The First Book of Michael

by Syl Mortilla

  Besides, Brooke and Michael remained close, regardless. In words disclosed by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, Michael rues the day that Brooke attempted to get amorous with him, but he was too nervous to indulge:

  “I sincerely liked Brooke, I liked her a lot. She was one of the loves of my life… I was at the Academy Awards with Diana Ross and she just came up to me and said: ‘Hi, I’m Brooke Shields. Are you going to the after party?’ I said: ‘Yeah’ and I just melted. So we get to the party and she says: ‘Would you dance with me?’ And we went on the dance floor. And man, we exchanged numbers and I was up all night, spinning around in my room, just happy. She was classy. We had one encounter when she got real intimate and I chickened out. And I shouldn’t have”

  Michael’s friendship with Brooke survived longer than his relationship with Emmanuel did; with her regularly being seen accompanying Michael in the ensuing years. Similarly, once Michael’s marriage with Lisa Marie Presley was over, they remained on good terms – with Lisa Marie frequently flying out to see Michael all over the world whilst he was on the road with the HIStory tour

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  In songs inspired by Jackson family dynamics, such as ‘Superfly Sister’ and ‘Monkey Business’, Michael laments some of the actions of certain members of his family. In the lyrics to the latter track, Michael bemoans the loose morals of the male members of his family, singing,

  “Your brother’s gone and kissed / The mother-in-law / I might tell dad about what I saw / Your brother didn’t make a nickel or dime.”

  Michael’s propensity for generalising a theme in order to appeal to a larger audience – such as in ‘Leave Me Alone’ – was second to none. But in ‘Monkey Business’ the glove is well and truly off, with the intended recipients of the message being perfectly clear. And although Michael switches between third and first person perspectives, in an effort to afford him the liberty of ambiguity – and therefore seeming less direct in his accusations – the subject matter of taking his family’s indiscretions to task remained a courageous choice of his. The lyric “I might tell dad about what I saw” is instantly endearing in its childlikeness, and reveals a great deal about this facet of Michael’s personality.

  Though the song ‘Superfly Sister’ is in itself a direct rebuttal of sexist attitudes – a judgement on the superficial rating of women by men, with its repeated refrain reminding us that, “Push it in, stick it out / That ain’t what it’s all about” - Michael does not hold back in discriminating from highlighting his disappointment with some of the lifestyle choices of his siblings, irrelevant of their gender. As he sings,

  “Susie like to agitate / Get the boy and make him wait / Mother’s preaching Abraham / Brothers they don’t give a damn.”

  Michael’s love for his sisters was, nevertheless, very evident. He produced music with all three of his sisters, even giving the Bad album outtake ‘Fly Away’ to his eldest sister, Rebbie, for her 1998 album Yours Faithfully - as well as writing the track ‘Centipede’ for her. In the 1983 Unauthorised interview undertaken with LaToya, the effortless repartee between Michael and his sibling is there for all to see. In an interview a decade later, Oprah Winfrey asks Michael if he has read LaToya’s ‘tell-all’ autobiography – to which he responds that he hasn’t, because he doesn’t need to, as he understands LaToya’s true heart. It was this rational attitude that enabled Michael to forgive the misguided comments made by LaToya during the media frenzy of 1993. Michael understood that the essence of his sister was one of vulnerability, and that she had become a coerced and powerless victim of egregious abuse. This trait of vulnerability being a familial one – that would eventually contribute to Michael’s ultimate demise.

  Janet’s steadfast backing of Michael throughout his tribulations is legendary. Not only did she team up with Michael to duet with him on his post-allegations comeback single, ‘Scream’, but also – with total disregard for the contemporaneous status of her career being at its zenith – chose to join Michael on stage to receive the song’s 1995 MTV Video Music Award for ‘Best Dance Video’. Furthermore, not being content with the constraints of the effusive praise she could vocally bestow upon Michael as part of her stolid advocating of him, she brazenly wore a t-shirt bearing the words ‘PERVERT 2’ emblazoned across its back. You smear Michael, you smear Janet – was the very clear message.

  Incidentally, Janet’s infamous performance at the 2004 Superbowl half-time show - a result of which the expression ‘wardrobe malfunction’ was invented - marked the moment Janet’s career was all-but terminated. The extent of opprobrium and malice Janet underwent as a consequence of the exposing of her breast is nothing short of bizarre. Justin Timberlake, on the other hand - the man Janet shared the stage with that night - has seen his career progress in leaps and bounds.

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  Michael intentionally chose a female guitarist to tour with him, with Jennifer Batten remaining a tour stalwart of his for a decade. There are a gamut of nuances in Michael’s on-stage relationship with Jennifer that, due to their subtleties, perhaps offer a more genuine level of evidence for Michael’s intrinsic respect for women than can be found anywhere else.

  In the ‘Dirty Diana’ performance during one of the Wembley Bad tour shows, guest guitarist Steve Stevens – the musician on the record – is given “time to shine” (to use Michael’s expression when he is emboldening This Is It guitarist, Orianthi - another musician specifically chosen with the intent of subverting gender stereotypes and making a statement in support of women). However, Michael is still seen at pains to ensure that the crowd recognise Jennifer’s contribution as well as the guest performer’s.

  Jennifer herself gets her own “time to shine” during the sonically incongruous guitar solo she is gifted with for ‘Working Day And Night’. The incongruity throws extra spotlight on Michael’s unorthodox decision to employ the services of a woman in the role. The mutual fondness between Michael and Jennifer can be seen in footage of the ‘Beat It’ solo during the Copenhagen HIStory tour show. At its denouement, Michael seems slightly out of sorts, and as Jennifer exits stage-left and Michael gives her an affirmative pat of gratitude, Jennifer responds by providing Michael with a reassuring nudge. A nightly-repeated dance move of Michael’s during the ‘Beat It’ solo was a crouched toe-stand, the successful conclusion for which – in order to maintain his centre of balance – meant having to hold onto Jennifer’s leg for support.

  One of Michael’s later ‘femme fatale’ works was ‘Blood On The Dance Floor’. The short film for the track features Michael in the role of a pimp, and borrows its theme from the cinematic interpretation of Georges Bizet’s opera, Carmen – the tale of the archetypal seductress. The imagery evoked in ‘Blood On The Dance Floor’, in which ‘Susie’ “stuck seven inches in” and Michael asks, “Since you seduced her / How does it feel / To know that woman / Is out to kill?” was interpreted by some commentators as a sexist reference to promiscuous women and their role in the spread of HIV/AIDS – an idea immediately rebuffed by Michael. However, it would be disingenuous of me - considering my stance on the criminal ubiquity of the discrediting of the subtleties in Michael’s art – to dismiss this interpretation outright. But one need only look to ‘Smooth Criminal’ or ‘Little Susie’ for evidence of Michael’s penchant for a dark lyrical narrative. Though both of those examples comprise of Michael’s concern for his central female characters.

  This concern for the female protagonist is also apparent in his songs that feature prostitutes. Michael empathises with the plight of the ‘streetwalker’, and makes an effort to expose the reasons for their finding themselves in such desperate circumstances. The narratives of ‘Do You Know Where Your Children Are’ (“The police come 'round the corner / Somebody up there had told / He's arresting this little girl / Who's only twelve years old”) and ‘Hollywood Tonight’ (“She's giving hot tricks to men… / When she was taught that that's not clean / Because she's only fifteen”) both involve girls having to resort to prostitution in or
der to survive. The lyrics of ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ regale a tale in which Michael worries about gender inequality, and the everyday injustices suffered by women at the hands of patriarchy.

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  Michael had an uncanny knack for incorporating trademarks into his transient physicality: the single white glove; the sunglasses; the arm-brace; the mask; the umbrella – all props that were essential byproducts necessitated by his changing physical appearance. (Although the single white glove also served the dual purpose of highlighting Michael’s moves as he danced – as did the white socks. As he explained, “I love to accent movement. The eye goes to where the white is - you know, the glove.")

  For the Dangerous campaign, Michael focussed in on his next image - becoming thicker-set as he matured. For the ‘In The Closet’ short film, he hired the services of Herb Ritts, renowned for raunchy photography. He hired John Singleton, fresh from Boyz in the Hood, to direct the ‘Remember The Time’ video, which featured an all-black cast (including, on Michael’s insistence, a role for the basketball star Magic Johnson, who had recently publicly revealed his being HIV-positive). The 1993 Grammy’s speech Michael gave - upon receiving the Grammy Legend Award - was meant as a reset button for all the bizarre behaviour of the eighties. Michael - he claimed - hadn’t “been aware that the world thought [he] was so weird”, and announced that he had undergone a “rebirth”. The promotional drive behind Dangerous was to portray Michael as mature and sexy, whilst also reclaiming any black support he may have lost during the Bad era.

  An all-out attack ensued to convince anyone sceptical about Michael’s heterosexuality. The ‘Give In To Me’ and ‘Who Is It’ short films are loaded with sexual connotations (the lyrics to ‘Give In To Me’ have been interpreted by some as alluding to rape); and the ‘Remember The Time’ promo - to much chatter at the time - featured Michael’s first on-screen kiss (with David Bowie’s wife - the pulchritudinous Nubian model Iman - becoming the much-envied recipient, in her role as Pharaohess). However, such subtleties were flagrantly dismissed with for the ‘In The Closet’ short film, in which Michael’s interactions with Naomi Campbell are intimate, to say the least (particularly in pictures taken during rehearsals, where Michael’s enthusiasm for incorporating the suggested stimulation of Naomi’s – let’s say ‘groin’ – into a proposed dance move, completely belie the myth of a shyness with women in his more mature years).

  Candid footage of Michael in his forties portrays him as very much the heterosexual man. During film shot in the back of cars that are swarmed with baying fans, Michael is seen excitedly commenting on the attractiveness of some of the girls, who he liked to call “Fish”. In other footage, filmed when Michael was given free reign of a supermarket (an opportunity granted upon his request to experience something resembling normality) - in between riding around the aisles on a trolley - Michael picks up a magazine adorned with the image of his friend Elizabeth Taylor, then turns to hold the picture towards the camera, before smiling coyly, and saying “Now that’s what I’m talking about!”

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  In a 1972 interview, Michael was asked about singing love songs at such a young age, to which he responded, “It’s not odd for me to sing love songs because I know what I’m singing about… There’s no age limit to love.”

  It seems the confused, young Michael precociously crooned about romantic and erotic love in an effort to please one of his mentors in particular. Whilst, in the one hand, his father held the stick of motivation, in the other, the dazzling Diana Ross, held the carrot.

  The relationship between Michael and Diana lasted his entire life, with Diana named in the will as a guardian for his children. One need only glance at footage of Michael in his early twenties, invited on stage by Diana to duet with her on the track ‘Upside Down’ to be convinced of the sexual chemistry between them. This is also seen during the 1996 World Music Awards, in which, during her performance, Diana positions herself in Michael’s lap, whilst he is sat enthralled by her on the front row. The theory that Michael’s heartbreak at the hands of Diana is what spurred his success in the eighties - as if he were trying to prove himself worthy of her - is certainly a feasible one. Especially when it’s considered that heartbreak was a huge motivating force for Michael – the heartbreak of lost childhood being his primary muse in the latter years of his career. And although Michael’s song ‘Dirty Diana’ concerns the actions of groupies, his choice to use that name in particular remains intriguing.

  ‘Liberian Girl’ was originally entitled ‘Pyramid Girl’, and was written around the time Michael forged a friendship with Elizabeth Taylor. It’s not such a stretch to imagine that Michael fell in love with - and was hence inspired by - Taylor’s role in the movie Cleopatra, based in Egypt. Michael dedicated ‘Remember The Time’ to Diana Ross, and ‘Liberian Girl’ to Elizabeth Taylor. And – indisputably - both were significant loves in his life. Though forming conclusions on Michael’s loves on the basis of his song dedications is by no means an infallible method. With one only needing to note the person Michael dedicated ‘Blood On The Dance Floor’ to, in order for the system to be thrown into confusion. What with that particular commendation being granted to none other than Sir Elton John.

  The paradox that was Michael being the most well-known person on the planet, yet feeling like the loneliest, is not a difficult one to comprehend. The fact that he was so loved became the very reason he himself couldn’t find love. The times he felt genuine love where from children, and from audiences. Potential partners flocked around him from all over the globe. Anywhere he visited, he had his pick of opportunities for romance. And it was precisely this automatic love for him that made it so difficult for him to discern sincerity. Millions of people remain in love with him without ever having met him. Think what it was like for all those people that did meet him. Sycophancy – well-meaning or otherwise - became a curse for Michael. Michael’s second wife, Debbie Rowe, loved Michael so much she volunteered to carry his children, before handing them over as a no-ties gift.

  The difficulties Michael underwent in finding sincere romantic love - considering the constancy of people throwing themselves wantonly at his feet - was akin to someone searching for the radiance of Sirius whilst standing in the blinding beam of sunlight. It meant that such was the magnitude of Michael’s own brilliance as the brightest superstar, he also became the most distant.

  During the Bad era, Michael was linked to Tatiana Thumbtzen - the model who appeared in the ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ video – even joining Michael on tour to perform on stage with him during the live version of the song. One night, Thumbtzen had the audacity to kiss Michael on stage. This behaviour was frowned upon by Michael’s management, and she was swiftly replaced. It seemed Michael’s handlers were under the impression that their cash cow could do without such distractions. In the Bad album outtake ‘Price Of Fame’, Michael laments his position, singing,

  “I was excited about the way that things could have been… / They started taking pictures, autographs, then they grab / My joy had turned to pain”.

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  The latterday examples that suggest the truth of Michael’s sexual orientation have an irrefutable sincerity about them. But there are also many quotes taken during the Jackson 5 years, in which all the brothers’ hot-blooded-male credentials are apparently cemented. One such supposed citation from Michael being, “I have this weakness – I love looking at girls!’”

  However, it would be further disingenuous of me to promote such quotes as being the verbatim thoughts of a teenage Michael. In the same way Michael and his brothers were coached with regards portraying a benign stance on issues such as black rights for the sake of commercial potentiation, so they also were in context of their views on their female fanbase. Nonetheless, the idea of the dubious credibility of such quotes is fascinating in itself. The practice of public perspectives on Michael’s sexuality being enforced by pedantic and paranoid profiteers, solely concerned with the palatability of his im
age, was a system heavy with repercussions for the person that would become the adult Michael Jackson.

  This entrenched understanding that Michael had of public relations became the reason he was so careful – and so clever – when it came to camouflaging the political messages contained in his later work. Michael understood it was merely a matter time before people unveiled the messages in his art. To have managed this tight-rope so expertly with such faith in the long-game, was a manifestation of startling genius.

  Perhaps counterintuitively, to find the ultimate proof of Michael’s perspective on women, one need look no further than his face. It was a face that he had initially wanted to be seen adorned with lace for the cover of the Bad album – a desire overruled by his record company, who took it to the other extreme, and insisted on a relatively macho image of Michael instead. Far from being misogynistic, Michael elevated femininity to the extent that he was completely comfortable in androgenising himself – he voluntarily absorbed the feminine into his appearance.