I believe it was Chris Rock who once said that Jackson couldn’t even convincingly look like a mammal.
Jackson hasn’t done anything worth more than contempt and sadness for over a decade. But the fact is he did do amazing things, and now that his life is over it’s time to take stock of his accomplishments. And holy shit, the guy was one hell of an entertainer once.
Yeah, I think his dying is turning out to have been a brilliant career move. His albums and DVDs are flying off the shelves, his predilections and weirdness have been forgiven. He;s gone from being a comic figure to a tragic one, and it’s true, seeing and remembering how monstrously talented he used to be – as well as how influential – is forcing even cynics like me to give him his props for his mountain top status as an entertainer.
Vitiligo looks likely. I wonder if it was suicide. How long has he been out of it? He’s aged since he was last on the circuit, he probably hasn’t kept in training as much as he used to and he no doubt planned something even more spectacular as a come-back. He’d committed himself to a massive tour. Maybe he found it harder going and too much to face and reckoned he’d rather go out remembered at the top than be seen going down.