Michael Jackson was a huge star but he also had a dark side that even in death cannot be forgotten.
Nicknamed the "King of Pop" after the global success of "Thriller" and "Bad", the singer was more commonly known by the nickname of "Wacko Jacko" in the last 20 years of his life because of his taste for the company of unrelated boys and his friendship with a chimpanzee named Bubbles, building a theme park in his backyard, and his countless plastic surgery operations that changed his appearance from a handsome black man into a ? Well I'll let you fill in the blanks.
The evolution of the color of Jackson's skin (which according to the singer was caused by a rare pigmentation condition) - habit of wearing a surgical masks in public and even covering the faces of his children with various different masks and veils and endangering the life of one them by dangling him from a hotel balcony in Germany succeeded in making the international pop singer more than strange.
After two cases of molestation against underage boys, which allegedly took place at Michael Jackson's Neverland ranch in Santa Barbara California in 1993 and a decade later in 2003. The first case was settled with a huge $25,000,000 settlement after the child (Jordan Chandler) described unique discoloration (markings) on Jackson's penis and testicles. The second case went to court in 2005, which lasted approximately six months. Despite the jury hearing lots of incriminating evidence against Jackson they felt they couldn't convict him beyond reasonable doubt and Michael Jackson was free to continue his life, but many people still felt that Michael Jackson escaped by the skin of his teeth and even 2 jury members later came out and said they regretted acquitting him and only did so because they felt pressured by the other jury members.
After the first allegation in 93 Michael Jackson never really regained the music creativity and exuberance that made him an international pop star, after the 2005 trial Michael Jackson was suffering with money problems after lavish spending sprees and his huge legal fees (reported to be $5,000,000) that he paid to his lawyer. Michael Jackson could no longer afford to keep his Neverland ranch running and had to close the gates for good. Michael Jackson then decided to turn his back on the United States and move to Bahrain in the middle east, where he spent several years until he left. Michael then had a short stay in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom before moving back to the United States.
Despite the singer repeatedly saying he loved children and would never harm them. Many people were unsure and felt it was totally unacceptable for Jackson to keep taking other people's children to bed with him. Despite Jackson's massive success on stage, the sad truth is many people will remember him for his strange behavior, his obsession with young boys and the child molestation allegations.
I remember it like it was yesterday.
ReplyDeleteIn 1990 MJ was still cool. We saw the launch of the LA Gear shoeline, complete with a ad that would later be the basis for the Black or White Video.
But then I picked up a magazine and read that Michael and Macualy Culkin were hanging out, and MJ declaring to the world "Macualy Culkin is my best friend!"
There is something very UNCOOL about a man in his 30s being best friends with an 11 year old.
The Dangerous Album launch. Everything seemed to be going good. Black or White was an awesome song (despite it's dominant cow bell and cheesy rap) and the video was mildly amusing (lacking formation dance was surprising given that it was an MJ trademark.)
Then comes Remember The Time Video. All star cast. Multi-million dollar special effects. MJ in a skirt. Hold up. A skirt? A black man, with white makeup and a weave that Janet would go nuts over? The look was shocking. That's not the cool guy who did The Way You Make Me Feel! Then the girly smile at the end of the video before he runs away instead of standing to fight. What was with that?
Suddenly MJ was losing street cred in a big way.
Singles Jam and Keep It In The Closet helped back track a little, but then came the Oprah Interview. The once ultra-cool superstar seemed to walk more like Mr. Burns than Michael Jackson. Oprah's warm moca skintone only served to highlight how much his skin had been bleached away (despite claiming it was a hereditary condition for which no Jackson family relative has ever surfaced to confirm.)
Then the Grammy Award ceremony. MJ looked just as feminine as Janet. It was no longer a question of whether he was going white (he was white) but if he was about to change gender.
NOT COOL.
Gender-benders were a fad in the late 70s and 80s in pop. By 1993, such forays into gender-bending was majorly uncool. Remember, Kurt Koban was the man that year. Macho 2 Pac was emerging.
Then the allegations came. Instead of doing what he would later do (emerge with a chic on his arm) he had the casio boys fly with him around the world. Not cool. You've just been accusing of molesting a boy and you want to be seen with other potential "victims". Who controls your PR?
Flash forward to 1995, finally MJ comes out with a cool look, the Scream Video. I was going to say that They Don't Care was cool as well, until I remembered that it shows MJ falling to the ground in agony after a middle aged woman touches him gently on the shoulder.
In closing, MJ of the 80s inspired a generation of white folk to wish secretly to have a proud, warm moca skintone (as I do) and to flaunt this healthy color to the world. MJ of the 90s destroyed all of the coolness that he had created.
What was he thinking.
Corey Feldman has revealed that Hollywood in the 80s was filled with pedophiles, and that Corey Haim (80s teen heart throb) enjoyed being molested and sodomized by older men, to the point that he forced Corey to hook him up with older men as he was desperate to get some.
ReplyDeleteFeldman says after arranging the hookup, he felt sick listening to them go at it hard core.
Corey revealed that he too had hook ups with older men, one in particular, a "minder" of the star. He felt him up and performed oral sex on him (I hope you're not eating breakfast reading this.)
Enter Michael Jackson into the fray.
Corey reveals that Michael was his refuge, a friendship where he could escape being a sex object and go back to being a kid. Him and MJ escaped the seedy world of hollywood to hang out at disneyland and have water balloon fights.
Corey revealed to MJ that he was abused, and unlike most abusers (who would use such a revelation to their advantage and initiate contact), MJ counseled him on abuse and shared his own stories of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of Joe Jackson.
I feel that this story helps vindicate rumors that MJ was a serial pedophile. If MJ was, hooking up with a teen boy on the cover of all the teen heart throb magazines would be quite the trophy... but MJ didn't want a bar of it.
As MJ said "when they say the abused abuse, they're wrong."
Actually I am eating breakfast, but nevermind. It's neither here nor there.
ReplyDeleteI never followed the exploits and adventures of either Corey, not through any particular reason, I just never paid them much attention through the 80s. I didn't know that Corey H was being abused and assaulted in such a manner - if he was, then my heart goes out to him. But for once you speak sense in your post - this does go some ways to proving what the MJFam know deep in our hearts is the truth - Michael was innocent and never laid a hand on those kids.
Actors make themselves very susceptible to be abused as their mindset is locked to "I have to please everyone in power to progress with my career."
ReplyDeletePeople know that young women are taken advantage in Hollywood, but it is still tabu to talk about men having to sexually please other men to get forward.
James Dean slept his way to the top... with men. He was having sex with a whole lot of older men in power to get parts.
I wonder if MJ was ever taken advantage of by men. Pedophiles normally go after boys without a strong father figure. Joe Jackson was a very intimidating person, the kind of guy who if you crossed him, you might have to fear for your life. For that reason, I think that the odds are low... at least I hope so.
This is becoming a pervasive problem in today's society. More & more we see young (and older) people rushing to grab their 15 minutes of fame & not giving any thought to their own reputations OR to the welfare of any children they brought into this world.
ReplyDeleteA big part of the blame belongs to the media who rewards these fools with attention & the public who follows the asinine melodramas as if it were anything but a tragic & embarrassing trainwreck.
I don't really have any sympathy for adults who choose to throw away their self-respect in the search for 'fame' but I think it's a national tragedy that so many innocent children are paying the price for their parents' depraved behavior. (I'm looking at you Farrah Abraham. I'm looking at you Kris & Kim Kardahsian. The list goes on & on.)
The problem with using Corey Feldman to vindicate MJ is he also implied very strongly in an interview with Bashir that MJ was a pedophile when he complained about MJ showing him a medical book full of genitalia.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a great book to read, just from a historical perspective. What I find interesting is that it shows a backlash against MJ emerging even before both his racial transformation AND the molestation scandals. The question is why, even before MJ did anything truly offensive were people trying to tear him down. What it just the normal jealousy that targets all the biggest celebrities? Was is it just that tough rock star types found his sissy Peter Pan image totally lame? Or was it something more sinister: Racism. How dare this black man be be bigger than Elvis? Bigger than the Beatles?
ReplyDeleteIn a way I feel compassion for the fans because at least in the early years, they were probably right in defending MJ against the haters. MJ was a brilliant artist who had earned his success through hard-work and talent, and the haters were probably largely jealous racists.
However in later years it became clear that MJ had some pretty dark demons, and instead of continuing to defend him, they should have encouraged him to get the help he needed.