The following is a feature I wrote in April 2010 for an Extended Project Qualification. I know it's a long read but please share some time for it! Thanks :)
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| Fig1: Courtesy of AllandJanssen, Madison Square Garden, 2001 |
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| Fig2: Courtesy of AllandJanssen, Madison Square Garden, 2001 |
I will focus on the 2002 controversial documentary with British journalist Martin Bashir; Living with Michael Jackson, in which Michael revealed his truths to the world. Bashir wanted unrestricted access to his life for 8 months to show the world the truth about him and “make nothing off limits”.
The documentary was highly critical of Michael; focusing on the negative aspects on his life such as the treatment he received from his father, his changing physical appearance, and the child molestation accusations.
Michael's photographer; Hamid Moslehi, filmed every interview Bashir did with him. Although Bashir may not have remembered that this camera was on, he was informed beforehand. The camera shows us footage that was not aired in the final documentary; showing the differences in what Bashir chose to say on, and off the camera in the documentary Take Two: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See.
It is evident that Michael lived a strange, difficult and eccentric life, having to deal with being a childhood superstar from the age of 5. How did his childhood contribute to the decisions he made in the future?
CHILDHOOD SUPERSTAR
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| Fig3: Courtesy of sosta, drawing of a young Michael |
"We were terrified of him. I can't tell you. I don't think he realises to this day how scared, I mean scared. So scared that I would regurgitate. His presence, just seeing him. And sometimes I would faint. He didn't allow us to call him daddy, and I wanted to call him daddy so bad. He said 'I'm not daddy, I'm Joseph to you'. And I totally forgive him for all of it you know, you have to. I don't allow my children to call me Michael, I say I'm daddy. It's just the opposite. So when people say the abused abuse, that's not true. That's not true at all." Michael ((2003) Living with Michael Jackson)
A small child cries out for help without a soul able to stop him from weeping. Michael had an unusual upbringing to say the least. How many children spend their elementary age performing on the same stage as strippers, in front of sleazy, selfish men? The Jackson brothers are the perfect symbol of the American dream; the poor, small-town family who rose to riches out of nothing through blood, sweat and tears.
Michael remains adamant that although he claims to have hated his father when he turned to his disgusting behaviour, he is ever grateful of the hard work and commitment that Joseph showed to him in the years of struggle. If it were not for the pompous, cheating father of his, they would never have got their contract at Motown Records and beyond.
"He hurt me a little but the man's a genius. Maybe I wouldn't have the affection for my kids that I have today." Michael ((2003) Take Two: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See)
The perception of Michael at a young age was often a crowd in awe of this eight-year-old who passionately sang as if he had fifty years of experience on stage. The maturity of this rising performer contributed to the Jackson 5's success as they received number ones with songs such as 'I Want You Back', 'ABC' and 'I'll Be There'. He was now becoming the most famous child in the world competing commercially against arguably the greatest band of all time; The Beatles.
All the controversy, rumours and truths released by the British media over the years have often taken us back to the young boy's childhood. Many believe that Michael's inability to accept adulthood, even in his later years, was due to the childhood he was never given. His Peter Pan mentality forced him to believe that he never needed to make that transformation. The press decided to treat him like every superstar and exploit his weaknesses.
"Do you have regrets about the way your life has been?" Bashir
“When I was 11 or 12 I would have to go and make the albums because the summer tour was right round the corner. And across the street from the studio was a ball park, and I could hear the kids, the roar of the crowd and the playing and catching ball and having fun. And some of those times I so passionately wanted to just go over there and just play a little and not go to the recording studio. Just to have some fun with the kids and I couldn't.” Michael ((2003) Living with Michael Jackson)
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| Fig4: Courtesy of Michael Jacksonfan, early Jackson 5 |
"I had to share bedrooms with one of my brothers on the tours and there was some action going on in my room every night, I could hear it. And my job was to play sleep and I was told by one of my brothers 'no matter what, don't get up, don't open your eyes', I go 'I promise I won't'." Michael ((2003) Living with Michael Jackson)
The only friends that Michael had were his brothers. Despite growing up as an impressive musician, he was unable to find friendship amongst others. So when your own flesh and blood are forcing you to listen to them having sex while you pretend that nothing out of the ordinary is happening, you can predict that he was going to live a difficult life.
The following is an extract from J. Randy Taraborreli's biography of the star; Michael Jackson: The Magic & the Madness:
"...we began talking about his childhood. 'I missed my childhood,' he said, sadly.
...A lot of kids starve, Michael,' I reminded him. 'A lot of kids are poor, they become addicted to drugs. A lot of kids don't live in mansions with servants. A lot of kids have it a lot worse than you did. In fact,' I said, maybe feeling a little too self-confident, 'I think you had a pretty good childhood. You travelled. You had friends. You did what you wanted to do, didn't you? You performed. You entertained. It was fun. I think you miss your childhood, yes. But I don't think you missed out on it.
Michael stared at me, angrily. 'No, it was horrible,' he countered. 'I had a terrible childhood. All of that performing. All that recording. The fans took over my life,' he said, pointing at me. 'I never got to play,' he complained. 'It was awful." (Taraborreli, 2004, Michael Jackson: The Magic & the Madness, p.451)
Whether Taraborreli unintentionally provoked the reaction from Michael or not, the musician still seemed to exaggerate on the 'loss' of his childhood. The star seemed to be disillusioned that he was subject to the worst treatment ever seen. It was right to say that many children were less fortunate, and Michael knew that more than anyone, but perhaps only he could truly understand how it felt to live through his youth.
He was given no power over anything. Quite rightly so, being such a young child. However, when you are trampled on so much in your youth, revenge is only inevitable in your adulthood.
"What did your father say (about your appearance as an adolescent)?" Bashir
"Oh God...he was pretty embarrassing. He used to tease me real bad about it. Yeah it used to hurt me, I don't think he realised how much he was hurting me. (cringes) He would tease me about how I looked and he would say 'you didn't get it from my side of the family, must have been from Kate. God your nose is big. I'd always go to the bedroom and cry. I would have been happier wearing a mask." Michael ((2003) Living with Michael Jackson)
From a young age Michael was always very self-conscious about his appearance, so it does not help your confidence when the only people you have close to you are attacking it. He had always disliked the shape of his nose because he believed that it was too large for his face. Constant criticism from his cousins and Joseph, who reportedly nicknamed him 'Big Nose', caused him to eventually have changes to his facial features.
"One time we were in an airport and some lady recognised my brothers and all of us and she goes 'oh my god! It's the Jackson 5! Where's little Michael?' And another person goes 'there he is!' and she goes 'eurgh, what happened?' Just like that. And God, I just could have died right there." Michael ((2003) Living with Michael Jackson)
As a naïve, innocent and sensitive child, Michael was prone to being targeted with insults. One can only wonder how much pain he must have gone through due to inconsiderate people treating the poor, young boy like a piece of meat. It is instances like these which contribute to people believing that he received as much plastic surgery as he supposedly did.
During his Thriller era he had his nose slightly narrowed and his eyebrows shaped. This caused controversy as the black community believed that he had problems with his African-American roots and was attempting to become whiter. The media portrayed these changes as unusual as men were not seen to have this sort of thing done back then (they had obviously never heard of Freddie Mercury or Boy George).
Jackson's physical appearance was at the forefront of the British media's attention, targeted unfairly for the last 30 years of his life. The following is Bashir questioning his facial features. In brackets are Michael's responses to his comments:
"When they say things like you've had implants in your cheeks, (Oh God) you've had a dimple made in your chin, (Please, please) you’ve had your lips enlarged, (Please, that's stupid) you've had your eyelids reconstructed (It's stupid). None of it's true? (None of it's true. None of it's true. It's BS. They made it up. They lie. They don't wanna' give me credit for anything. One paper said, because I was growing a beard, he had each little hair transplanted into his face with it lasered in. How ignorant is that? I can't even grow a beard now? You ignorant fool, who wrote such a thing?)." ((2003) Living with Michael Jackson)
Despite Michael expressing his complete honesty to Bashir, he still felt unconvinced by his explanation. If one man cannot believe the words that are coming out his mouth, what hope has Michael got in convincing the world of his truthfulness?
The following is an article dedicated to Michael Jackson's skin apparently being too tight:
"JACKO'S SKIN TOO TIGHT TO SING?"
"Michael Jackson has had so much plastic surgery he might struggle to open his mouth wide enough to belt out his hits. The 50-year-old's face is so taut after all his ops that producers fear he could have difficulty hitting the high notes fans want to hear."
"Since then (1984) he is rumoured to have had seven more nose jobs alone."
"Jacko has also had three operations on his jaw, a cleft put in and then removed from his chin, new cheekbones, and his lips narrowed and widened. And he had facelifts to remove wrinkles from his forehead and eyes." (Lawton, 2009, The Daily Star)
This extract from an article written by Jerry Lawton in the 27th March 2009 issue of the Daily Star claims that this rumour was justified by a 'top music producer' who has conveniently been named anonymous. Although never stated by Jackson or a trustworthy representative, the newspaper has chosen to release unnecessary rumours about the star. Coincidentally, the documentary film This Is It released in January 2010 provided evidence that Michael could reach the required notes.
Newspapers have featured articles such as this for decades about Michael's appearance. It makes you wonder whether they are publishing this just to fill up some space in a paper, or to meet their deadline in time. Rumours like these have caused Michael to remain uncomfortable about his appearance for his whole life.
Throughout his life Michael has been targeted unfairly for ridiculous aspects because it gains publicity. Thousands of people, whether celebrities or not, are having plastic surgery today and very few are being accused of wanting to change their race.
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| Fig7: Courtesy of VJ Alisa!, iconic fashion, iconic image |
In his 1993 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Michael announced that he had the skin disease vitiligo. (Lewis, p.165-168) It affects 2% of the world's population and destroys the pigmentation of the skin. Since the day he found out he tried covering it up with make-up, but was unable to hide it as the disease grew in strength, forcing his skin to seem as if it changed completely to white.
So, ridicule and humiliation destined Michael to receive plastic surgery on his nose, nevertheless, although he hated being mocked, he never had any other plastic surgeries, or bleached his skin.
These things were happening in his life throughout no fault of his own, or the ability to make a difference. So what would happen when he made his own decisions?
CHILD MOLESTATION ACCUSATIONS
"One of the most disturbing things is the fact that a lot of disadvantaged children go to Neverland. It's a dangerous place for a vulnerable child to be. Now I'm not saying that I saw any evidence of Michael Jackson being involved sexually with any children, quite the contrary. But what I'm saying is that children who are vulnerable should not be going into the house of a billionaire superstar where they sleep in his bed." Bashir ((2003) ABC's Prime Time Thursday)
Martin Bashir was interviewed on ABC's Prime Time Thursday and released the previous statement. The following was filmed by Jackson's photographer and expresses a contrasting opinion:
"Neverland is an extraordinary, a breathtaking, a stupendous, an exhilarating, and amazing place. I can't gather together words to describe Neverland." Bashir ((2003) Take Two: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See)
Bashir's two-faced behaviour caused an uproar in the reaction to the original documentary. Michael states that he finds children more accessible and easier to talk to because he is never betrayed by them. He has experienced enough in his life to realise that it is difficult to trust anyone. Therefore, when he accepted Bashir's proposal, he was not only opening his arms to his truths, but his innocence; at least, what was left of it.
Michael plainly tells Bashir that Neverland is a result of what he missed out on in his childhood. His attempt to re-live that childhood he never received came to life when he was able to create his dreamland.
ROUND 1
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| Fig9: Courtesy of Michael Jacksonfan, childhood missed |
Michael Jackson was accused of child sexual abuse by Jordan Chandler in the summer of 1993 (Taraborrelli, 2004, p.485-486). These accusations were never proved despite Jordan claiming that he and Jackson had engaged in acts of kissing, masturbation and oral sex (Taraborrelli, 2004, p.496-498). Therefore, the media is not the only source where rumours are produced about Jackson. The following was said by the boy's father, Evan Chandler, who discussed his intention to pursue the charges:
"If if go through with this I win big-time. There's no way I lose. I will get everything I want and they will be destroyed forever." Asked how this would affect his son he replied: "That's irrelevant to me...It will be a massacre if I don't get what I want." (Taraborrelli, 2004, p.478)
This unacceptable opinion from Chandler is taken from a secret tape-recording between Chandler and David Schwartz; June Chandler Schwartz's husband and Jordan Chandler's step-father at the time. Chandler's melodramatic views supported Michael's case as he showed more of an interest in the money he was hoping to receive, rather than the apparent fragile state of his child.
Lack of evidence supported the state closing the criminal investigation and, fortunately for the Chandlers, they negotiated an out of court settlement with Jackson for $22 million (Taraborrelli, 2004, p.540-545). Suspicions and presumptions by the media caused Jackson's image to deteriorate, leaving him humiliated by the untruthful allegations.
ROUND 2
When Michael Jackson is seen holding hands and discussing sleeping arrangements with 13-year-old Gavin Arvizo, accusations are on the cards. In late 2003, Jackson was charged with seven accounts of child molestation and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent in relation to the boy (Taraborrelli, 2004, p. 640). These accusations were supported by moments in the documentary such as the following:
"When people say bed, you're thinking sexual, it's not sexual. We're going to sleep. I tuck them in, we put music on, I read a book, it's very sweet. Put the fireplace on, we give them hot milk, you know we have cookies. It's very charming, very sweet. It's what the whole world should do." Michael ((2003 Living with Michael Jackson)
The case provided evidence from celebrity defence witnesses such as actor Chris Tucker and comedian Jay Leno. However, it was Macaulay Culkin who provided one of the highlights of the case by rejecting any suggestion he was molested by Jackson (14 June 2005, Timetable of Events, The Sun).
A statement from Janet Arvizo, Gavin Arvizo's mother, was released after the documentary was aired:
"I am appalled in the way in which my son has been exploited by Martin Bashir. The relationship that Michael has with my three children is a beautiful, loving, father sons and daughter one. To my children and me Michael is apart of our family." ((2003) Take Two: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See)
It is extremely difficult to come to your own conclusion when the mother of the boy involved feels that he is safe, whereas an interviewer who had not received parental consent to film the child, and who knew very little about Gavin, felt that it was appropriate to exploit the relationship in such a negative way.
To his fans delight, Jackson was cleared of all seven charges on 13 June 2005. (14 June 2005, Timetable of Events, The Sun) Although the previous twelve years revealed that the King of Pop was never proved guilty of any accusations, the media continued to attack Jackson’s image.
"Your relationship with your children is spectacular. It almost makes me weep when I see you with them because your interaction with them is just so natural, so loving, so caring." ((2003) Take Two: The Footage You Were Never Meant To See)
A father of three, Michael was always the most caring parent to his adoring children. Bashir seems to agree in this section of the footage that was left out of the final documentary perhaps because it is paying a compliment to the performer. Not wanting to reveal his truths face-to-face with Michael he decided to explain how he really felt on ABC's Prime Time Thursday:
"They are restricted. They are overly protected. I was angry at the way his children were made to suffer." ((2003) Prime Time Thursday)
Bashir fails to appreciate that Michael has been through so many trials and tribulations in his life that he just wants his children to receive the best possible treatment. Although they may be overprotected, perhaps it is the price that must be paid when you're the child of the world's biggest superstar.
Michael always expressed his adoration towards his children. The struggle he experienced during his own childhood pressed him to ensure that Prince, Paris and Blanket received his utmost tender, love and care. He does not want his children to go through the same torment so he dedicates his life to making theirs the best possible.
DEATH
The King of Pop Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 to worldwide astonishment. Whether the creator of ‘Billie Jean’ was loved or hated, he always had an impact on people’s lives. The world had not shown such a reaction to a death sine Princess Diana’s departure.
As a lifelong Michael Jackson fan I have stood by his statements throughout my life. Although I have not always agreed with his views, I always gave myself time to understand his side of things. His 50 date This Is It sell-out at the O2 was surely going to be nothing short of spectacular.
While at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival I heard the news from thousands of screaming voices, while stumbling home to my tent, that the most famous man in the world had just died. Alike many of the festival-goers I traced the internet in need of confirmation and collapsed at the sight of the breaking news.
The reaction to Michael Jackson's death was extraordinary; bombarding the front pages for weeks on end. It was evident that a man who led such a controversial, misconceived life was going to receive a mixed perception.
I have compared several articles responding to his death in order to see whether the media have reacted positively:
"Blessed with an almost superhuman aura, he was his own unique creation”
"Being a pop star is very simple. The job involves two elements. First, there's what you do – singing, dancing, song-writing. Second, there's how you do it. So you have the songs, and then you have the singer – the art and the artist. And the trick to becoming a pop star is knowing how to combine those two parts. If you get the balance right, congratulations, you're Kylie or Eminem – but Michael Jackson did something else. He found a way to make those two elements react, so strongly that they created something phenomenal and unique – an explosion of creativity built into the persona of an almost intergalactically brilliant pop star. Jackson's aura was that of someone who sometimes seemed – not least in his own head – superhuman. He died one of the most famous people on earth, having maintained that level of fame for about a quarter of a century. Popes and presidents have come and gone in those 25 years, but who else has been so famous for so long?" (Robinson, 2009, The Pop Star, The Guardian)
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| Fig10: Courtesy of cattias.photos, the Jackson brothers at Michael's memorial service |
Surely a recently deceased man would not be publicly ridiculed days after his death?
"The little boy scurries under the kitchen table in terror. Inches away his father's belt whistles past...Joe Jackson's eyes are bulging with rage. He is shouting wildly for his second youngest son to stand still. There is no hiding for long as blow after blow rains down. Eight-year-old Michael Jackson takes the pain." (Basnett, Evans, Latchem, McGuire, 2009, 16-page Souvenir Tribute, News of the World)
This ridiculously over-dramatized perception of Michael's childhood is extremely unacceptable as a reaction to his death. The News of the Worldattacks his childhood with ease once it is confirmed that there is no way he can respond. The fictitious descriptions of the scene are just one of the many tales fabricated throughout his life and beyond. I believe that if a newspaper chooses not to pay its respects to a musician, then their words should not be featured.
Rather than focusing on the 110 million copies of Thriller sold worldwide, his revolution of African American performers on MTV, or his Guinness World Record for Most Charities Supported By A Pop Star, they have chosen to use the struggle and suffering of his childhood.
"He (Jackson) was invited to stay at the family's (Jordy Chandler's) house to celebrate the fifth birthday of Jordy's stepbrother Nikki. With Nikki in a top bunk bed, Jordy and Jackson performed sex acts on each other in the bottom bunk – all witnessed by the youngster above. And months later Nikki was to explode Jacko's big secret. Meanwhile Jordy and Jacko continued to meet to have sex, sometimes for days on end." (Basnett, Evans, Latchem, McGuire, 2009, 16-page Souvenir Tribute, News of the World)
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| Fig11: Courtesy of AllardJanssen, Madison Square Garden, 2001 |
FATE
Who could have predicted that the sweet, young boy from the Jackson 5 would ever be the media, and the world's, focal point for the next 45 years? He began by being treated with disrespect and crudeness, later becoming the independent man of his future. However, he found his past too difficult to forget and was forced to remain with the memories he wanted to be rid of.
So, was it his odd, unorthodox behaviour that caused his deterioration, or the images of the past demanding the need to re-live his childhood? What we do know is that Michael Jackson will no longer feel the discomfort and distress of being the world's most unfairly targeted man.
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