Charting the Demise of MJ's Sanity Through His Music
Published November 20, 2003
The sea change for Jackson came in 1982, when Thriller was released. He no longer had the Jermaine fro, opting instead for some Luther Vandross love god look. Look at those eyes. They are saying, come hither.
This is where we part ways with Michael Jackson and say hello to the King of Pop. Thanks to this new-fangled invention called Music TV, Jackson became a meteor in the industry. And while people danced and made love to Thriller, no one was really paying attention to the subtle messages on the album. Paranoia, anger, illicit love all reared their ugly heads in the lyrics. Looking back at the video for Thriller, one thinks that Michael might have felt a bit too comfortable in all that make-up. The descent was in full swing. Out came the white glove and red leather jacket. There was the change in hairstyles, the lighter tone of his skin and all that jumping in the air and waving his hands around like Liza Minelli on a bender.
Things got even weirder with Bad, released five years later. Jackson spent most of the five years in between albums collecting awards for Thriller, developing an aging-celebrity fetish and morphing into a freak of nature.
The first line sung on Bad is: your butt is mine. Hello, ring-ring-ring, does anyone hear an alarm going off?
I know, I'm pushing this idea too far and I've probably bored you by now. But let it be known that the signs were all there, and not just in the transformation from cuddly kid to plastic surgery addict to adult man living in a kiddie world, but in the progression of his songs and albums. You can see the ego growing, the mania ensuing, the penchant to hang around little kids getting stronger and stronger. He built an amusement park in his backyard, people. Does this not remind anyone of a certain wicked witch who decorated her house with candy in order to lure children in?
Let us all learn a lesson from this story. Never trust a man who wears one glove.
Added: Jimbo reminds us of HIStory, which was basically Michael's ode to himself and can now be viewed as the tell-tale heart in his career.
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- Charting the Demise of MJ's Sanity Through His Music
- Published: November 20, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Writer: Michele Catalano
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Comments on this articleComments
I really enjoyed this Michelle. Also if you remember the cover for bad, he was wearing a leather jacket with all sorts of zippers, straps and buckles. Strange 80's fashion, yes, but a little scary if you think about his ensuing relationships with children.
Presumed innocent until found guilty? I guess not.
Nat, SOMETHING has caused the transformation of this person from this to that, and I don't think it illegitimate to trace the signs back wherever they may appear, if only looking for the origins and expressions of things that aren't in dispute, like his fixation with childhood and all things childlike, the physical mutation, the inability to deal with the "real world," etc.
I hope he is innocent of these charges, I will not be surprised if he is not, we don't live in an informational vaccuum in the meantime.
Actually, you're presumed innocent until you start poking little boys. Repeatedly over a period of years.
all i would add are gratuitous mentions of "beat it" and "can you feel it?"
on a semi-serious aside: this post doesn't argue that he is guilty--it chronicles a descent of which possible criminality is just the latest and greatest symptom; and the presumption of innocence doesn't bar idle speculation.
u r sick...u "think" too much...too much for your own good. why can't things just be, why can't things just happen because they are bound to and soppouse to...u really shouldn't go disecting people's lifes, dreams and feelings just because they're popular doesn't give u the right to.
just leave michael jackson alone...care about your own wrong doings and sins...and stop judging and making a mockory of somebody else's name from pure assumptions and ignorance. You should get a life.
u think 2 little
I think u r sick as well u r just tring to find something to do because u have nothing else to do with your own sad little life. Just leave Michael Jackson alone.
Intereting summary - I thought he was the king of pop and loved his music - but like all good artists there is always a dark side ..... I HATE to say
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excellent Michele, thanks for making this explicit - like you say, it was there all along