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On Michael Jackson

by Margo Jefferson

3.73 · rating details · 109 ratings · 30 reviews

Margo Jefferson’s On Michael Jackson is a lucid and elegant cultural analysis of the rise and fall of the King of Pop.An award-winning cultural critic, Jefferson brings an unexpected compassion as well as her sharp intellect and incomparable insight to Jackson’s 2005 trial for child molestation, startling us with her erudite illumination of a media-drenched circus that we ...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published January 9th 2007 by Vintage

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Aug 12, 2007

Elizabeth Fuller rated it

· review of another edition

Terrific premise; disappointing execution. I think it's a great idea to examine Michael Jackson - as a persona, performer and phenomenon - from a multifaceted cultural perspective (including the histories of entertainment, race, family culture, legal precedent and more), which is exactly what this book does. The problem here is that although the perspective is broad and far-reaching, the author just doesn't delve very deeply into any of her subjects, and the result feels more like a brief outli...more

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Jul 05, 2009

Margaret rated it

Shelves: 2009, biography, gender-and-sexuality, nonfiction, psychology, race, library, female-pen

Yes, my longest and most thoughtful Goodreads review is for a book about Michael Jackson. Since he died, I've been upset - more upset than I expected. Michael Jackson was for me what he was to many: always there in the background, whether it was his inspired music, dance, and presence in the early 80s, the speculation over his increasingly bizarre behavior starting in the mid to late 80s, or the more sinister role he took on as charges of sexual molestation were brought against him. Always there...moreYes, my longest and most thoughtful Goodreads review is for a book about Michael Jackson. Since he died, I've been upset - more upset than I expected. Michael Jackson was for me what he was to many: always there in the background, whether it was his inspired music, dance, and presence in the early 80s, the speculation over his increasingly bizarre behavior starting in the mid to late 80s, or the more sinister role he took on as charges of sexual molestation were brought against him. Always there; someone you raised your eyebrows at; someone you never doubted would be there forever, whether because that's how it had always been or because of the freakish, lineless mask his face had become. His sudden death was surprising - as in, I didn't know that could happen - and extremely upsetting because he runs through my childhood memories and because his life seemed incredibly sad. I gave into this weird intense mourning, read a lot of news stories that all said pretty much the same thing, watched a lot of his videos, especially his older stuff, cried a few times, and finally came across this book.

Margo Jefferson's tone is academic as she explores Jackson. She of course depends heavily on biographical details for many of the conclusions she comes to, but she also analyzes the trainwreck of his existence (covering until he is acquitted on the molestation charges in 2005) through culture, race, gender, and sexuality. She briefly tells us about Motown (by the late 60s it was beginning to decline, but had the same goals it always had of captivating black and white audiences without allowing for musical "emotional outbursts or improvisation" but rather "pure pleasure, addictive pleasure.") She dedicates an entire chapter to the stress put on the Jackson children and child stars in general. Shirley Temple is quoted from her own autobiography: "It is not easy to be a Hollywood starlet. Starlets have to kiss a lot of people, including some unattractive ones. Often starlets are knocked down to the floor or pricked by diaper pins. The hours are long...." Whoosh. That statement knocks the air right out of you.

Jefferson discusses the sexualization of child performers, particularly Michael Jackson. Asked to move, sing, and act like an adult while talking about things children don't really understand - romantic and sexual love, and the loss of it. He did it uncannily well. She discusses the "freaks" of PT Barnum and places Jackson within that context, not only for his ever-changing face but also because of his fascination with Barnum; she discusses Peter Pan, JM Barrie, his mother as a Jehovah's Witness, and the historical rejection of typically black features both within and without black communities, particularly skin color, nose width, lip size, and hair texture. You can see why the latter point is relevant to a discussion of Jackson. She discusses his parents and siblings, his upbringing, his solo rise to global fame. Note, too, that she covers all of these topics, and the book is a brisk 146-page read.

So did Jefferson answer my questions about Jackson? - What was wrong with him? Why did he drastically change his appearance? Why did he surround himself with mostly sick, needy children (mind you, I do not believe he sexually abused any of those children)? And - seriously, this is something I've always wondered and am really looking for an answer to - why did he always grab his crotch? Well, first, Jefferson did kind of answer my questions with interesting, creative suggestions, though it's mostly speculation.

Now back to the crotch-grabbing. She focuses on the video for Black or White, in which Jackson is pretty heavy with the crotch grabs and shots. She says, "And he dances - a violent tap dance without real tap sounds. Which makes it oddly ominous - we see and feel the percussion but we don't hear it. It creates a strange tension. Partly because it's sinuous and elegant - the way soft-shoe tap is. And very much because every few beats he strokes, snatches at, caresses his...phallus....In retrospect, the crotch clutch seems at once desperate and abstract. It is as if he were telling us, 'Fine, you need to know I'm a man, a black man? Here's my dick: I'll thrust my dick at you! Isn't that what a black man's supposed to do? But I'm Michael Jackson, so just look but you can't touch.' It wasn't real, it was symbolic. Not a penis but a phallus." This interpretation - not so sure that I buy it (though I would love to, how awesome if Jackson was really thinking that). It does put Jackson firmly in control of himself, his image, his actions, his behavior. My own impression of him was that of a vulnerable, broken, mentally ill and psychologically damaged man. This is probably part of why I (and many) reacted so strongly to his death. As my friend put it, "You just want to give him a hug and tell him you're on his side. But you can't. He's dead."

I can't quite believe that the crotch clutch goes as deep as all that. Is it not just a childish dance move from a man who was somewhat stunted psychologically? (And I am serious when I say that I want to know what's behind the crotch clutch - and I'm equally curious to know how America and the world accepted something so blatantly sexual into their lives - this is not swaying your hips suggestively, this is grabbing your dick). But I do buy Jefferson's premise that Jackson's career and some of his physical transformation that called his gender, race, and entire identity into question was somewhat purposeful. Perhaps psychological damage combined with narcissism and a need for "perfection," and the fact that he "has been a sexual impersonator since age five" gives us this: "He imitates no kind of life known to us. He passes in plain sight. Each appearance through the years has been a rehearsal, a restaging. Our doubts are never soothed, our questions never answered. Passers are supposed to hide their past, shed their racial or sexual history. Michael's past is everywhere. It exists in thousands of photographs and film images." And perhaps this is why we get Michael Jackson, forty years after his rise to stardom, holding his baby over the edge of a balcony: "a child star's act of vengeance. Holding a baby over a balcony is furious, infantile acting-out - doing something outrageous when people are interfering with you." Hmmm. Not sure I buy that either, but the theories this author has are interesting as hell.

A few things worth noting, personally: I see this deliberateness in Jackson's questionable gender identity. The video Scream is beautifully danced between him and his sister Janet. There is a two-second shot of him walking towards the camera in a very masculine way - some sort of incredibly sexy macho swagger. I had to replay it the first time, after his death, that I saw it. The scene changes, and a second or two later he's walking towards the camera again, same flashy gold costume, same backdrop. But this time it's a very feminine walk: narrow, with each foot in line, making his hips sway while his arms propel him forward. Is he fucking with us? I thought, or can he just not keep that effeminate runway walk from bursting out of him? (Either way, he has exceptional control over his body. Watch the video.)

And the second note regarding Jackson's deliberateness in some things, at least, comes from Jefferson, who says regarding his marriage to Lisa Marie Presley, "Kings are supposed to compete with their predecessors and kings are supposed to marry other royals. Elvis's widow, Priscilla Presley, makes clear that she saw Michael Jackson as a scheming pretender, building Neverland to top Graceland, then courting Elvis's daughter to secure his lineage...." Same with the other towers of the music world, the Beatles. "Michael learned to be as big as The Beatles. He learned to be bigger when he outbid Paul McCartney and purchased the Beatles' catalog (a clever twist on the old money, power, and race equation that had white performers outselling black ones with cover versions of black hits)."

Finally, Jefferson analyzes the criminal charges and trial and gets a nice, fat jab in at that moron Nancy Grace and the celebrity-crazed media and public who ate it all up. She validates much of what I already thought about Jackson, but she does it with a surprisingly thorough historical, cultural, and biographical analysis. It's sad - I'm still so sad. He was a messed up person, whether his actions were deliberate or not. As Jefferson says, "At this point, Michael Jackson's damage is equal to what his talent was, and that means it is extraordinary indeed. This is deeply upsetting to witness. Who wants to try and map that kind of compulsion and regression? Who wants to watch mental illness in panoramic close-up? What language is available to us when talking about it?"

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Jun 16, 2010

James rated it

Consider this a 3.5 star review rounded up to four, because there are no half-stars, apparently. I got this yesterday for (literally) a song--it was on the dollar rack at my Brookline Booksmith (I confess I go there far too often for someone like myself who has way too many books already and not nearly enough money).

I wanted to like this book more than I did. It's certainly the start of something important and worthwhile (it was published in 2006, not long before his death), and it...more

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Feb 05, 2009

Bookmarks Magazine added it · review of another edition

It's a high-wire act to admire and defend someone as genuinely bizarre and embattled as Michael Jackson. Most of the public has long come to a conclusion about him, so much so that his name rarely grabs tabloid headlines anymore. That Margo Jefferson, a Pulitzer Prize_�winning culture and theatre critic for the New York Times, is able to tease out some new insights into Jackson's relevance is something of an accomplishment. That she provokes some sympathy for her subject is even more impressive.

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Jan 09, 2011

Eleanore rated it

Though it includes a variety of factual errors in regard to Michael's career and life, it's worth noting that many of these essays were written while he was still alive (and even today there is very little legitimate research on hand for authors to consult). For the position Jefferson was in as a writer, she does an admirable job of being relatively accurate, but that's not really the main point — her goal with this collection is more creative interpretation of the man's work. Some passages — he...more

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Jul 07, 2009

Jill rated it

I read this book when it first came out, and ordered a copy when Jackson died. I appreciated, and appreciate even more so now, Jefferson's ability to discuss both sides of Jackson: his unquestionable talent and the irreparable harm caused to him in the name of that talent... and the possibility that he may have caused harm to others as a result. Jefferson's book is an example of how to talk/think about Jackson and his role in our culture without lapsing into the disturbing romanticization of hi...more

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Jul 08, 2007

Emma rated it

Recommends it for: Michael Jackson lovers

I thought this might be a trashy expose, but it was actually a short, well-written critique by a writer at the NYTimes. Surprising.

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Feb 20, 2008

SunnyD added it

Shelves: book-club_wms, espantoso-horrible, bio-autobio-memoir

so, i got through it. it took a little over an hour and i'm irritated that i will never get that time back. there's no reason to even review this piece of crap, so i'll just repeat what i said @ the book club meeting when asked, "what'd you think?":

it was like a really long magazing article. an article you'd only read b/c you were in the hair salon and the chatter of the other patrons and/or the stylist was somehow more annoying than the article. and you forgot your boo...more

· see review

Aug 23, 2011

Art rated it

This is a pretty shallow book. Jefferson opens promisingly, tracing Jackson's life against some of his lesser-known heroes; P.T. Barnum, Edgar Allan Poe and J.M. Barrie. But soon enough she takes the tone of preachy first-year psychology lecturer and the insight quickly becomes minimal. "I Want You Back" gains nothing from her sterile deconstruction, and her flat dismissal of Janet as "the hardest-working sex toy in show business" is frankly just offensive.

· see review

Aug 02, 2010

Mike rated it

Brain candy or junk food for the brain - quick to read, hard to put down (Lay's - you can't just have one!), and about as substantial as fast food. But it was a page-turner. The book was written three years before Jackson's death, but it pretty much summarizes what anyone with half a brain was already thinking - that Michael Jackson ceased to exist as a human after Thriller. Highly recommended for those stuck in a traffic jam/standing in a line.

· see review

Jul 27, 2009

Laura rated it

Like so many, I have gotten sucked into the post mortem Michael Jackson craze. Jefferson provides an interesting assessment and critique of Michael Jackson from young African American boy to androgynous, white-skinned adult. If nothing else, this book will make you think about how our society has changed in terms of what we desire and what we will tolerate.

· see review

Jun 26, 2009

Lauren rated it

Turn off all the TV and internet coverage of Michael Jackson's death and pick up this slim book by Margo Jefferson. Love him or hate him, her observations are to the point and thought provoking. A riveting look at an icon and what became of him.

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Jul 25, 2011

Jenna rated it

Interesting, well-researched, and sympathetic portrait of a complex public figure, but this book reads like a first draft.

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Jun 29, 2011

Greta rated it

Shelves: biography, music

This book is more on the psychology and transformation of Michael Jackson than his life story. It's a brilliant read.

· see review

Nov 01, 2010

Lauren rated it

A fascinating look at Michael Jackson by a Columbia professor - a quick but insightful read.

· see review

Jan 22, 2010

Carmela Taddeo is currently reading it

Recommends it for: all young people who know nothing about M.J

Recommended to Carmela by: Ivon King a really cool kid who rembered i wanted to read a book

Michael Jackson was a deprived little boy who was beat up from his father when he was a little boy.

· see review

Jan 25, 2010

Carmela rated it

Yes today I finished the book on michael Jackson and i was very mad I might just read it again.

· see review

Aug 21, 2009

Angel marked it as to-read

Read this book about Michael Jackson

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Jul 11, 2009

Kristl rated it

I really, really enjoyed this book.

· see review

Jun 08, 2011

Mervi added it

suomeksi: tapaus michael jackson

· see review

Sep 24, 2009

Jayla Fuller rated it

haven't read it

· see review

Jun 28, 2008

Ed rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: cultural-criticism, pop-music

I was never a fan of MJ, although he was the biggest thing since sliced bread in pop culture during my formative years. I do like several of this songs, his dancing is phenomenal...but the evolution of his character, career, and physical being--the stuff of endless articles--is tackled in this short book, written with a more academic pen than a tabloid one. As other reviewers have noted, there is a lack of depth that leaves one unsatisfied.

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Sep 05, 2009

Seán rated it

Shelves: biography-memoir, 2009, la-musique

Found on the Salvation Army shelf in the wake of this past summer's morbid Jackson frenzy, took it over to one of Woodside's few cafes, and read the thing. Jefferson provides a useful biographical sketch and poses a few interesting questions, that's all, and that's all that really can be done on MJ beyond a more complete appreciation of his music. Everything else is just voyeurism that isn't even fun.

· see review

Dec 09, 2011

Taylor rated it

Really great book! I'm a huge fan of Michael Jackson but I believe this book really explained who and what he was as a person. It was veryu insightful and it was definitely worth reading for those of you who are King of Pop fans.

· see review

Jul 25, 2009

Tuomas Hiltunen rated it

· review of another edition

I just reread this excellent book. If you were impressed by Joan Acocella's piece on M.J. in 27 July 2009 New Yorker (for 3 days she watched and analysed his music videos), you are going to be blown away by Margo Jefferson's marvelous book. 5 stars.

· see review

Jan 25, 2008

G rated it

Shelves: high-caliber

A incisive survey of Jackson's place in our culture and a great example of the strengths of cultural criticism.

· see review

Sep 09, 2008

Erin rated it

An interesting insight into the talent and downfall of Michael Jackson. A quick and compelling read!

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Sep 09, 2008

Npaw rated it

· review of another edition

All of these essays are very interesting and well written.

· see review

Jan 03, 2008

Foreign added it

Shelves: germany-berlinverlag

editor, German - Laurenz Bolliger

· see review

Mar 30, 2009

Jamey rated it

Pretty good.

· see review

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