Isn’t 13 the minimum age for joining the SDMB? In view of that, it’s not likely we’ll get any first-hand witnesses to respond.
Paul, let me just say that your thread title was probably the most revolting thing I’ve ever read on the SDMB. And that’s coming from someone who’s contributed to the Great Pimple Thread and ranted about pictures of non-healing abdominal wounds I encountered at work.
I’m thinkin’ Krusty the Clown.
GQ is for "factual questions, but the answer to your query surely lies in the realm of science fiction.
Lord knows I’m no Michael Jackson apologist, nor do I (thank God) any first- or even second-hand knowledge of what he looks like nude. I do, however, have vitiligo, and as the disease (condition?) progressed, my skin went from normal to splotchy to almost uniformly white. And if I were so inclined, even before it went completely white, I could have evened it out with cosmetics. To me, Jackson looks like he resorts to liberal use of pancake makeup.
I doubt that there’s any reliable treatment to permanently lighten the skin, no matter how much money you have to spend. When I was looking for something to make my skin look less like that of a burn victim (during the aggressively splotchy phase), the dermatologist had nothing to offer me.
Thank you Legend for your super post. I will take your word for it.
Sorry for this guys.
Like most older men, he’s starting to fall apart.
I always figured that he probably looked like a generic Ken doll.
::shrugs::
Based on this thread, possibly a giant scorpion:
Might explain why he wore that damned glove.
I check out Daryl Cagle’s website for his collected political cartoons. During the Jackson trial, Cagle drew a cartoon that showed a young boy picking Jackson out of a lineup that consisted of Jackson, a barbershop pole, and a giant candy cane.
After he received a bunch of “WTF?” e-mails, Cagle explained on his blog that during the public testimony, the accuser stated that Jackson’s penis was ‘striped’- possibly due to all of the chemical whitening and bleaching Jackson had done to his skin (speculation Cagle’s, not the child’s.)
>>shudder<<
Stop that!
It only encourages them!
Contrary to InternetLegend, the last time I went to my dermatologist she offered me a wide array of skin-lightening products, of varying effectiveness and aggressiveness, to bleach out my lupus spots. Can’t remember what they were, since I don’t care enough to use them, but they were designed to work over large patches of skin. I imagine MJ could use them, too. Perhaps InternetLegend was looking for something to relieve the redness of burn tissue, rather than hyperpigmentation?
mischievous
On re-reading, I see that I had a complete brain fart and thought that InternetLegend was concerned about burns rather than vitiligo. Sorry. I’m at a loss as to the discrepancy between our dermatologists. How long ago were you looking for treatment?
mischievous
Every article I’ve ever read regarding skin has declared that it is the largest organ, not a gland.
Maybe it is your largest (ahem) organ. 
:mad:
Michael Jackson’s famous ‘single white glove’ phase was brought on by him wanting to cover up parts of his body that were being affected by his vitiligo. You can see a progression of different ways he would cover himself up, up until he revealed on the big Oprah Winfrey interview (or whoever it was) that he had the disease. And now he covers himself up and shades himself from the sun a lot more.