devoted the rest of his life to reshaping himself in various ways with teams of surgeons. He probably tried having eight legs or two heads (nothing would surprise me). But the easiest thing to fix, his skin tone, stayed lily white. He let us down. If he hadn't, I could have made it. I could have been a waiter.

*

Technorati Tags: Michael Jackson,race,skin

Comments

[Michelle]

i'm not sure if you've seen this but if you haven't, i think you should check it out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU5GfCsb9gA

[Beat it]

Dont waste your time, its a homemade vid of some kid staring into the screen and saying that michael jackson was a wonderful person. Barf

[farah]

i second your opinion Nury. no offence to the dead man but if he had so much against racism and skin color (from his song black and white) then what was the point in being a cosmetic disaster?? he's indeed a very good looking guy who turned into someone/something else.
anyways i will always prefer to remember MJ for making me buy my first English album and memorizing my very first English song (Beat It).

[Jill]

I have to say I agree with your sentiments, Nury. While it's definitely sad that Michael Jackson has met an untimely (although perhaps not completely unexpected) end, it obviously did matter whether 'you're black or white'.

[Vijay]

Nury, I am one of your biggest fan but I think you got this one wrong. It is not possible to bleach one's skin to the extent of turning a black man into white. The truth of the matter is he had a rare skin disease and its sad the media twisted the facts. The part about his cosmetic surgies are true but most of our hollywood babes have done a lot more to themselves than MJ.

Please check out this site to get to know more about his skin disorder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6xJlyJgfS8

In this Black or White song, he tried to tell people that it doesn't matter what the color of his skin is but he shouldn't be judged based on that. In truth, he had no control over his change in skin color.

Let's celbrate this legand.

[Mr Brown]

Vijay, you are wrong, lots of rich black people in America bleach their skins white. there are huge numbers of cosmetic surgeons who offer this service.
how do you tell the difference between someone with a skin disease and someone who wants to be caucasian?
The giveaway sign is that people who want to be caucasian have their skin bleached, and their noses and lips reshaped ect ect. Michael clearly signed up for the whole procedure.

[Not fooled]

Michael Jackson's claim that his skin had turned white because of a disease would be more believeable if he hadn't been totally obssessed with altering his appearance.

And if he really would have preferred to have been brown, darkening the skin is way easier and cheaper than any of the other operations that he had.

No, Michael sang to everyone else that it didn;t matter if yu were black or white, but it did matter to him.

[MJ]

Dudes, "Vitiligo" is a skin disorder which stripes people of their skin pigments. This is what Michael was diagnosed with. During the initial stages of the diease (around Thriller albumn period), he tried to cover it up with brown color make up but when it started spreading, he had no choice but to cover the brown patches with white make-up.

Skin bleacing can lighter one's skin color tone but it definately cannot turn a Black man to White ! Can anyone show me any evidence of any other Black man turning white ?

Please see this link and research more about Michael's skin disorder from other reliable sources

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6xJlyJgfS8

[Not fooled]

Here's a show that Tyra Banks did on black people bleaching their skin to become the same color as post-change Michael Jackson

http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhXZ154W5R1MAAPLn1

It's very common in Jamaica in particular, where many dark skinned people are turning pale.

[MJ]

I am not denying the existance of bleaching. Bleaching helps to lighten one's skin tone by a couple of shades but it certainly doesn't turn a black dude into white.

By the way, I viewed your link. The post bleaching effect is certanly not the same as post-change MJ.

MJ turned whiter than milk. No amount of bleaching can achieve that. Technically, he isnt even white coz he doesn't have color pigments in his skin.

[Fianne]

I've read in an interview that MJ did cosmetic surgery because he didn't want to be reminded of his father when he looked into the mirror. And we all know what terrible childhood he had, so I feel him on this one.

[Fianne]

Also I really don't think MJ's trying to turn Caucasian, if he did surely he would have bleached his hair blond too? *Maybe* he just wanted to look better, and everyone's standard is different. No offense to anyone's comment, it's just my opinion!

[Nury]

Vijay, are you saying that Michael Jackson's skin is white make-up to cover a "vitiligo" problem? Or do you mean that the disease destroyed all the pigment in his skin?

I had a friend with the same disease a long time ago, and he had patches of different colored skin. It didn't all turn white.

One of the problems is that anyone who reads a lot (like i do) finds that Jackson has given at least 15 different stories about why he has changed his appearance, including the ones that Fianne mentions.

I think the undeniable fact is that he was a guy with more mental problems than physical ones. He was also one of the biggest wastrels in the history of the world.

This was a guy who was singing about 'feeding the world' while blowing his way through almost a billion US dollars. He spent some US$6 million on statues for his garden alone.

[MJ]

Hi Nury,

I think you should watch this clip.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6xJlyJgfS8

Apparantly during the early stages of the disease, he covered it up with brown make-up but when it eventually spread all over him there were patches of spots that were of his original skin color. He covered them up with white make-up.

I certainly am not justifying nor judging the way he lead his life but that would not stop me from cherishing his music.

We should all remember him for his music

Cheers !

[ABKF]

All are not perfect. Actually I am not the 'I'd-do-anything' kind of fan. I just like
MJ's music and what's in it.
I can't figure out a person from the rumors that come up from time to time.So I don't like to talk about his personal life.
All I know is I enjoyed his music. I hope he'll rest in peace.

[Jon]

I believe MJ did have many illnesses / health problems etc. not to mention drug addictions / money problems / loads of greedy people around him. On the bigger point though it is nevertheless a strange fact of life that white people will spend money and time trying to make themselves browner whilst brown people go to great cost and great lengths to make themselves whiter. It's a sad human condition called never being satisfied.

[Lia S]

Everybody is going on and on about how wonderful his music is, but who bought Invincible or Butterflies or any of the new music he put out in the past 20 years? I don;t know a single person who bought any of it. Did you buy it Vijay?

[sej]

**YAWN**

[maricarlos]

Have read infinitely better columns than today's two Mr Jam. Firstly disappointed with unfunny taste jibes then, you blatantly ask others to publicly bail you out of your writer's block with their contributions. Expected more, honestly.
Kindly delete post if you find this smears your calling as humorist. On many other levels you are a breath of fresh air in a normally stifled part of SE Asia.

[Ellen]

Maricarlos sets himself up as a judge of good writing and shows how suitable he is for the job by writing one of the few comments out of the thousands on this site without any funny witty clever or interesting elements in it, well done maricarlos.

[Angela]

Amen to Ellen ;)

[Jack]

I adore Mr.Jam and the blogs but taking a jab at a deseased soul who has not even been cremated is definately not in line with anybody's standard of morality.

Lia, I don't expect everyone to love his music but if his music was such a trash and nobody bought a single piece of MJ's albumn in the last 20 years, then I wonder why millions of fans world over are pouring their grief and respect. Let's face it - he is a legend and loved.

Nury, MJ "wasted" millions of $ but he didn't make those millions from a ponzi scheme. He earned it and he has every right to spend it the way he wants it and he did more than his share of charity work

Its sad that people take pleasure in picking on only the negatives. Let's salute this legend for his music. If you are not a fan of his music, so be it but don't pass judgement of the man.

[Freda G.]

Lia S, yes I bought that album Invincible, and I actually liked Butterflies. The fact that he couldn't produce music as good as when he did between age five to 35 doesn't mean that he was not a musical genius.

To be fair, no musicians I can recall at this moment produced great music throughout their career, not even Madonna. I do not like her new release, but every album attracts a different group of audience/listeners, it's down to music taste innit.

Instead of going on and on about personal music taste, one thing just struck me... even after his death, any discussion regarding his music/personal life/etc. still generates so much feedback.

[Lia]

Freda, I think I am actually a much more typical fan than you. I bought all the albums up to "Bad",

I had gone right off him because of his ludicrous spending and ghastly admissions about children so did not buy "dangerous".

The most recent one "Invincible" didn't make nearly as much impression on the public as any of his previous albums, i think the average person has not even heard of it.

If you bought "Butterflies" you are a massive fan. I have a much more typical fan profile.

And Jack, you are just using crooked arguments. You make it sound as if we are saying that "his music is trash" and "nobody bought a single piece of album" but the truth is that nobody in this above list of comments has said that, or anything like that.

I think the real issue here is honesty. People are treating him like a god, just now. They say he is a musical genius etc. How can Jackson be the King of Pop if he hasn't had a hit single for what six years or more?

A more accurate picture is the one painted by typical fans (such as me and Mr Jam and other people quoted above). Jackson was a fantastic talent who deservedly won the hearts of millions of fans like us. But we went off him as he became weirder and weirder, about his looks, his spending, his interest in children, his self-absorbtion etc.

This is the real story and is shown by his album sales i suspect. Thriller famously sold 100 million copies, but how many copies did Invinceble sell? I suspect he had lost 80 to 90 per cent of his fans by then.

[Saquifa]

Hi Nury

Sorry, I could not like this piece of yours. Michael Jackson was a great guy. He made himself unique in all possible ways. There can never be anyone close to him in talent, creativity and uniqueness, EVER!!!

[farah]

i think for a dead soul we should all keep our comments (good or snide) aside and give a prayer for his after life. it was his life after all the way he wanted to lead it and as fans we're there to cheer on his best songs and jeer at the lousy ones. but MJ will always be the king of pop and a legend just like elvis presley.

[Priyantha Liyanage]

Nury,
To be fair by everyone i agree with Farah. You shouldn't have written all those things even before his cremation/burial. You should have waited wee bit longer!

[meglev]

Be more sensitive Nury.
The Legend has just passed away.
He has suffered a lot.
All medias just wanted to suck out his blood for their benefits.
Hope you are not one of them.

[fardel]

Once upon a time there was a young fool, who had grown up with those ancient stories of princes and princesses , kings , knights and the sort;
Dreaming of being the prince and princess's instructor, of being on the tabloids,he had applied for the job and was called for an interview.
The Castle was beautiful , the harbor and the city was dreamlike.
The counselors were like in the old books ,old,wrinkled , with long beards , a severe looks , and a lot ( too much ) of authority and severity.

The salary was not like in the old stories :40 % less than in a "common"job .
(my friend , who took the job did not get any richer or any famous)

Reality had stricken.

Since these fool's time ( I know somebody ready to call me an old fool: Don't , or else, and I mean it, yes , you! the lady from over there!)
Since these fools'time, like I said ,I have grown up;
I met many famous people , high rank politicians, stars of the show business.
I participated in the organizing of shows with more or less famous people

Beyond the stage , the lights , the glitters, it is dark,( the lights are on the front side only), it is dirty ( the empty plates of a crowd of staff's quick meal look the the same, taste the same smell the same as they do at the end of your garden party;), and the toilets do not smell more of vanilla or rose.
Staff are stressed, screamed at , they cry , they suffer , and they collapse
It is called backstage.

Beyond the glory , the medias, it is a show with a director, and a producer;
Stars have to produce ( like you do in your job, but to a higher level of perfection ) ;
The higher the fame, the higher the stakes, the more the star must produce;
Sing ( couple of hours), travel, practice, travel , interview with the magazines, practice , try new costumes,travel, interview with more journalists, practice again before the show and sleep if there is any time left for that.
And SMILE 24/7!
Those artists are no different than you and me : they need to find energy.
They are energized with substances you would not give to your dog.

If you review the lives of the famous , (there are a few beautiful movies about them) you will find the same pattern , fame, stress, substance abuse ,breakdown , tragic end......

Out of poverty , strong people can muster the strength to success;
MJ's father was one of those, raising a family of talented performers, with Michael being the best.

MJ brought music to a new standard , like other performers had done , the Beatles, the Duke,Elvis ,Bob Marley ( and his children), Edith Piaf, Johny Haliday and so many I do not know or remember.
He touched many generations by his powerful style and songs.
He touched them the more since he emerged from a minority in a racist country.

Like many performers he became a star , shining in the dark skies of poverty, for many , worldwide.
But , when a star shows that after all he is only human,with human limitations ,there may be a lot of deception , disappointment, or even anger for the fans.
The stars I have met ( with a few exceptions ) did not have the time, the desire or the possibility to be " simple", or friendly ( some were even as.....les) yet they are mothers , fathers , with a life which is messed up;
Most of the stars I have met stopped shining the day I met them .

As much as I was not a fan, i did enjoy and still love MJ's music.

As for criticizing what he became , it is a different story:
Would we have done better in his shoes?
Would we have survived this life style?

Never forget:
Stars are so high in the sky that they are out of your reach
Show business is only a show
It is business; strictly business.

Enjoy the best of his music and forget ( or forgive) the rest
His music is going to be there for a very long ,long time.

[meglev]

Go go go Nury!

Your turn

[Nury]

Hi, guys, thanks for all the comments. I'm travelling in mainland China at the moment so won't be able to do a column today.

But huge thanks for all the wise postings, and the interesting views on Michael Jackson and every thing else.

Those of you you say that he should not be criticised, that's fine, I respect your views.

But for me, the thing that is special about Mr Jam's Gang is that visitors who read these postings/ comments get a fresh, clear-eyed view of the world with all its absurdities, coffee made out of weasel poop, criminals who give their wallets to victims, a black guy who gets doctors to turn him white, people who steal a mountain, fisherman who eat a dinosaur fish, etc.

This all seems like light-hearted fun, but there's a serious undercurrent too, as we regularly tackle subjects like racism and the cult of celebrity.

Remember our discussion of the George Obama book deal? Or the one about Princess Diana?

The media may want to worship Jackson as a god just now, but many of us find it hard to follow suit. He did some good things, he did some very bad things. It is extremely likely that he would have spent many years in jail except for a certain payment of $25 million he made to the parents of a boy called Jordy.

There are a thousand million teachers and nurses and social workers and doctors who have spent their lives doing good things and will never get one paragraph of appreciation in the media.

So I think the pages and pages of worshipful coverage for Mr Jackson can perhaps be balanced out by a few of us trying to be a bit more clear-headed about who he really was and what he really did.

Here endeth the sermon!

Amen.

[meglev]

Come on Nury.

Blame it on the Media.

They are the one who chose mj to be worshiped.

And for you, you just want to balance it out in negative way.

We don't really know if the child sex abuse was true.

Just leave him alone. SHUT UP!
the poor mj has just passed away.

Why now? Why not earlier to comment on him?

Is this the right time to draw more attention from your readers?

And like Fardel said if we will survive to live in his lifestyle.

I dont think you can handle it.

Wake up!

[meglev]

Nury,

read this for your record

http://publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php?id=4581513&navname=Movies%20&moreurl=http://publication.samachar.com/zopag/movies/zopagmovies.php&homeurl=http://movies.samachar.com&nextids=4583901%7C4583902%7C4581511%7C4582450%7C4581513&nextIndex=0">http://publication.samachar.com/zopag/movies/zopagmovies.php&homeurl=http://movies.samachar.com&nextids=4583901%7C4583902%7C4581511%7C4582450%7C4581513&nextIndex=0">http://publication.samachar.com/pub_article.php?id=4581513&navname=Movies%20&moreurl=http://publication.samachar.com/zopag/movies/zopagmovies.php&homeurl=http://movies.samachar.com&nextids=4583901%7C4583902%7C4581511%7C4582450%7C4581513&nextIndex=0

[Shaik Anwar Ahamath]

I think you are all wrong. The only fault with Michael Jackson was that he was gullible and lacking in street cred. His entourage consisted of many hangers on and also professionals who convinced him of non-exsisting diseases just to extract millions for the cure including surgery and they succeeded. On the subject of skin colour, 'White' is synonymous with a race when applied to humans. There are many 'Whites' with dark skin (as in Australia) and many 'Blacks' with fair skin (as E.g. Mariah Carey). Only milk is white and coffee is black. No human beings are those colours.

[meglev]

where is Nury?

[True MJ fan]

Meglev, I’m not usually critical of people, but I must say you are the rudest person to post on this website.

First, you ask Nury to respond to your comments on MJ.
He does respond, in a very reasonable thoughtful manner.
And what do you do? You tell him “shut up” about MJ!

That is so disgusting.
There’s no point in discussing anything with you. if you say Shut up to Nury when he does what you ask, what's the point?

Second, you don’t even read his reply properly.
If you did, you would notice that he says he is travelling in China and doesn’t have access to updating this site.

Third, I have a point I want to make. Who are the true fans of Michael Jackson? The people who dismiss every criticism and treat him like a god who cannot be criticized?
Or the people who bought his records and took a real interest in him as a person and saw that he went seriously off the rails?

It’s clear to me that Nury is a much more true fan of MJ than other people who claim to be fans but don’t want to see the truth.

By the way, Nury is not the only person to give an honest, dispassionate view of MJ. This site was one of the first to do that, but there have been some other good ones since.

[Keyboard kev]

I agree with "true mj fan" above.

I also agree with nury about 'the cult of celebrity'.

I believe MJ was a child molester. If you don't like me saying that, sue me.

As a lawyer said some years back, no one pays US$20 million to someone else unless there is a damn good reason for doing so.
And if you think I am a michael jackson hater, let me tell you that i am not. i am a musician and spent last night playing his songs live to commemorate some great music. he made some great music. but he as a person was sick.

[meglev]

True MJ fan, are you Nury?

[meglev]

Keyboard kev, you have the right to hate mj. No one gonna sue you. :)

so stupid.

[True Nury fan]

True MJ fan. I know you are Nury.

Come on, don't be so girlie by concealing your true identity.

I know it's you Nury. :) :) :)

[bored]

nuri's in china and all the rest of us are fed up to the back teeth of you magelv and with bloody mnichael jackson so just obey your own command and shut the ... up.

[Nury]

everybody can be anybody

[meglev]

meglev is in Uganda. And in here, they don't have access to modern technology.

so don't falsely accuse him.

by the way, i am meglev, not magelv.

[godiva]

wow, this "moonwalking" thing got some really heated exchanges.
Who was it that sang "different strokes for different folks"? "live and let live"?...
And then of course there is what we call "respect for the dead" but then there is also "freedom of speech".
We can go on and on and on, but the fact is, MJ made music (enjoyed by millions, obviously) but now he's dead.

[anon]

Theres always going to be a war between the celebrity worshippers and the clear thinkers who see people as who they are : just ordinary damaged souls like the rest of us. The scary thing is that 1, there may be more of the celebrity worshippers than there are of the clear thinkers and 2 the celebrity worshippers are going to ignore all the evidence so you are never going to get any sense out of them.
But I think it is a point worth making, that if any of us did what Michael Jackson did, we would be in jail. Unless other readers have 25 million to buy thhe silence of your victims. I certainly dont.

[meglev]

Can i give you $25 to buy your silence from this blog at least?

[Mother of Anon]

The 25M was taken by a parent whose child was abused.

Quesion is, what do you call such parents who accept payment to remain silent ? Pimps ?

[meglev]

Where is Nury?

[SJ]

The exchange of views and feedbacks is so overwhelming for this post! Well everyone has their very right to the freedom of speech, however don't provoke things if you wont be able to accept the verdict. Lets appreciate the finer things of what MJ has brought to this world as a performer and an individual. About the other negative traits and wrongdoings (which most of us aren't even SURE of), learn not to take privilege of what we have(money,fame etc) in life.

Nury, regardless what you mentioned, I appreciate your freedom of speech.

Fardel, that long written words of yours amuses me!

[someone]

Nury.

Mother of Anon asked what you call such parents who accept payment to remain silent?

[sugarbabes]

this thing is getting HOT!!!!!

[MJ]

You are spot on SJ

Let's not speculate on things we don't know for a fact.

People are always inquisitive about other's personal affairs.

Let's spend more time in putting our own house in order and when we are done with that, listen to MJ's music if it appeals to you....or you can all respond to meglev

[anon]

Poor Nury, he goes to china for a few days and idiots take over the asylum.

non-worshippers of michael jackson are keeping their heads down, very sensible I will do the same

[Chamin]

If you are a brown foreigner in Singapore, you will definitely start craving for white skin. Colored celebrities can help change this situation, so it is understandable for some of us to wish Jackson retained his old looks.

[Meglev]

Hey guys... to clear up your mind, check this out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkCzOaTyftw&feature=related

[utah cosmetic surgeon]

He was used by many dermatologist, i can tell it's unprofessional.