When Michael Jackson passed in 2009, his death left behind a string of unanswered questions, mostly centered around his alleged plastic surgery. His career shows the pop star's dramatic transformation, often making him infamous, as his fans wondered how much times he must have gone under the knife for that look, and why his skin had turned white. Popular consciousness remembers MJ not only as a towering recording artist with immense talent, but also as a figure of intense self-conflict, for this phenomenal man spent his career in isolation, from his audience, from the world, and perhaps, even from himself.
A Problem Rooted In His Early Years
According to J. Randy Taraborrelli, who has tracked Jackson's career for three decades and wrote an unauthorized biography, Jackson did not want to Michael Joseph Jackson; he wanted to be something else, and so he left no stone unturned to achieve that. Jackson's relationship with his skin was complicated ever since his younger days; the Jackson brothers always teased each other about their appearances. While Michael was ridiculed for his nose, Jermaine for his acne, and being subject to intense media scrutiny from a young age was Michael's puberty.
A Skin Condition That Majorly Brought About His Transformation
However, his disturbing relationship with his skin cannot be entirely attributed to media response, and it also had to do vitiligo. This skin condition eventually led him to bleach his skin. This has been confirmed through various sources, including Arnold Klein, Jackson's dermatologist, who, in 1983, diagnosed not only this condition but also discoid lupus erythematosus. Later, Richard Struck, another dermatologist, affirmed that the disease had destroyed his nose cartilage, which perhaps explains some of his plastic surgery. The latter condition gave him a lot of physical pain. While shooting for a Pepsi commercial in 1984, Jackson got severely burned, due to which he had to go through skin grafts and balloon implantation in his scalp.
Racial Conflict And Stereotypes Might Have Affected His Self-Image
However, one also cannot overlook the fact that Jackson's relationship with his skin was also about race. Steve Knopper in his recently released book MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson, on the one hand, suggests that Jackson's relationship with his skin was more complicated than his desire to be white, on the other hand, he also examines Jackson's reaction to his father Joe's declaration that he needed "white help" to aid his negotiations with CBS after the Jackson left Motown.
Michael Jackson had reportedly said that he does not hire colour, but competence. In a famous interview with Oprah Winfrey in 1993, he asserted that he is proud of being a black American, and that he never wanted to be played by a white actor. Delving deep into the contemporary cultural analysis of Jackson's shifting skin color, Knopper observes that the disease (vitiligo) had liberated him from the boundaries of black physicality. Just as he refused to be confined to one producer or one musical style, he also chose to never stick to one look, imposed by genetics or tradition. "He belonged to everybody," as Knopper puts it.
Beyond The Black-White Binary
In 2015, a documentary called The 10 Faces of Michael Jackson claimed that the late singer had more than 100 surgical procedures done on his face! Previously in a 2003 documentary with Martin Bashir, Jackson had confessed that he only got plastic surgery done on his nose, and not his face, as it helped him to breathe better so that he can hit higher notes. However, we can never tell.
There are so many conjectures around Jackson and his plastic surgery tales that have often fueled controversies regarding cross-racial casting in Hollywood, the persistence of racial identity, being comfortable in one's skin, and what not! It is something that, like many other facets of his life, will remain wrapped in mystery.