# What does Michael Jackson look like nude?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [October 11, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749 "2005-10-11T13:51:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/1 "2005-10-11T13:51:03Z")
So I was reading about Michael Jackson’s [plastic](http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html) surgery. OK, so he had his skin lightened, that we can agree on.
How the heck do you do that? The skin is a gland, it is not just for decoration. So how would you mess with its color without killing the patient?
Further, is he that color all over? Did they whiten only the parts that show when he is clothed?
Sorry for the mental image folks.
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### Author:  [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/2 "2005-10-11T14:02:19Z")
I’d guess he’s pale all over. And the image I’m getting is Gollum.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/3 "2005-10-11T14:04:47Z")
So did he get injected (or did he swallow) some skin-lightening drug to pale out his entire body? Or did somebody apply a chemical to the places he couldn’t reach?
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/4 "2005-10-11T14:36:08Z")
Yanno, I actually know someone who knows the answer to this. There was a case a few years ago with one of his young “friends,” and there were issues as to whether the child could accurately describe his, um, anatomy. Pix were taken and kept with the legal papers. A friend of mine works in the Calif. court of appeals. He has seen these pix.
Ew.
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### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/5 "2005-10-11T14:39:05Z")
The skin’s an organ, not a gland. It has loadsa glands embedded in it, though.
As to the other question, even if I lived in the States I’d be too old to know. :dubious:
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### Author:  [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/6 "2005-10-11T14:39:10Z")
Give me a break Paul, it’s almost lunch time here and the last thing I need to be comtemplating is how MJ looks in the nude. 😃
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### Author:  [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/7 "2005-10-11T14:54:02Z")
There isn’t a practical way to lighten skin.(That is unless he’s found some secret treatment) Jackson has, [vitiligo](http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/vitiligo/vitiligo.htm) or something similar. His skin color is likely patchy.
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### Author:  [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/8 "2005-10-11T15:05:20Z")
I don’t know… there’s a shaft… a couple of balls, some pubes… and glitter. Am I close?
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/9 "2005-10-11T15:14:30Z")
The title of this thread has managed to kill my appetite for the day. Thanks. 😃
Patchy? So MJ looks like my cat?
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/10 "2005-10-11T15:21:47Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#):
>
> OK, so he had his skin lightened, that we can agree on.
We can? Who says? His skin may have lightened but that’s not at all the same as saying that he had it done.
There are such things are skin bleaching creams that kill off the melanin, but where is the evidence that Jackson uses them all over his body or even on his face? Tabloid gossip doesn’t count, for me at least.
And, as said, the skin is an organ not a gland. A constantly changing and replenishing organ. Even the prescription creams have to be applied daily or even twice-daily to have an effect.
I think your premise is shaky at best, and probably unanswerable.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/11 "2005-10-11T16:03:24Z")
The skin secretes, ergo it is a gland. If you want to say it is an organ that contains zillions of (say) sweat glands, then you might as well say the pancreas is an organ that contains lots of Islets of Langerhans, which are glands.
But in any case …
The link I provided seems to indicate his skin is much lighter than it was before. If he had vitiligo, would not his skin coloration vary over time? Would his skin color not be splotchy? Certainly he claims to be suffering from vitiligo, but do you believe him?
On the other hand, IANAD (I am not a Dermatologist) and I know of no way to lighten the skin. (Hence the question.)
I suddenly remember there was a photo released by the MJ defense team when he was being tried that seemed to indicate he was suffering from bruises from being manhandled while being booked. For the life of me, I cannot remember if he had white Mickey Mouse gloves on a black arm or what.
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/12 "2005-10-11T16:14:32Z")
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitiligo) has this article on vitiligo, and its photos show the splotchy skin I attribute to that condition. On the other hand it says MJ suffers from the disease and uses makeup to produce a more even appearance.
This would indicate that in his birthday suit, he has large different-colored spots on his skin.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/13 "2005-10-11T16:22:40Z")
Wait Picunurse! Skin whitening HAS to work! Our valued sponsors declare it!
By the way, exhibit A has some disturbing implications, at least to me, related to racially charged beliefs about skin color.
Exhibit A
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Exhibit B
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Exhibit C
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### Author:  [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/14 "2005-10-11T16:28:41Z")
(I must shamefully admit I had already clicked on the first Google ad.)
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### Author:  [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/15 "2005-10-11T16:29:36Z")
I was about to go eat breakfast. But not anymore. ☹
Thanks, **Paul**. 🙂
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/16 "2005-10-11T16:41:22Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#):
>
> The skin secretes, ergo it is a gland. If you want to say it is an organ that contains zillions of (say) sweat glands, then you might as well say the pancreas is an organ that contains lots of Islets of Langerhans, which are glands.
With regard to the pancreas, that’s true. In anatomical usage, an “organ” is usually applied to a functional unit that has a specific function or functions and is composed of several different kinds of tissues. In some sense, a gland could be considered an organ in itself, or a component of a larger organ. Usually, though, small individual glands like sweat glands are not considered to be organs. The pancreas, however, is large enough to be considered an organ (composed of two different gland types), though it is sometimes called a gland. The skin could be considered an organ containing many glands, but it would not normally be classed as “a gland” itself.
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### Author:  [@Gas-Rip-Off.com](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gas-Rip-Off.com)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/17 "2005-10-11T16:57:35Z")
> [@picunurse](#):
>
> There isn’t a practical way to lighten skin.(That is unless he’s found some secret treatment) Jackson has, [vitiligo](http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/topics/vitiligo/vitiligo.htm) or something similar. His skin color is likely patchy.
Bingo,
Exactly, and the skin cell disorder can run from white patches, which would stand out significantly on blacks, but impacts everyone with the same white colorless patches the same. It is simply a case of unkown reason that your cells shut down producing melenin which is how our bodies protect against sun, as in tanning.
The fact it usually starts on extremities, fingers, toes and genitals is common, slowly spreading, as in Jocko’s case. He certainly has used lighteners all over, so given time, you can lighten your skin. With his money, I am sure lasers were used as well as litghtening creams.
Regards, Mike
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/18 "2005-10-11T17:19:39Z")
I just threw up a little in my mouth.
Wasn’t there a description included in the Chandler kid’s testimony on the Smoking Gun site?
**Paul** , you must be an extreme masochist.
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### Author:  [@hlanelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hlanelee)
#### Post date: [October 11, 2005, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/19 "2005-10-11T20:13:21Z")
Considering the rest of the person, that we can see, I’d say pretty creepy.
Paul, have you been spending lots of time in the desert, alone…I understand that this makes people prone to strange ideas.
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### Author:  [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)
#### Post date: [October 12, 2005, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-michael-jackson-look-like-nude/325749/20 "2005-10-12T00:08:14Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#):
>
> Michael Jackson’s [plastic](http://www.anomalies-unlimited.com/Jackson.html) surgery.
Those comparison pics in your link are priceless! 😃
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