By Anthony L Hall
Paying tribute to Michael Jackson as the King of Pop is rather like paying tribute to Joseph Ratzinger as the Pope. For, where his musical genius was concerned, Michael was not only entertaining, but also revered and respected to the point of seeming, well, Invincible.
Of course his musical legacy is set in platinum: i.e., in terms of record sales (Thriller sold over 100 million copies worldwide), music videos (he pioneered black R&B videos on MTV) and memorable performances (his breakout performance as a solo artist on Motown’s 25th anniversary show). Then there’s all he did as a member of the Jackson 5.
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Anthony L. Hall is a descendant
of the Turks & Caicos Islands,
international lawyer and political
consultant - headquartered in
Washington DC - who publishes
his own weblog, The iPINIONS
Journal, at http://ipjn.com
offering commentaries on
current events from a
Caribbean perspective |
But, unlike so many of his fans, I cannot reconcile his musical genius with his personal life, which seemed beset by childhood traumas that led to a lifetime of irresponsible (if not illegal) and freakish behavior. Frankly, the pathological self-loathing, predatory entitlement and attention-grabbing antics that characterized his personal life were beginning to fatally undermine the appeal of his professional life.
This is why, in an admittedly perverse sense, his death was timely. Not to mention how it plays into the legend of “only the good die young” (a la Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, et al), with which Michael was reportedly so fascinated.
We should be mindful, however, about conflating Michael the entertainer who should be celebrated, with Michael the man -- who should be pitied, if not reviled.
Specifically, I’m sure that his entry into show business at such a formative age contributed greatly to his surreal, self-indulgent and self-destructive behavior later in life. But I question the effect he claims being beaten and teased about his looks as a child caused in this respect. After all, if this were a prevailing factor, those of us in the Caribbean -- who were routinely beaten and teased throughout childhood far more savagely than Michael -- would be exhibiting similar traits of racial abnegation and sexual ambiguity.
“It's ridiculous, man! Chemical peels and all of it. And I don't understand it. But he obviously didn't want to be black... You see his kids?
“The statute of limitations has expired on all childhood traumas. Get your stuff together and get on with your life, man. Stop whinin' about what's wrong, because everybody's had a rough time, in one way or another.”
(Quincy Jones -- mentor, father figure and producer of Michael’s best-selling albums reflecting on his death in an interview with Details magazine earlier this week.)
Michael was the King of Pop. But as an icon or, God forbid, a role model for our children, he left a great deal to be desired. More to the point, three things stand out when I reflect on his personal life:
- Michael was considered a shrewd businessman who reportedly earned over one billion during his lifetime. Yet he was such an unconscionable and irresponsible spendthrift that he died almost half a billion in debt. Reports abound about Michael feeding his spending habit in recent years by contracting to perform, collecting hefty advances and then resorting to all kinds of ploys (often involving hospital visits) to avoid performing.
I must say, however, that he looked and sounded in vintage form in a 90-second video clip that was streaming all over TV yesterday. The producers of his comeback series of concerts claim it was recorded during a full-dress rehearsal just 48 hours before he died...
But this was hardly surprising; after all, everyone from Wyclef to Akon has spoken in recent years about how impressive Michael was in preparing for performances that never happened. And, given what we now know about his (prescription) drug addiction, it’s doubtful he would’ve made it through 50 concerts, for which he was already paid millions in advance, without a major physical breakdown.
- Even though he was acquitted of criminal charges of child molestation, Michael clearly courted intimate relationships with little boys that crossed all bounds of propriety. And bear in mind that he always denied molesting them with the same sincerity and conviction with which he always denied having ANY plastic surgery (until 2003 when British interviewer Martin Bashir forced him to admit to having just “two nose jobs”).
Of course Michael was famous for treating many children with angelic affection and Santa Claus-like kindness, and he was ostensibly charitable to a fault.... But this affection, kindness and charity on the one hand only seemed to make him self-righteous about his perversion on the other.
- The most manifestly troubling aspect of Michael’s personal life was his role as a father. Because, in addition to manner other Freudian questions, I wonder about the psychological impact on his three lily-white children of having this black man (notwithstanding his appearance) insist that he is their biological father.
But just imagine the psychological defect (self-hatred?) or physical dysfunction that led Michael to choose the sperm of a white man instead of using his own to inseminate the (white) surrogates who gave birth to his designer babies...
No doubt, in the fantasy world he cultivated for himself, it was perfectly reasonable for Michael to go on million-dollar shopping sprees despite being effectively bankrupt; to undergo numerous plastic surgeries to change his Negroid features then insist that he looked white naturally; and to act as if sleeping with little boys is the most innocent and loving thing any man could do.
“Think whatever one might about the histrionics of the king of pop. But it seems that the people who associate with him either enable or adapt to his questionable and surreal lifestyle - almost all of them harboring ulterior motives. Most notable in this respect are the two women (one of whom is Lisa Marie Presley) who joined him in marriages that amounted to little more than publicity stunts and were arguably never even consummated.”
[Michael Jackson fights for his freedom..., TIJ, April 27, 2005]
Incidentally, if you think his personal life was “wacko,” just wait for reports on the incomprehensible mess he left behind... Nevertheless, there’s no denying that Michael belongs in the pantheon of modern-day tragic heroes alongside Elvis Presley, John Lennon.
He died on 25 June from an apparent drug-induced cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles. He was 50.
Now, just as they contributed to the death of Anna Nicole Smith, I suspect we'll soon be hearing about all of the Drs Feel Good who carelessly fed Michael's drug addiction. And, even though the infighting over the estate of James Brown was unseemly, greedy and embarrassing, I suspect the infighting over Michael's will make it seem genteel by comparison.
Farewell Michael
NOTE: Am I the only one who prayed that his “elusive” doctor would not turn out to be black…? First Dr Jan Adams with Kanye’s Mom, now this Dr Conrad Murray with Michael. A shady coincidence to be sure, but what a damn shame!
Related commentaries:
Michael Jackson: Not guilty, but hardly innocent
Michael Jackson fights for his freedom
Deaths of famous people come in threes
Kanye’s Mom dies mysteriously
[*Editor’s note: The original version of this commentary, which did not contain references to Jackson’s rehearsal and Jones’ reflections, was published on Anthony’s weblog, The iPINIONS Journal, on 26 June, the day after Jackson died.] |
