Sexy OTW and Thriller pics thanks guys... he was sooooooo beautiful I wish he could see that. I exactly thought Michael looked good until maybe 00s it seem like he was going through alot but like someone else said around 06-08 he looked healthy.

these pics are gorgeous

I also agree that though I like the androgynous look on him, especially during bad through first half of dangerous and understand why he needed the makeup, I was not feeling the heavy amounts and shades of makeup that much cause he was already looking fine without it, it only worked for the stage, but not always offstage or in videos, but he still had the smile and the charisma and talent and all that made up for it. Whoever did his makeup for the 1999 MTV interview and the Vogue and Essence photoshoots should have been his makeup artist.

2001 really made me sad when he couldn't smile for quite awhile the way he used to, that was his best feature and made me so sad, though I know it was a medical reason I just had tell myself it's still him and he'll get better, and I don't mean that in a judgmental way. I liked some of his court styles, clothes wise, and I like those later pics posted from 2007-ish, those were nice styles, though I loved seeing him in the curls again in This Is It, he didn't look a day over 35, my baby was back!!!!

[Edited 10/5/12 20:40pm]

I have a question to all of my MJ fans [though I really don't think that this isn't appropriate for this sticky.....& the main reason why I hate using this damn sticky in the first place ].......

I would really like to know everyone's opinion on this. I am a really big MJ fan [even more so than I am a Prince fan] & I've always wondered how older fans felt about MJ's forever changing appearance. I was born in '82, & I remember the Thriller short film premiere & everything, but I was young as hell @ that time . But I found footage of youtube were people were not feeling Michael's look when Bad first came out. They complained about his skin color even @ that period. I do actually believe he had vitiligo [or @ least I want to believe that], but for those who grew up & were around his age, or @ least a teenager in the 80's, did his appearance have any affect on you during that period, or @ any other point? I remember when the Bad video first premiered, I watched & loved the video, but I couldn't understand @ such a young age as to why he looked so different. To me, it was him.....but it wasn't "him" [I was really confused @ that time as to what happened to him ]. If MJ's skin color stayed the same as it originally was & his didn't get anymore plastic surgery past '85, how do you all think things would have been different? Do you think Bad's original record sales were hindered by his appearance? I've just always been curious by this......

^ I know this question isn't for me, cause I was born a year after you, but I knew the Thriller videos in flashes before the Bad video came out and was everywhere, and I was confused when family told me it was michael jackson, cause he didn't look like that to me in Thriller and Billie Jean cause his skin was lighter and his hair longer, but then it sort of looked like him a few seconds later, and I just shrugged it off. Something similar happened when Black or White came out, but just felt I'll get it when I'm older and sure enough, I got internet during HIStory and finally heard of vitiligo, though I still found the skin thing confusing yet telling myself it's the same michael the years before I would get upset and defensive if people, especially older than me would make fun of his skin or say they don't like him cause of his colour changing, though I was confused too at first, but was turned off that people older than me were saying mean things and that they missed out as a result if they didn't continue buying his albums. I used to feel that they had known about him for years and enjoyed him and wonder why they would let something like that get to them, but sort of understanding social conditioning behind why, and a lack of earlier miscommunication about it now, as well as people not understanding what is different, and accusations of acting out from internalized racism simply for being who he is.

alphastreet said:

these pics are gorgeous

I also agree that though I like the androgynous look on him, especially during bad through first half of dangerous and understand why he needed the makeup, I was not feeling the heavy amounts and shades of makeup that much cause he was already looking fine without it, it only worked for the stage, but not always offstage or in videos, but he still had the smile and the charisma and talent and all that made up for it. Whoever did his makeup for the 1999 MTV interview and the Vogue and Essence photoshoots should have been his makeup artist.

2001 really made me sad when he couldn't smile for quite awhile the way he used to, that was his best feature and made me so sad, though I know it was a medical reason I just had tell myself it's still him and he'll get better, and I don't mean that in a judgmental way. I liked some of his court styles, clothes wise, and I like those later pics posted from 2007-ish, those were nice styles, though I loved seeing him in the curls again in This Is It, he didn't look a day over 35, my baby was back!!!!

[Edited 10/5/12 20:40pm]

I totally agree, they used bad makeup on him and I HATE the red lipstick they used in the later HIStory era, it was not the right shade for him. Yes he should have hired whoever was the makeup artist for those shoots, because they made him look great

And I love some of the styles during the trial, it seems as if he was starting to get more interested in fashion in his later years.

alphastreet said:

^ I know this question isn't for me, cause I was born a year after you, but I knew the Thriller videos in flashes before the Bad video came out and was everywhere, and I was confused when family told me it was michael jackson, cause he didn't look like that to me in Thriller and Billie Jean cause his skin was lighter and his hair longer, but then it sort of looked like him a few seconds later, and I just shrugged it off. Something similar happened when Black or White came out, but just felt I'll get it when I'm older and sure enough, I got internet during HIStory and finally heard of vitiligo, though I still found the skin thing confusing yet telling myself it's the same michael the years before I would get upset and defensive if people, especially older than me would make fun of his skin or say they don't like him cause of his colour changing, though I was confused too at first, but was turned off that people older than me were saying mean things and that they missed out as a result if they didn't continue buying his albums. I used to feel that they had known about him for years and enjoyed him and wonder why they would let something like that get to them, but sort of understanding social conditioning behind why, and a lack of earlier miscommunication about it now, as well as people not understanding what is different, and accusations of acting out from internalized racism simply for being who he is.

Honestly, I'm rather happy you answered, being that we're around the same age & have similar views about. I often feel as though MJ should have showed his condition off before he went so extreme with it, to warn people that his skin color was going to be changing over the years. I think that would have made everything more understandable & maybe there would have been no backlash about it. He could have showed the world in some big interview, & I feel he would have been supported very well for being so brave to show it...

Tittypants said:

alphastreet said:

^ I know this question isn't for me, cause I was born a year after you, but I knew the Thriller videos in flashes before the Bad video came out and was everywhere, and I was confused when family told me it was michael jackson, cause he didn't look like that to me in Thriller and Billie Jean cause his skin was lighter and his hair longer, but then it sort of looked like him a few seconds later, and I just shrugged it off. Something similar happened when Black or White came out, but just felt I'll get it when I'm older and sure enough, I got internet during HIStory and finally heard of vitiligo, though I still found the skin thing confusing yet telling myself it's the same michael the years before I would get upset and defensive if people, especially older than me would make fun of his skin or say they don't like him cause of his colour changing, though I was confused too at first, but was turned off that people older than me were saying mean things and that they missed out as a result if they didn't continue buying his albums. I used to feel that they had known about him for years and enjoyed him and wonder why they would let something like that get to them, but sort of understanding social conditioning behind why, and a lack of earlier miscommunication about it now, as well as people not understanding what is different, and accusations of acting out from internalized racism simply for being who he is.

Honestly, I'm rather happy you answered, being that we're around the same age & have similar views about. I often feel as though MJ should have showed his condition off before he went so extreme with it, to warn people that his skin color was going to be changing over the years. I think that would have made everything more understandable & maybe there would have been no backlash about it. He could have showed the world in some big interview, & I feel he would have been supported very well for being so brave to show it...

Being as shy and insecure about his appearance as he was, I would guess that it took him a while to deal with it himself. When you compare the Oprah interview and the later ones where he talks about vitiligo, you can see that with Oprah he's very emotional, while later on it was easier for him to talk about it. Maybe he was hoping it won't get as bad. It's hard to say, why it took him so long to talk about vitiligo, but I don't see it as a problem and if some people still cannot accept the fact that he was ill and wanna hold it against him, then it says more about them than MJ.

I was born in OTW era, so his changing appearance was something I grew up with and maybe that's why it was never such a big deal for me as it was for other people, cause no matter what I could always feel and see HIM and that was always what was feeding my love for him. Of course there were times where I would not like his appearance thinking it was weird (like that Oxford look lol), but it was usually because of his make-up, hair-style or clothes that he was wearing and this was happening all his life. He had his "bad days" and "very good days" in every era for me, so I can't say he only looked good up till Bad or something and then not. I can appreaciate his beauty in any era. The only times I was really puzzled about his appearance was when he lost his smile, but even at that time he could still look very good at times.

[Edited 10/7/12 0:46am]

I never found it strange. It was completely normal to me. But I was born in the late 80's and was a huge MJ fan since I was literally 2 years old. I guess it's like, if you don't already know that people's looks aren't supposed to change that much, then you just don't know any different so you wouldn't know enough to find it strange, or not the norm.

So it was only much later when I understood the extent and methods of why his appearance changed, but by then I was already "conditioned" to not find it strange. I still don't find it strange.

There are plenty of people out there with much more extreme surgery, and being half Asian, vitiligo is actually very very common in our community. I have a large white patch on my leg myself (my skin is otherwise brown), it's a birthmark rather than vitiligo but it looks the same as when you see the people that have patches over their face and/or body.

Growing up, I never understood why it was such a big deal to people. Hell, I still don't really.

I can somewhat understand the concept of some black people perhaps feeling like he "betrayed" their race, as one of their biggest icons, but of course, that's a concept rooted in ignorance and the false belief that he "changed" his skin color for personal reasons and people not knowing or not believing that he has vitiligo. And as a mixed race person I've always felt intrinsically that ethnic identity isn't defined by skin tone but by family, community, etc. I get confused for so many different races myself

^ yeah I have heard vitiligo is common in mixed races as well, my coworker had said that cause of a family member of hers having it, and I hadn't heard that before though I'd read up on it years ago, maybe it's a newer finding

and yeah, I understand that maybe michael believed he had the disease under control or was having a hard time coming to terms with what was going to happen and there was some denial. I have met sensitive people with vitiligo, but it was worse for him being who he was, I could tell in Oprah how upsetting it was for him

1978-81 is when I think he looked his best. He looked great during Thriller era, but like someone said, he almost looked a bit too perfect. 1989 was his last 'good' look for me. Once the Dangerous campaign started, I was turned off by his appearance.

Finally, Michael Jackson As Academic Subject

[img:$uid]http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc272/bigheadot/Pop.jpg[/img:$uid]

Although a great deal has been written and said about Michael Jackson's life, much of it is tabloid in nature with little research done and even less truth told by the media. Only a small fraction of the "news" has focused on his immense and without parallel artistic, cultural, and humanitarian contributions. Although we still must endure tabloid writing about Michael as will be on full display in Randall Sullivan's upcoming book, Untouchable: The Strange Life and Tragic Death of Michael Jackson, with its numerous questionable sources and outright lies which can be easily disproved, the academic world has been increasingly turning its attention to him. Each factual, responsibly-researched, thought-provoking book, article, interview, course of study, film, etc. that explores Jackson's life will help balance the scales now heavily weighted down with 40 years of tabloid trash. Mr. Jackson was a whole being, not a series of separate compartments each unknown to the other. He lived a BIG, eventful and panoramic life of high value, warts and all, and it's telling is way overdue.



Already in the past few years, symposia about Michael Jackson have been held at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia College Chicago, NYC's Schomburg and Lincoln Centers, and the Louvre. The short film "Thriller" is the only music video to be selected for the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress, and Jackson himself is likely to remain the only pop star inducted into the Dance Hall of Fame alongside other distinctive architects of American dance heritage like Astaire, Graham, and Balanchine. The publication of books, blogs, and academic treatises about Michael Jackson's art has begun, characterized by the kind of in-depth study that illuminates its subject, and that connoisseurs of music have been waiting for. It seems Jackson's extraordinary story is finally being told.

Spike Lee's "BAD 25" documentary has received rave reviews from nearly all media outlets. It also received standing ovations at the Venice, Toronto and Rio film festivals recently. It will be shown on ABC Television on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012, in the U.S. It is another significant step along the path of truthful examination of Michael Jackson.

Joe Vogel, author of the excellent book, Man In the Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson, is an instructor at the University of Rochester. He will be teaching a class, "Black or White: Race, Identity, and Representation" where the work of Michael Jackson, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Spike Lee and others will be explored. Joe recently wrote about the exciting academic progress regarding Michael in a recent blog, "Studying Michael Jackson." Joe does an excellent job of noting upcoming academic courses, books and papers. We will highlight a few here but please visit Joe's website for even more links to serious study of Michael Jackson's life and work.



Studying Michael Jackson

Zack O'Malley Greenburg, a Forbes staff writer, is working on a business focused biography of Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, Inc., to be released in 2014. Zack regularly writes about the business of Michael Jackson for Forbes and is very thorough in his research and very fair to Michael in his writing.



http://www.forbes.com/sit...ckson-inc/

This fall, Duke University is offering a course on Jackson, "Michael Jackson & The Black Performance Tradition," taught by Dr. Mark Anthony Neal. The entire course is dedicated to the study of Jackson's life and work. Here are the links to a paper written by Dr. Neal and the course syllabus. It will feature books such as Michael's Moonwalk, Joe Vogel's Man In The Music: The Creative Life and Work of Michael Jackson, and a large variety of academic papers featured in publications like "Popular Music and Society" and "Popular Music Studies." All papers are listed in the course syllabus.



"Sampling Michael: Rhythm, Masculinity & Intellectual Property in the 'Body' of Michael Jackson" by Mark Anthony Neal



http://newblackman.blogsp...inity.html

Dr. Mark Anthony Neal's Duke University course syllabus

http://newblackman.blogsp...k.html?m=1



Clark Atlanta University will be offering an MBA course on Michael Jackson this fall. Former entertainment attorney James Walker, "whose clients have included Jamie Foxx, DMX and Bobby Jones, will teach "Michael Jackson: The Business of Music" and show how his success grew to such heights through negotiations, deals, merchandising, real estate and film projects."



http://www.bet.com/news/f...ourse.html



The University of CA - San Diego is currently offering a Popular Music class focused on Michael Jackson.



http://musicweb.ucsd.edu/...ffered.php

"You Rocked Our World, Michael: Your Moves, Your Look, Your Music, Everything!" by Stan Hawkins. Other articles are also available at this site like Jacqueline Warwick's "You Can't Win, Child, but You Can't Get out of the Game": Michael Jackson's Transition from Child Star to Superstar."



http://www.tandfonline.co...pms20/35/2



Dr. Susan Fast will be publishing a book on Michael Jackson's "Dangerous" album. Here is a piece, "Difference That Exceeded Understanding: Remembering Michael Jackson (1958-2009)," written by Dr. Fast.



http://z3.ifrm.com/432/80...anding.pdf

Sylvia Martin has written several academic articles on Michael Jackson including "The Roots and Routes of Michael Jackson's Global Identity" and "Remembering Michael Jackson: Moonwalking Between Contradictions."



"Remembering Michael Jackson: Moonwalking Between Contradictions" on the Norman Lear Center's website.

http://blog.learcenter.or...on_mo.html

There are so many more great articles published about Michael but there is limited ability to share them due to possible copyright infringement but MJTN wants you to be aware of them. The increased academic study of Michael Jackson offers hope that the tabloid narrative can be replaced with well researched and analyzed documentation about his cultural, artistic and humanitarian legacy.



www.MJTruthNow.com

ViintageJunkiie said:

1978-81 is when I think he looked his best. He looked great during Thriller era, but like someone said, he almost looked a bit too perfect. 1989 was his last 'good' look for me. Once the Dangerous campaign started, I was turned off by his appearance.

His look during the Dangerous period was a total shocker for me. I was confused even more by what he was doing to himself.

i got to think to thinking earlier, dont get me wrong.. i love bad 25 and think the estate did a wonderful job with it. but i wish the Michael Jackson estate was ran like the Rolling Stones or The Beatles..

everytime i blink there is a new Rolling Stones item coming out. They have the lp box set GRRR coming out soon, along with the Brussels affair box set, and the Charlie is my darling box set coming out.. The beatles have a stereo lp box set coming out in november.. along with The magical mystery tour box set... not much promotion or hupla and not catering to the general public.. i wish the mj estate did things like that

It could be to wean off overexposure, but some more merchandise than what I'm seeing would have been nice. Some of those Bad suitcase items should have been sold seperately in music stores, and they should have made things like mugs, magnets and so forth.

Tittypants said:

ViintageJunkiie said:

1978-81 is when I think he looked his best. He looked great during Thriller era, but like someone said, he almost looked a bit too perfect. 1989 was his last 'good' look for me. Once the Dangerous campaign started, I was turned off by his appearance.

His look during the Dangerous period was a total shocker for me. I was confused even more by what he was doing to himself.

The first time I saw Michael in the video Black or White, is such as he was in the 90's, .... so a real shock for me was his look at the time of Thriller, not because he looked unusual , but because I had until 2009 perceived about him only as a white man with a very strange appearance.
in my opinion, only after his death, when it was a lot of biographies, photos and videos on TV, I first saw him with black skin .... until then I had only heard about it.
In fact, I switched channels on June 26 and got the video "Beat it" ... I liked the guy (not a song or video at that time, but now I love it ) and decided to wait for the title, to see who it is .... yes , it was really a shock ...

LiLi1992 said:

Tittypants said:

His look during the Dangerous period was a total shocker for me. I was confused even more by what he was doing to himself.

The first time I saw Michael in the video Black or White, is such as he was in the 90's, .... so a real shock for me was his look at the time of Thriller, not because he looked unusual , but because I had until 2009 perceived about him only as a white man with a very strange appearance.
in my opinion, only after his death, when it was a lot of biographies, photos and videos on TV, I first saw him with black skin .... until then I had only heard about it.
In fact, I switched channels on June 26 and got the video "Beat it" ... I liked the guy (not a song or video at that time, but now I love it ) and decided to wait for the title, to see who it is .... yes , it was really a shock ...

what year were you born? And you didn't know thriller or billie jean at all before from parties?

GoldDolphin said:

Not trying to be funny or nothing, but does anyone think Mike would have looked like this in the year 2000? The way they made this pic, he looks so miami vice-ish

remember this?

alphastreet said:

LiLi1992 said:

The first time I saw Michael in the video Black or White, is such as he was in the 90's, .... so a real shock for me was his look at the time of Thriller, not because he looked unusual , but because I had until 2009 perceived about him only as a white man with a very strange appearance.
in my opinion, only after his death, when it was a lot of biographies, photos and videos on TV, I first saw him with black skin .... until then I had only heard about it.
In fact, I switched channels on June 26 and got the video "Beat it" ... I liked the guy (not a song or video at that time, but now I love it ) and decided to wait for the title, to see who it is .... yes , it was really a shock ...

what year were you born? And you didn't know thriller or billie jean at all before from parties?

in 1992.

My parents loved Italian music and rock music, so I was not familiar with the pop artists.

I knew songs and videos: Black or white, Remember the time, You are not alone (the first 2 videos are often showed on music channels in Russia.)

I knew about the balcony incident and the court in 2005, because much talked about in the news, when I was already in the age of accountability.

I knew MJ was black, but until 2009, I did not see exactly how he looked, so I associated him only with 90s

then, when I started listening to his discography completely, I realized that I know many of his songs. For example, I have long heard Liberian Girl and just fell in love with this song, but did not know who sings it .... learned only in 2009

I think it was after videos like " Childhood " and " You Are Not Alone " I began to question his appearance, and identity

Cloudbuster said:

i think this is misleading (and funny, yes). the "artist" erred by using a photo from a 12 to 14 year old mj to to the so-called progression. mj changed a lot from boyhood to teen, without plastic surgery. if you think in your mind of how he looked on the cover of that first jacksons album from epic compared to the child photo above, he looked very different already.

if the "artist" was going to do this, he should have used the 18 to 20 year old mj instead. that said, all of it is beyond ridiculous.

kibbles said:

i think this is misleading (and funny, yes). the "artist" erred by using a photo from a 12 to 14 year old mj to to the so-called progression. mj changed a lot from boyhood to teen, without plastic surgery. if you think in your mind of how he looked on the cover of that first jacksons album from epic compared to the child photo above, he looked very different already.

if the "artist" was going to do this, he should have used the 18 to 20 year old mj instead. that said, all of it is beyond ridiculous.

Well yeah, you can tell just by looking at his brothers that he wouldn't have looked like that. Still funny though.

funkycat00 said:

I think it was after videos like " Childhood " and " You Are Not Alone " I began to question his appearance, and identity

yeah same, I was very confused that he was getting even more lighter than the last two eras, but then in 1996 I read about vitiligo when on mj sites looking more u on him and learning about him as a person

SoulAlive said:

GoldDolphin said:

SoulAlive said:

remember this?

How would Michael Jackson look without plastic surgery??

This is an artist's rendition of the progression of Michael Jackson's looks based on his childhood photo if he had not had any facial surgery.

Lol, I remember watching that documentary- my brother and I, couldn't stop laughin it was just such a bad job what they did to his face. They made him look worse than joe Jackson. If anything he'd probably look more like marlon, but then we all know how he looked like when he was 17-20 and he still didn't look close to that picture. Lmao

Now that's funny.

I wish MJ had come out with his vitiligo much sooner. He didn't have to, but it would've cleared up some things.

I do remember when Bad was out. All of my friends had it. One was a diehard MJ fan. I commented that Mike was lightskinned now. They kept denying, and said Mike looked the same, I said he did not. Shrug. Back then we battled Bad vs. SOTT, and I admit, I did ask about it.

MadamGoodnight said:

I wish MJ had come out with his vitiligo much sooner. He didn't have to, but it would've cleared up some things.

I do remember when Bad was out. All of my friends had it. One was a diehard MJ fan. I commented that Mike was lightskinned now. They kept denying, and said Mike looked the same, I said he did not. Shrug. Back then we battled Bad vs. SOTT, and I admit, I did ask about it.

Yea same here madam.... I wish Michael also could have been an advocate of it similar to what Magic does and Michael J Fox does .. I think if he had done that the press would not have constantly spread rumors despite him revealing he had vitiligo. It also would have made the public more aware that it is a issue that affects many many people.

mjscarousal said:

MadamGoodnight said:

I wish MJ had come out with his vitiligo much sooner. He didn't have to, but it would've cleared up some things.

I do remember when Bad was out. All of my friends had it. One was a diehard MJ fan. I commented that Mike was lightskinned now. They kept denying, and said Mike looked the same, I said he did not. Shrug. Back then we battled Bad vs. SOTT, and I admit, I did ask about it.

Yea same here madam.... I wish Michael also could have been an advocate of it similar to what Magic does and Michael J Fox does .. I think if he had done that the press would not have constantly spread rumors despite him revealing he had vitiligo. It also would have made the public more aware that it is a issue that affects many many people.

Well said.

MadamGoodnight said:

mjscarousal said:

Yea same here madam.... I wish Michael also could have been an advocate of it similar to what Magic does and Michael J Fox does .. I think if he had done that the press would not have constantly spread rumors despite him revealing he had vitiligo. It also would have made the public more aware that it is a issue that affects many many people.

Well said.

i agree, too. i've often thought that it would be so great if one of the kids became the spokesperson for a vitiligo organization, esp. if there is one that works with kids.

i thought i read somewhere that mj actually did invite kids who were also afflicted to the ranch.