Plastic surgery wasn't invented for Michael Jackson. There is no winning in this opinion piece. I adored him, and he said himself he wanted his life to be like Barnum and Bailey's. The greatest show on earth...he made his bed and he did lie in it. He did everything his way. And he was a genius both in business and in artistry. Weird is not illegal nor is it rare.
Long live the King.
Mostly, I just feel bad for him.
Anyone who goes through that sort of a drastic physical alteration is NOT comfortable with himself. That much is clear.
I don't know where the root of it was, or the roots of it were, but it had to be severe.
I remember a few years ago, there was a GIF posted on the Internet of the changes from Circa 1979 to about the year 2000. It's startling.
I think as much as he loved the limelight, he hated it, as well. You see that in so many of his songs and the work he did in the late 1980's on. Songs like "Leave Me Alone" "Black Or White" and whatever that one was "DS" on the History, that was supposedly about the DA Tom Sneddon, just scream that he was not happy.
Then, the things that he did. A grown 30-40 something man having sleepovers with 12 year old boys....Not wise. Even if he didn't do anything inappropriate, it still comes across as bad.
I think in a lot of ways, he was trying to recapture lost childhood and youth. By all accounts, his childhood was not pleasant. He states he had to endure physical and psychological abuse from his father. His father admits he would whip him as a child.
Note the whole "Neverland" thing, wanting to stay as child like as possible, the company he kept, with his relationships with teen and preteen boys. Interestingly enough, when he was about 10-12 years old, that's when he started to get famous.
The plastic surgeries? Well, he states that he only had a couple of nose jobs, and had a dimple put into his chin. However, it does seem that the shape of his face, in particular his jawline and cheekbones did change over the years. The skin lightening can be explained by the Vitiligo and Lupus, which both cause skin issues, and sun exposure issues.
He also did lose a great deal of weight; Reprotedly wanting a "Dancer's Body." That may have something to do with his face...who knows.
It really is a shame the way he died. Obviously, he had some serious health issues, with weight, insomnia and chronic pain. It seems as though the doctor who was treating him, was more of an opportunist, and not up for truly treating Michael in the way he deserved to be.
He was a pop genius; a tortured, flawed human being, but It's a bit odd for me to think of him as a SEXUAL being, for a variety of reasons.
ETA: Here's a link of a slideshow of all of his facial transformations over the years. You be the judge....
http://en.terra.com/music/pictures/michael_jacksons_physical_transformation/27163