The last week has been awash with just about every interpretation of Michael Jackson’s life, legacy and impact that you could imagine. One of my friends commented how she remembers getting suspended in high school for standing on a table and singing
The last week has been awash with just about every interpretation of Michael Jackson’s life, legacy and impact that you could imagine. One of my friends commented how she remembers getting suspended in high school for standing on a table and singing "Black or White" during lunch. We’ve seen tons of people crying on the street. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t have many memories of Jackson directly. I liked his music as much as the next person, but I always found Michael Jackson the ‘image’ as interesting as I found his music. From movies to television to stand-up comedy, Michael Jackson was a punching bag for America’s race, sex and class issues, and I can only hope that in death he’s finally found some peace from the hell that must have been his life.
When I heard of Jackson’s death, the first thing I thought of was not a song or a performance, but a quote from the movie "Three Kings." For those of you who may not remember, "Three Kings" starred George Clooney, Ice Cube and Mark Wahlberg as three Gulf War soldiers who went AWOL searching for what they believed was hidden cash by Saddam Hussein. Mark Wahlberg’s character was caught by an Iraqi soldier and they had the following fascinating exchange:
Iraqi Soldier: What is the problem with Michael Jackson?
Seargent Barlow: What do you mean?
Iraqi Soldier: He come to Egypt. I see picture in newspaper. “Hello” with the white glove. I’m Michael Jackson in my autoroom, with my chop-up face. Your country make him chop up his face.
Seargent Barlow: No, that’s (expletive). He did it to himself.
Iraqi Soldier: You are the blind (expletive), my main man. It’s obvious, a Black man make his skin white and the hair straight, and you know why?
Seargent Barlow: No.
Iraqi Soldier: Your sick (expletive) country make the Black man hate himself, just like you hate the Arab and the children you bomb over here.
When I saw this scene for the first time in 1999, it shocked me that it was one of the few times that anyone dared speak the truth about what “we” Americans did to Michael Jackson rather than how he influenced us. For all of his faults, this man was tortured, infantilized and de-racialized by the American public so that he could be a convenient moment in entertainment that was non-threatening and acceptable.
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