Fahrenheit 9/10
The downfall of Michael Jackson
retty young things, repeat after me:
Michael Jackson heat it.
P
Child molestation is not a laughing
matter, hut celebrity excess certainly is.
Which is why I’m fascinated hy the rise and
fall of Jacko, a larger-than-life talent who has
been under the watchful eye of the media
microscope for more than 35 years. He is a liv
ing, breathing byproduct of our celebrity-
obsessed culture. His transracial, transgender
appearance betrays his self-loathing—a tragic
figure whether or not you believe in his inno
cence—yet his appetite for attention seems
insatiable.
Now that Michael is off the hook from his
latest accusation of fondling little boys, talking
heads are eagerly salivating over the next chap
ter in this sad tale. Tongues are wagging that
he might show up at one of the Live 8 concerts
July 2.
But can this career be saved? More impor
tantly, does anyone care?
“1 think...what the trial did was confirm
what people want to think about Michael in
the first place,” Seth Clark Silberman, a Yale
lecturer on black and queer studies, told ABC
News. “For those who believed Michael was a
child molester to begin with, the trial may not
have changed their mind. For those who
believe what the Jackson camp has been say
ing—that there’s been this conspiracy and the
Santa Barbara County sheriff’s department is
out to get him—the trial supported their theo
ries, too.”
welcoming the boys
of summer?
by Jim Radosta
• An aging Tito Jackson and the rest of the
brothers awkwardly reuniting for the first time
in 20 years. (Today the family still comes
together, but only for Michael’s court dates.)
• A dumbstruck Britney Spears, clearly
creeped out by Jacko during their duet, “The
Way You Make Me Feel.” (Today she’s
kn<x:ked up by deadbeat dad Kevin Federline
and starring in UPN’s reality television series
Chaotic.)
• An obese Marlon Brando, two-time Oscar
winner and onetime voice of a generation,
thanking Michael for donating money to build
a children’s hospital in Florida and mumbling
about child abuse, starvation and disease until
the impatient crowd booed him offstage.
(Today he’s, well, dead.)
• A bloated Liza Minnelli—Oscar/Tony/Emmy
winner and the world’s biggest gay icon second
only to mama Judy Garland—
warbling “You Are Not Alone.”
Backstage she met producer
David Gest, who went on to
become her next gay husband.
(Today she’s svelte and he’s suing
her for spousal abuse.)
• A skeletal Whitney Houston
shocking the crowd when she
joined Usher and Mya onstage for
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’.”
(Today she’s out of rehab and
doing the reality television thing
with her husband on Bravo’s
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michael alago
rough
gods
photography and book signing
Being Bobby Brown.)
The man in the mirror...is unrecognizable.
Either way, the self-proclaimed King of Pop
already has been dethroned, brought down by a
combination of ballooning ego and apparent
mental instability. It’s a tossup as to what pre
cisely caused his downfall: Was it his clumsy
kiss with then wife Lisa Marie Presley at the
1994 MTV Video Music Awards (a publicity
stunt that failed almost as miserably as Tom
Cruise’s recent fist-pumping meltdown with
Katie Holmes on Oprah)? Or was it his dan
gling of infant son Prince Michael 11 aka
“Blanket” over a balcony in 2002?
As far as I’m concerned, Jacko sealed his
fate four years ago when he invited his freaky
friends to serenade him during a pair of con
certs at Madison Square Garden to celebrate
the 30th anniversary of his solo career. Never
before has there been such a synthesis of in
famous train wrecks under one roof:
Incidentally, Liza and
Whitney kx>ked so awful, the
network suits at CBS t<x>k it
upon themselves to digitally alter
’their Ixxlies before broadcasting
the concert several days later.
This, my fellow Americans, was
the nadir of pop culture.
But here’s the best part: All
of this took place in New York
City on Sept. 7 and 10, 2001—
literally the eve of destruction.
Child actor turned heroin junkie
Corey Feldman recently revealed that Michael
“basically...threatened my life” by refusing to
give him a seat on the tour bus out of town the
next day, leaving him stranded after the terror
ist attacks.
How fitting, then, that one person’s come
back advice for Jacko involves a trek to the Big
Apple.
“Michael needs to become reacquainted
with the world again,” Silberman says. “Maybe
he needs to move out of Neverland and move
to New York and just be around people again.”
Or maybe Jacko should simply heed his own
advice from 1979’s “Don’t Stop Til You Get
Enough." Michael, after all these years of
scrutiny, haven’t you had enough? JH
Arts and Culture Editor JlM RADOSTA needs your
feedback. Write to jim@justout.com.
show runs aug 2 to 3 1, 2005.
opening reception friday august 5th, 6 9pm
BRIAN MARKI FINE ART & FRAMING
22 3 6 NE BROADWAY 503 - 249-5659
Mon- Sat 10 to 6 • www.brianmarki.com