The Standpoint

THE END OF AN ERA

(“The world will never be the same again”)

By

Abhishek Mukherjee

The world came to a standstill and suffered an inconsolable loss on June 25 when the King of Pop and the biggest superstar in our generation Michael Jackson breathed his last. Just days before a performance in London, which would mark his comeback after a tumultuous phase in his career, the enigmatic pop-star died supposedly of cardiac arrest in California. The demise was so sudden that the global community was overwhelmed with shock and disbelief. He was just 50.

For his fans, Michael was the musical god. He was a messenger of music who transcended boundaries. Once called ‘the most famous man on the planet’, Michael was not just a genius but a magnetic persona.

He was a man who revolutionised entertainment in a never-before way. Right from his performances as a part of the ‘Jackson five’ as a five-year old, Michael’s genius was there to be seen. He was so involved in music and rhythm that he soon ceased to be just an extraordinary singer, and achieved unscalable heights that other artists could only dream of. The hat, a single glove, white socks and black loafers, his gravity defying dance – Michael’s aura was so captivating that he became a kind of property that everyone wanted to own. His albums and on-stage performances were the spreaders of Western Culture in all pockets of the globe, and his music reverberated everywhere. His influence to music and the world was so immense and multi-dimensional that it is even said Elvis Presley, the man who could be called Michael’s predecessor in some ways, couldn’t match his popularity.

Michael was mysterious. His white face achieved through plastic surgery became a most weird form of his old self, and made him look alien-like, which along with his dazzling attire and inconceivable self-invented dance styles, was like witnessing some kind of magic. Although always under public eye, his psyche could never be fathomed.

He lived in a rarified world which he could only identify with. A perfectionist, he was never totally satisfied with his feats in the entertainment world and always re-invented himself. He was so obsessed about his profession that he could never keep his public life stable. In magnitude he was such a big star that he could not live up to the responsibilities and precautions that are fundamental to keep his public image under check.

Before his highly anticipated third solo album after ‘Thriller’ in 1982, which still stands as the best selling album in History, a Guinness World Record, Michael’s face began to grow paler. It was rumoured that he had bleached his face to have achieved this, which he clarified to have been because of disease vitiligo, makeup and stage lighting among other reasons. In the ‘90’s his face had grown milky white- a stark contrast from the lovely dark boy he was in ‘Off the Wall’ and ‘Thriller’. Needless to say, he faced criticism from many quarters, but a deeper gauge into his mindset would convey to us that it never involved any racist connotation. Michael, with his face wanted to become a seemingly supernatural star, someone who could catch everyone’s imagination. His plastic surgeries went awry and disfigured his face a little more than he would have liked, but in the end he achieved what he wanted – he became a numinous ghost who could defy all human logic. His persona on stage was indeed paranormal to the point of insanity.

The insanity, however, became a feature of him in his off-stage public life. His line of work had so consumed him that he couldn’t mature in the other facets of life. His bizarre behaviour noted by the intolerant American media, earned him the nickname ‘Wacko Jacko’. The emotional artist that he was, he endured a traumatic phase of living in his latter years, laughed at by many for his eccentric ways and ridiculed for his controversies. It seemed no one wanted to see him smile again. The criminal accusations against him were all proved false in 2005, but by that time, his image was tarnished. Divorced by both of his wives, Michael for the last ten years lived alone with his kids. Yet he had billions of loyal fans, those who stuck with him through thick and thin. Uri Geller, one of his close friends, confessed, “I had once asked him, ‘Michael, are you a lonely man?’ He took ten seconds to answer, before replying in pain ‘Yes, I’m a very lonely man.’ There was no one whom he could confide in.” His display of affection for people and humanity was taken differently by different people.

Michael was on the threshold of a comeback in the 02 Arena in London on July 13, which would make the globe relive the moonwalk, and experience the past glory one more time. Fate, however, had different things in store for him, and for his devastated fans.

For much of his magical career spanning four decades, Michael was always involved in charity-work.

His statistics were mind boggling. He sold an estimated 750 million records worldwide, released 13 No.1 singles and became one of a handful of artists to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Guinness Book of World Records recognised him as the Most Successful Entertainer of All Time and "Thriller" as the Biggest Selling Album of All Time. Michael won 13 Grammy Awards and received the American Music Award's Artist of the Century Award. These figures, however, are incompetent in gauging the achievement of Michael Jackson and the ripples he created in the entire planet.

He was given the "Living Legend Award" at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Michael had once said, “This world we live in is the dance of the creator. Dancers come and go in the twinkling of an eye, but the dance lives on.” Indeed, Michael came and went in the twinkling of an eye.

But his legacy will live on forever. For his contribution to music, Michael Jackson is immortal. As one of his fans tearfully said, “The world will never be the same again”.