The Mythological Michael Jackson

Hello again world and welcome back to my blog. Being that June is Black Music Month and in remembrance of its 25th being the second anniversary of our subject's death, I would be remiss not to have today's entry be about the "King of Pop" Michael Jackson. He was indeed and undoubtedly the greatest entertainer that ever lived, performing superhuman routines that changed music, art, dance and worldwide society at large. Though he died at age 50, it could be said that Michael lived a life that had 100 years worth of experiences; throughout his entire existence he was never in between, either having mind-blowing successes or earth-shattering failures. Everything about Michael Jackson- both on and off stage- was truly an event to his worldwide audience, and thanks to his epic journey there are far too many of these moments to count.


Over the forty plus year time span from "ABC" to "This Is It", Michael Jackson centered his innovative style around his individually unique singing voice(s). When he and his older brothers were introduced to the world's stage as the Jackson Five, they catapulted to superstardom hugely due to their youngest member being a prodigal, energetic dynamo. The most interesting attribute about Michael's voice during this era is that he sings with a wiser beyond his years, "old soul" type of presence. This is especially evident with his vocals in romantic leads, sounding as if he has experienced the type of longing and heartache as depicted in "The Love You Save", "I'll Be There", "Got To Be There", and "I Wanna Be Where You Are". Michael is a vocal rarity in that he has sung with two very distinct voices- one as the wise child prodigy and the other being the signature and stylized adult megastar.



Such the calculating performer was Michael that he understood that the expressive physicality between song (voice) and dance (body) must match perfectly. Even as the child prodigy he would dedicate himself to this ideal by creating song specific dance patterns that demanded perfect timing and execution. Though he always danced with unbridled yet strategic energy, Michael would rewrite the relationship between song and dance during his "Thriller" era by fusing it unparalleled magical elements that fueled his audience's imagination. As we watched him perform the Moonwalk to "Billie Jean", the "West Side Story" inspired choreography to "Beat It", and later the lean in "Smooth Criminal", we realized that Michael was a "special effect" within himself, making us question Isaac Newton's theories of gravity. A true testament to his moves and cool factor is that after seeing him make the moves look so easy we instantly believed we could do it ourselves, but then proving it made us realize his dedication to flawlessness even more.



As he was always a performer that must be both seen and heard, Michael would marry pop music to theatrical vision through the medium of music video. When he released his juggernaut album "Thriller" in 1982, he put to work his grand vision of using filmmaking inspired by art, history and classic cinema to tell other areas of his songs' storylines that you couldn't get with just music and dance. The key element to these "short films" as Jackson called them was in fact the storyline itself; to me, it is as if Michael had these storylines in mind all along, even selecting the proper visuals and historic era in his head while recording the song and crafting the dance moves specific to it. With this mammoth combination of elements, Jackson's short films ranged from the stylized genre pieces such as "Thriller", "Smooth Criminal" and "Remember the Time" to the epic operas such as "Bad", "Captain Eo" and "Ghosts".



Just as Michael Jackson would come to symbolize the ultimate performer, he would also come to symbolize the ultimate celebrity. In this sense, he was P. T. Barnum's realization of bringing amazing entertainment to his audience from an act that was rooted from eccentric, bizarre greatness. Illusion plays a big part in Michael Jackson's legacy in that you didn't know what was real and/or fake in his life both on and off stage. It would be the offstage events in Jackson's life- the physical transformations, eccentric behavior and most notably allegations of child molestation-that fueled an imagination from his audience that he would shun and dismiss, causing him to have a love/hate relationship with media outlets. But it would be the ultimate performing persona of Michael that would win out, as when he died in 2009 he was "recanonized" by the media and his audience by holding weekend long marathons of his music and films, and airing his public memorial in an effort to remember to his great accomplishments.



The main element to Michael Jackson's mythology is surprise; good or bad, you really wouldn't have believed him unless you had seen him. His style, accomplishments, individuality and struggles cause him to be a modern day epic hero whose life's works have inspired others to elevate their own. It is amazing that over course of the forty plus years that we were his audience, and even today, Michael would use his magic to surprise us over and over again yet still leave us wanting more. As he is in a class all his own, it is without a doubt that I believe the greatest entertainer who ever lived was the "King of Pop", Michael Jackson.

Well, that's about it for now folks. Thanks for taking the time to read this blog, and let me know what you think about this and other entries. Also, if you want more great commentary on music and culture, check out the Hip Hop's Politician's blog- trust me, it's good stuff there, you'll thank me later. Until next time, peace out.