Michael Jackson Agonistes: Act II of an American Pop'era

Prologue to Act II:

"...The black man should no longer be confronted by the dilemma, turn white or disappear...if society makes difficulties for him because of his color, if in his dreams I establish the expression of an unconscious desire to change color, my objective will not be that of dissuading him from it by advising him to "keep his place"; on the contrary, my objective, once his motivations have brought him into consciousness, will be to put him in a position to choose action (or passivity) with respect to the real source of the conflict-that is, toward the social structures."

--Frantz Fanon, Black Skin, White Masks

Act II: Mask In The Mirror

"I'm hearing rumors that his coffin is coming, and that would be insane if it happened!"
--A giddy mourner/fan, talking to an MSNBC reporter, outside of the Staples Center, 7 July 2009.

Tuesday, 7 June 2009, 9:05 am, PST, and I'm tuned into MSNBC, watching the throngs of fans on the periphery of Los Angeles freeways and side streets cheering the quiet luxury armada of the Michael Jackson funerary motorcade. Minutes later, members of the Jackson family and other mourners file out of the Hall Of Liberty, on the grounds of Forest Lawn Cemetery. Funerals are the closest thing to slow motion in real-time; like falling through a bottle of invisible embalming fluid. We talk slow and move slower, as the life of the decedent scrolls across the reels of our revisionist recollection. Give your roses to the living y'all, because they can't smell them at the graveyard, or when the cremated ashes walk hand in hand with the wind.

On a split screen, Los Angeles councilwoman Jan Perry, is telling an MSNBC reporter that she won't speculate on the actual dollar amount Los Angeles County will be saddled with, for the manpower needed for the memorial service at the Staples Center. California is in a financial crisis, and though the King Of Pop is dead, the business of California needs to continue.

In another segment, entertainment reporter Nancy O'Dell wonders if the pomp and circumstance of Michael Jackson's memorial service is akin to the Oscars. Noted author and cultural observer Toure' has questioned the use of the terminology of "winning" a ticket to the memorial observance.

The talking heads on all of the networks have been parsing the Michael Jackson chatter with both scalpel and machete, in regards to carving out a thirty-second-soundbite-of-a-meaning to his life. Hyperventilating Republican New York Congressman Peter King posited that Michael Jackson was a low life, a pervert, and a pedophile. CNBC host and mega wealthy ad maven Donny Deutch remembered Michael Jackson being a good dancer. Music industry insiders have crassly speculated that Michael Jackson died to save a flat-lined record business, because sales of his records have rocketed into the millions, since the fortnight of his death. Still others wondered if Michael Jackson was drugged? How did he get Diprivan? Who gave it to him? Will that person be charged? Will they go to jail? And what about that will; who is getting what and when?

The other discussions have focused on Michael's appearance. I guess it's their clumsy attempt at separating the delicate, oily, and sometimes disfigured layers of The American Skin Game.

"It is only in his music, which Americans are able to admire because a protective sentimentality limits their understanding of it, that the Negro in America has been able to tell his story. It is a story which otherwise has yet to be told and which no American is prepared to hear...The ways in which the Negro has affected the American psychology are betrayed in our popular culture and in our morality; in our estrangement of him is the depth of our estrangement from ourselves...What we really feel about him is involved with all that we feel about everything, about everyone, about ourselves."

--James Baldwin, "Many Thousands Gone" from the book,Notes Of A Native Son

Becoming increasingly overwhelmed by his growing mega-stardom, the libretto and musical score of Michael Jackson's life went from the happy bel canto of Off The Wall, to the gloomy gotterdammerung of Thriller.

Michael's attire during this time looked military, almost like a Commander-In-G-Clef: epaulets, metallic shirts which resembled a breast plate with spaulders, steel knee and shin guards, and a glittery glove that replicated a medieval gauntlet. Was this a Michael Magnus ready for battle? Was this Michael Jackson's--raised as a Jehovah's Witness, and a student of the Bible, the Koran, and other religions-- interpretation of what the Apostle Paul talked about in Ephesians 6 of the New Testament, putting on the whole armor of GOD? Was Michael's soldierly clothing, his way of protecting himself against the dark forces trying to aggressively invade his life?

Thriller was indeed, a dark masterpiece; Michael Jackson's declaration of war against his loss of childhood, the towering heights of insurmountable fame, the hordes of nobody's who clamored to become MJ yes-men (and women), the crowded grief of unfathomable loneliness, and the zombie-like corpus of emotional scars. Emotional scars he ripped opened with tunes like Billie Jean, Beat It, Human Nature, and the title track.

I often wondered--watching the ground-breaking long form video for Thriller, directed by John Landis--if Michael Jackson's portrayal of a werewolf, was his Freudian response to the psychic bruising at the hands of his father, Joe Jackson? A monster created by a monster? Watching Michael painfully describe his childhood travails to British journalist Martin Bashir in the controversial 2003 documentary, Living With Michael Jackson, is truly unsettling. Michael Jackson described a dysfunctional man who would beat him (and his brothers) with belts and ironing cords when dance steps were fumbled. A cruel man who ridiculed Michael's "fat nose"; a nose from "Kate's side of the family". "You didn't get it from me," Michael told Bashir in a trembling voice.

The Joseph Jackson Michael described sounded almost like Joseph Stalin. The Koba The Dread of 2300 Jackson Street, whose mere presence could send Michael into a convulsive wretch. Was Michael Jackson's self-imposed facial perestroika--his restructuring by way of cosmetic surgery--a way to never remind him of the dictator with whom he shared an undeniable DNA?

As Michael Jackson looked at his reflection in the mirror in the 1980's--during the Reagan Epoch, that Mourning In America for African-Americans, minorities, and yes, even poor whites who would never be rich, white, and Republican--and when Thriller was selling a million copies a week (and going on to rack up almost 20 million copies in less than a year, outdistancing Sinatra, Elvis, and The Beatles combined), was it then he decided to convert to Caucasianity?

An apt student of cultural history, Michael Jackson knew that Sammy Davis--Mr. Entertainment--was the Original Greatest Entertainer Of All Time. Sammy--or "Mr. D" as Michael humbly referred to him, as he asked him for tapes of his Vegas shows to study for his own extravaganzas--had big dreams of the Crossover, too. Sammy Davis was more than just a one-eyed schvartze to Milton Berle, or a waiter in a rib joint to Ol' Blue Eyes. Berle and Sinatra thought these remarks were terms of endearment to Sammy, who would smile and grin in their presence, but seethe with hatred and frustration in his solitude.

Quite possibly, Sammy marrying Mai Britt and his conversion to Judaism was both personal and business. Sammy loved Mai, but it was also the move to get him inside with the insiders, not unlike what Michael did with the daughter of the King Of Rock, two generations later. I truly believe Michael Jackson loved Lisa Marie Presley. This was a woman he poured his heart out to, when the pressure of the business boiled over onto the floor of paranoia. Michael knew the daughter of Elvis could relate. But Michael--like Sammy--wasn't stupid, either. Ambition doesn't discriminate in The American Skin Game. However, Sammy's ambition was still shackled by Jim Crow. The laws of the land were way behind the curve of Sammy's drive to the top; he crashed into the guard-rails of racism.

Michael on the other hand, was the beneficiary of the forced beneficence of LBJ's Great Society, and Dr. Martin Luther King's dreamy march to the mountaintop of a color blind America. Or at the very least, a more racially tolerant America. The laws had changed, but our finite vision had remained the same: race matters. Raised by a man who was brutally razed in an era that cut black men's virility with the razor-sharp fear of prejudice--literally and figuratively--I'm sure Michael was hit with the race issue from all sides, every single day, figuratively and literally.

You're big Mike, but you'll never be Elvis. Or The Beatles. You can sing and dance, you have the number one album in on the planet, but you're still a...well, you know

You didn't get that nose from me. That's Kate's side of the family.

Michael's 1980's Man In The Mirror saw a rising entertainment supernova staring right back at him, but a supernova who was...black. His buddy, the legendary Paul McCartney, was white. So was Elvis. Sinatra, too. White was not better, just as black was not inferior. Michael loved his blackness, but in the Eighties, white was-access. Decisions, decisions, pressure like you wouldn't believe. Stress that might've indeed triggered a minor case of real vitiligo. Did Michael Jackson view this vitiligo as a divine sign? Or would his adoring fans look at him as if he was cursed; like a leper? The mad fame of Thriller was already making him a pariah of sorts, but Michael Jackson, the super-competitor wanted more. And once Michael saw that lightening of the skin, well...who knows? He needed that edge over the Beatles, and Elvis, and Sinatra, and McCartney. And only one color--in the 1980's--could break through the glass ceiling, into the platinum skies of Pop Icon Everlasting.

Would an America of the 1980's accept a African-American King Of Pop?
Could the vitiligo be a heavenly door to a whiter shade of pale?
Hmmm...
Maybe all of this played out in Michael Jackson's interior dialogue, and maybe he felt he had to make that change.

Of course, all of this is pure supposition. And as of 7 July 2009, this hypothesis is moot. The issue of race became a non-issue the moment a little girl named Paris Katherine Jackson walked onstage at the Staples Center, and took a look at the casket a few feet away from her. A casket which was the symbol of the only parent she had ever known. Wrapped in the loving embrace of the Jackson clan, it didn't matter that she didn't look African-American. She was black, she was white, she was Latino, she was Asian. And when Paris broke down and tearfully said: "I just want to say, ever since I was born, Daddy has been the best father you could ever imagine. And I just want to say, I love him-so much," her tears were the color of U.S. all.

(To read all three acts of Michael Jackson Agonistes, along with a four-part mini-documentary of Spike Lee's Michael Jackson Birthday Celebration in Brooklyn, NY's Prospect Park, click on this link.)

Follow Barry Michael Cooper on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BarryMichaelC

Comments

[mjliveson]

I realize that though vitiligo prompted his drastic change in his skin color, if only to even out his skin tone (imagine what the tabloids if he showed his true colors). But like you, I marvel at the statement on race he made, whether intentional or not. Certainly this act of changing his God-given face and skin color was a sore subject to both the race he was born into and the race he was starting to resemble. But he was still loved my millions: his many fans and loved ones, his daughter being our voice. I only wish he had been alive to witness this outpouring of love, or that he can see us from his final resting place where I hope he finally has peace. And is dancing for a choir of angels, no doubt his long lost brothers and sisters. I hope he is shining with the pure joy and radiance we all remember from the videos for Rock With You and Don't Stop Til You Get Enough. I wonder what happened to his psyche between that and Thriller, maybe it was just growing up and losing the innocence of youth or maybe it was his dark side (or a reflection of our collective dark sides). Thank you again for sharing your gift and writing this piece. I am looking forward very much to Part III.

[mjliveson]

By far this is the most insightful, well-written piece I have read on the late great Michael Jackson (long may he live) and believe me, I have read nearly everything that has been written since his death. You, sir, are a writer with a true gift. I have been checking back every few days--sometimes even every day--for Part III. While I realize that Michael enjoyed fame that most of us can only imagine, that fame came at a huge price: the loss of his childhood, being a means of support to his parents at a young age, the complete lack of privacy, the tabloids hounding and haunting him. Still, the man and the boy oozed talent from his every pore: he was truly grace in motion, even when he was still. I hope we can all remember him as a gift from the heavens; there is a reason that his voice as a child was often compared to an angel's. (I did not cry immediately upon learning of his death, not until hearing that a picture of him on a gurney, in the ambulance no less, was already in circulation mere minutes after his death. I was told, "Don't be sad, he looks beautiful, just like an angel." And this is after all that plastic surgery.)

[lucy4]

I have read a lot of blogs about Michael, I have to say this one by far has to be the most intelligent!

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@lucy4: thank you so much for the kind words, and GOD Rest Michael Jackson.

[xtherocksx]

Well said. I believe that Michael's skin lightening was, at its core, motivated by a desire not to resemble Joe Jackson. Similarly, his decision to raise surrogate children was an effort to terminate his father's biological legacy. Leaving Joe out of his will proved that Michael was determined to the bitter end to sever all ties between him and his father. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F166o1QO6Y8

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@xtherocksx: very interesting insight, and thank you for your response.

[NABNYC]

It's obvious the entire Jackson clan will use Michael's children just like they used him. He was their meal ticket, and now the kids inherit the fortune, so whoever's got the kids will have access to and control over the money.

It was disgraceful the way that family shoved that little girl up on stage to defend her father. Obviously they are anticipating the custody fights for control of the kids, and the likely argument that the parents in the Jackson family should not have custody of those kids. They clan wants to convince the world that everything inside the Jacksons' lives was peachy, when it obviously was not. The parents did a lousy job raising their own kids and reportedly the dad was physically violent, and the mom did nothing to stop him. Second, they're too old at (around) 80 to be given custody. Why should these kids' lives be disrupted again in the near future with the likely death or disability of a new caregiver.

I wish the courts could find a non-Jackson home to raise these 3 kids. Keep control of the estate under court supervision, in the hands of professional conservators who must account quarterly for every penny spent.

[Cyclone]

NABNYC

That's it? That's what you took away from that little girl speaking about her daddy? When Marlon finished speaking one of the bothers said Janet wanted to say something. She began to approach the microphone when Paris said she wanted to speak. That's exactly what happened. It's on tape so it's not exactly disputable. For you to think otherwise says you need to believe these are callous, unfeeling people who cared nothing for their brother . You have no idea of the dynamics of that family. Yes, Joe Jackson is a fool but he not only abused Michael but all of the children. That is why they are more than likely extremely protective of the three little ones. You were clearly predisposed to find fault with these grieving people. I don't know you and don't want to but you sound sad, cynical, very lonely and unloved.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@Cyclone: very good point. And yes, I believe Joe Jackson abused all of his kids, which
might be the reason Rebe got married so early. to leave that painful environment. But I am just speculating about that, and at the end of the day, none of us will ever know. This is a tragic situation, and I just wish the best for all of the children, grand children, and great grand children, and Katherine. That woman is a rock. What she knows and what she has endured...it would melt our hearts. And at the end of the day, as horrible as Joe is, I feel sorry for him, too. Thanks again for your post.

[702diva]

Well Said, Cyclone. Well said.

"You were clearly predisposed to find fault with these grieving people."

I see similar sentiments a lot, around the internet about the Jacksons and it's disturbing. As well, there is this proclivity that Michael's estate (i.e., $$$$) shouldn't go to his FAMILY. W-T-F is that! What kind of ignorant ha tred of this family would lead people to the FOOLISH presumption that this man's FAMILY should not benefit from his success via the proceeds from his estate. To these Jackson ha ters, it's better that the blood-sucking lawyers, and hangers-on business managers should reap the windfalls from this black man's talent and resultant wealth, but not his BLACK family.

Shoe on the other foot: if and when say Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis kicks the bucket, let's see if these same folks will be rooting for his lawyers and business managers to control their estates and profit from their legacy, rather than Mel and Bruce's children, parents and siblings.

It is a sad, ignorant world that we live in...

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@NABNYC: The aftermath of Michael's untimely demise and how it affects
the entire family is really tragic, NABNYC. I like your insight here, and thank you for your response.

[susumar]

This is off subject but I'm looking for an MJ video on youtube, if it exists. Last night I saw a tv documentary which showed a fabulous MJ opening number on one of his tours in Japan. He was "shot up onstage" from below the floor and just stood there for awhile. Then he slowly took off his sunglasses and just stood there. I can understand why the fans went wild - it was spectacular. Is anyone familiar with this and where I might find it? Thanks.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@susumar: Hey, that is a great moment in that concert, susumar, and I have seen it on youtube, but don't know the date or the particular venue in Japan, but I know if you look around on youtube, it's there. Thank you for your response.

[kratsrd]

here's the # in Bucharest; look up Michael Jackson Dangerous Jam, and several pop up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaDlfODoaEE&feature=related

[susumar]

Yes! This is the video I was looking for! Just watched it again - thank you so much. So spectacular and so very, very sad.

[kratsrd]

Great words, Barry. Michael provided a lot of joy through his music and dancing,
erasing color barriers for generations of children who saw, heard and attempted
to emulate those fantastic videos. That is a gift to us all. Let's hope his children
are afforded some semblance of the joys he provided.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@kratsrd: I agree, kratsrd, Michael's gifts were a gift to us all, and GOD Bless his children and his family members, especially Mrs. Katherine Jackson. Thank you for the complement and your post.

[miranda2060]

This is a wonderful piece of writing, a keeper. Thank you!

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@miranda2060: wow, thank you for your warm words, miranda2060! I really appreciate you taking the time to read my essay. Thank you.

[lavidalocl]

Barry,
Did you read DECONSTRUCTING SAMMY: MUSIC, MONEY, MADNESS and the MOB by Matt Birkbeck..it's about Sammy Davis Jr and follows the investigation that occurred after he died in 1990 to clear his massive debts and restore his great legacy. A fabulous yet riveting book that reads so much like MJ. Two tragic figures. If you didn't read it, please put it on your to do list (The NY Times loved it, so I'd suspect you will too). If people don't understand the pressures of being a black performer in a white country, you will after reading this book. And despite what people thought, Sammy loved his blackness and tried his best to preserve it.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@lavidalocl: Thank you for this suggestion: I actually read Wil Haygood's "In Black And White: The Life of Sammy Davis, Jr." not only the best autobiography I have read on "Mr. Entertainment", but maybe even the best biography I ever read, next to Curt Gentry's masterpiece on J. Edgar Hoover "The Man And The Secrets", and Richard Ben Cramer's poetic tone poem of a biography on Joe DiMaggio, "A Hero's Life". Haygood not only exhaustible research--the book is 516 pages--but it is beautifully written, and paints a very complex but poignant picture of a very complex and extremely talented and conflicted man. Sammy loved being black, but hated how whites during that time in America viewed black people. And I believe it ate him alive. It is a great literary work. Thank you for your suggestion, lavidalocl, and thank you for your response. I appreciate it.

[lavidalocl]

I read Haygood's book and unfortunately, after reading Deconstructing Sammy, Haygood's wasn't very accurate in a lot of ways. The Sammy portrayed in Birkbeck's book is overwhelmed, just like MJ, by a group of cheaters and psychopants that leaves SDJR over $15 mil in debt when he died. Half was owed to the IRS. Sammy's wife Altovise ended up in poverty in Pennsylvania where she hired a young black lawyer, a former U.S. Attorney, to looking into reviving Sammy's name and clearing his debts. The lawyer spends seven years investigating and we learn more about Sammy than we ever know. It's based on Sammy's tax and estate records. Awesome but absolutely tragic book. Here's a portion of the NY Times Review from December.. (LA Times also gave it a great review)....

DECONSTRUCTING SAMMY
Music, Money, Madness, and the Mob.
By Matt Birkbeck.
Amistad/Ha­rperCollin­s, $25.95.


“Deconstructing Sammy” was written by an investigative journalist, and it shows: Birkbeck has killer leads, gripping kickers and sensational descriptions. This cinematic book reads more like a detective story than a traditional “life of.” It revolves around Sonny Murray, a federal prosecutor and the son of the founders of the Hillside Inn, a famous black-owned hotel in the Poconos. Murray takes it upon himself to get Sammy Davis Jr.’s alcoholic widow, Altovise, sober, and to solve the mystery of the star’s enormous I.R.S. debt: $7 ­million-plus.

[voodoolock]

"Sammy loved being black, but hated how whites during that time in America viewed black people."

These words hit it on the head: a link that anyone different or oppressed might find that that they can have with others. As a gay White male, I love being different, until I feel feared, hated, or misunderstood for my differences. I keep this in mind as I fight my own impulses to fear the difference in others. Thanks for this post.

[JustAThought56]

Jackie Kennedy once said "If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do matters very much." Michael Jackson did not live long enough to raise his children to adulthood, but he certainly seems to have given them a strong foundation and the sure knowledge that they are deeply loved and cherished.

I don't mean to diminish his body of work, but in my mind, this is his real success and true legacy, because whatever damage his father did, Michael managed to make it end with him. He apparently did not pass it on to his children. This was an amazing accomplishment. And now these children have the chance to go forward in life with the sure knowledge of what being loved means.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@JustAThought56: I couldn't have said it better myself. And Paris's response at the end of the memorial underlined everything you just said. Thank you for your response.

[Shellly]

There must be a reason all those fans were out in force to celebrate his life... they were not forced. The media thought they did him with those scurrilous charges... were they shocked to know that his fans were still there for him all over the world.. once the dust settles, and the fake accuser is brought on national television to explain why he lied/made to do so by his father, he will be the biggest entertainer dead or alive!

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@Shelly: wow, that is so true. Like Berry Gordy said at the memorial, The Greatest Entertainer
That Ever Lived. Thank you for your response.

[spiderbucket]

"Thriller was indeed, a dark masterpiece"

Masterpiece is debateable but 'dark' ??? Nope. 'Off the Wall' was The One as far as I'm concerned. Nothing dark about Thriller - even the video was bubblegum Disney scary. IMHO 'dark' would be something like Marvin Gaye's MASTERPIECE 'What's Going On' or even 'Here My Dear.' I might consider the song "Morphine" from Blood On The Dancefloor 'dark.' Maybe 'Billie Jean' but overall 'dark masterpiece' would be more fitting when discussing OK Computer or Curtis Mayfield or some of the Norman Whitfield era of Temptations.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@spiderbucket: Thank you for your opinion and for reading my blog. I appreciate it.

[Twyg]

Growing up in outback Australia the only communication back in the 1970s was the radio & records. I never saw any of his film clips but I loved MJ & the Jackson 5. Playing the records & dancing & singing (& my father yelling to turn down the music!) is one of my favourite memories as a child. Their music is a part of my life's soundtrack. I think his changing appearance was more complex then a colour issue. Like all truely gifted people he had his demons which only he could understand & rationalize. The general public loved him plain & simple for what he brought to our world - happiness.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@Twyg: MJ did bring happiness to this world with his GOD-Given talent. Thank you for your insight Twyg.

[Ecoutez]

Yes indeed. The world needed MJ time at this precise time. He let us know what love is, and his spirit will live on. In terms of that unscrupulous team of tormenters who lied and set him up they too will reap what they sowed..

[marysandra]

It takes a lot of courage to have a serious and some think, disfiguring skin condition,have your hair burnt off and continue to wow us for decades beyond those events. He did what he thought best to cope with these difficulties.
Did anyone else see the irony in those plumped out, face lifted pundits commenting on Michael's appearance?
Michael transcended race, he loved humanity by his own words, and humanity loved him back. The testament of his daughter said it all..God bless her and her brothers.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@marysandr­a:absolute­ly Marysandra, Michael totally transcended race with his talent and his heart and compassion for others. Thank you for your insight.

[phylliscooper1]

I have three 1/2 black and 1/2 white grandchildren who were all born in the late 80's. When they were young children and my daughter and her husband were out in public people would stop, stare and many would act revolted and even make awful comments. In contrast, when my husband and I would be out and about with the children, people would look at us and comment as to how adorable they were. We always believed that those people thought that we had been merciful and taken in or adopted these children.

It must be said that lessons were learned by us all. Some of them were very painful and hard to take All I can say is that we all have been blessed.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@phylliscooper1: Thank you so much for this phylliscooper1. We all have been Blessed, and I agree. Amen! Thanks for your insight.

[Ecoutez]

Yes. We must learn never to judge books by their covers. Many people only look at color and the package we put forth to the world. This happens all the time with fair-skinned Black people who really know what's going on with racism. They are assumed to be white only based on outward physical appearances. We have so much to learn...so much.

[Barry Michael Cooper - Huffpost Blogger]

@Ecoutez: Amen, my friend, we have a whole lot to learn, and I hope we do before its too late. I appreciate your insight here.