Michael Jackson accused an English journalist, to whom he gave a television interview, of fraud. Michael Jackson: Lifelong Loneliness Interview of Michael Jackson with Bashir

A couple more excerpts from a conversation with Bashir.

The first video was posted on the French website ElusiveShadow.com and was accompanied by a very interesting article examining manipulation tactics in journalism using the example of Bashir’s behavior in this interview, as well as revealing the topic of restrictions on freedom of speech in modern media. I present its translation in a slightly abbreviated form. Perhaps it is not entirely accurate in detail, since I first translated it from French into English using Google, but in general the meaning is preserved.

This footage was taken on January 14, 2003, several weeks before the first broadcast of Bashir's film. Michael Jackson is in Miami and has just learned of the sudden death of Maurice Gibb, a member of The Bee Gees. The day before the funeral, which he plans to attend, Michael answered questions from Martin Bashir - including about plastic surgery and the birth of his children. At some point that morning, the reporter decided to pause and stop filming, with only Michael Jackson's camera continuing to record. As a result, we see what we should not see.

In this video it is noticeable that the artist is much less tense than during the interview. He recalls the cinema and jokingly refers to his old hobby - “Cockney slang”: a special manner of speaking characteristic of the lower classes of the population in London. The essence of slang is replacement English words in sentences with rhyming phrases. For example, "stairs" becomes "apple and pears". Keith Badgery, who worked as Michael's driver during the Dangerous tour, awakened Michael's passion for Cockney slang.

However, behind the laughter and external ease of the interlocutors, one can see a clear manipulation of the singer’s mood: Bashir openly laughs with Michael, but does not hesitate to openly remind him that his best friend may soon die, because she is no longer young. The pause that followed and the sad expression on Michael Jackson's face speaks volumes about how these words affected him. A few minutes later, when the interview resumes, Bashir chooses Michael's friendship with Elizabeth Taylor as his next topic of conversation.

This example allows us to examine in detail the methods of manipulation used in journalism. The media is often considered the "fourth estate" (after the executive, legislature and judiciary), and it is believed that they can control the crowd at will. Indeed, the risks of abuse of this power are many, and the history of journalism is replete with examples of how information is distorted at various points in the chain: in the choice of eyewitnesses, the way questions are phrased, the skillful editing of answers, and the decision of which answers to keep and which to leave out.

But the general public tends to miss another issue: the pressure that today's journalists violate ethical standards, ignore certain facts, and favor some angles over others.

Manipulation in journalism

The Journalist's Bill of Rights and Responsibilities requires "respecting the truth regardless of the consequences," "not withholding material information," "not using unfair means to obtain information, photographs, or documents," and even "commanding oneself to respect a person's privacy."

While everything is obvious and simple on paper, in reality no one is immune from ethical flaws, and in front of the camera the interviewee is often in the position of a victim, even if the interview setup suggests the opposite. If a person is frightened by sudden attention, he may be more pliable, agree with someone else's opinion and not defend his point of view as strongly as usual. If, on the other hand, he is excited by the presence of the camera, he may show excessive self-confidence that he would not show under other circumstances.

The journalist is naturally in the position of responsibility for assessing the importance of the words spoken and their correct use. Abuse can occur without breaking the rules professional ethics, simply due to insufficiently deep questions. For example, a journalist may highlight the partial life experiences of an interviewee. Bound by restrictions on the length of the interview, he may emphasize aspects of the story that the interviewee would not like to emphasize.

For example, in the spring of 2009, France 2 channel released a report about the postponement of Michael Jackson's concert dates, which was just announced to fans. A team of reporters looked for a variety of people's reactions to the event, from fans upset by the news and angry spectators to those who were calm and understanding. The journalist was unable to gather feedback on his own and eventually turned to the site's team (ElusiveShadow.com) to help and act as "fan reaction experts." The site administrator agreed to answer questions over the phone and spent twenty minutes commenting in detail on the postponement of dates, the new schedule and public reactions.

During the broadcast in the evening, none of this was reflected in the program. Factual errors corrected in telephone conversation, were still present. The journalist was not a beginner: he had 25 years of experience and a good track record... and yet. Tight deadlines, trouble finding witnesses, a hasty edit, an intern assigned to the field to gather feedback... and here's the result: a misreported story, despite the time the reporter took the time to interview.

But there are cases when journalistic excesses are directly related to the deliberate manipulation of a witness. There is a lot of research on the topic of psychological manipulation, especially in the context of studying the phenomenon of sectarianism. The fact that men and women who are sane and capable of critical thinking find themselves in the hands of guru leaders and accepting irrational beliefs has raised many questions about the mechanisms that allow certain people to gain control over others.

The “Guru” gains influence over his victim gradually, as a result of a multi-stage brainwashing process. It would be premature to conclude that the journalistic episode with Jackson and Bashir is a typical example of brainwashing, but it contains a mechanism for putting the victim into a certain psychological state, based on well-known tactics that make it possible to get the opponent to agree with the reasoning desired by the manipulator.

Manipulation begins with the act of seduction. Since it is important for the interlocutor to think that an emotional relationship has been established with him, we pay attention to everything he says. The explanation is simple: if the victim can fall in love with the manipulator, she will be much more receptive to his demands.

In the case of Jackson's interview with Bashir, "seduction" is illustrated by a number of examples: the journalist endlessly flatters Michael Jackson, especially in matters where he feels insecure, such as when discussing his physical appearance. In an interview, the singer admitted that he does not like to look in the mirror. Martin Bashir dissuades him, says he is “sexy” so much so that “women will throw their knickers at the TV screen.”

Likewise, anyone who looks at Michael Jackson's public statements will notice his desperate need to be loved. This need was especially evident one day when the singer, who was then staying at a London hotel, threw out a pillowcase on which “Please love me always” was written in black marker. And repeatedly during the interview, Martin Bashir multiplies the compliments, giving the artist the illusion of love that he so desperately seeks.

Winning love is the first step to owning a person: once a trusting relationship is established, the victim has the feeling that he lives in a cocoon of love, he is listened to and understood. When Martin Bashir tells Jackson that he “wants to finally show the world what he’s really like,” he’s sending an underlying message: “I understand. I know who you are. I see what no one before me could see.” And Michael Jackson obviously responds well to this, because in an interview in response to Bashir's thoughts on the attitude towards celebrities, he replies: “You are above this, you are a respected journalist.”

Further, the mechanisms of mystification come forward: gradually the manipulator achieves a separation from reality in the mind of the victim. To do this, he plays the role of a confident person who provides support to the victim and hides his real issues. The victim perceives this as transparency. The double play was revealed in Michael Jackson's response film Take II, comparing what Martin Bashir said to the artist's face with the doubts he expressed off-screen.

The stage is now set for the victim to no longer exist as a unique and independent individual, but to become an "anonymous member of the group." "Everyone does plastic surgery! - says Martin Bashir in an attempt to draw out Michael Jackson more information about this theme. And this technique is effective: as the singer himself admits, he is unpleasant that he is constantly singled out when many other stars also undergo operations to change their appearance.

The capture of the victim is usually reinforced by the manipulator's criticism of the victim's environment. For example, in a cult, the guru will point his finger at family, work colleagues, or an environment that is friendly to the new recruit. This destabilizes a person because it breaks his usual emotional connections. In Jackson's interview with Bashir, we see the reporter try several times to imply that Michael Jackson is not getting support: "Do you think your people are telling you what you want to hear? Are they sincere with you?

This analysis can be accused of one-sidedness and bias, but many media outlets also drew attention to the presence of manipulation in this interview. For example, below is a conversation that took place between Walter Rogers and Ah Jill on CNN in 2003:

A Jill: We're both professional journalists. What unpleasantly surprised me throughout the interview was the lack of professionalism with which it was conducted. […]

W. Rogers: He tried to act like he was Michael Jackson's friend. Is this a bona fide tactic?

A Jill: Definitely not. The interviewer is not your friend, just like the doctor is not your friend. He may act friendly, but he is not your friend. […] In my opinion, this is a very cowardly way of asking questions. So, obviously, he initially got the interview through friendship, but once it gets to sensitive questions, he phrases them like this: “When other people say that...” or “How do you respond to accusations that...” as if implying by this: “On one side there are you and me, and on the other there are people who say terrible things about you.” It's disgusting when an interviewer resorts to such techniques. He must have the courage to ask his own question. [...]

W. Rogers: You described the interview as “horrifying.” What did you mean?

And Jill: Honestly, when the interviewer pretends to be someone's friend, it's just scary... And the worst thing is that he was very friendly then, and added criticism later, in voice-over comments and inserts. In journalistic terms, this is simply immoral.

Journalism under pressure

Michael Jackson fans are often puzzled by the success of the tabloids. In addition, many are surprised that major magazines carefully avoid certain "sensitive" topics, such as Michael Jackson's relationship with Sony or the circumstances under which the artist agreed to the This Is It concerts. To gain a full understanding of press freedom issues, it is necessary to trace the origins of the economic model of the media.

At the beginning of the 18th century, newspapers were produced entirely by hand and were therefore scarce and expensive: 55 workers were required to produce one copy. Gradually, industrialization and mechanization of labor increased the spread of the press and reduced the cost of its production: in 1870, thanks to the invention of the printing press, it was already possible to produce up to 300 newspapers per hour. In France, however, newspapers were still a luxury for the elite: schools were not compulsory (and would not become so until 1882), and literacy levels were extremely low. Moreover, newspapers were distributed by subscription and cost an average of 80 francs per year. By comparison, at that time servants earned barely more than 40 francs a month. That is, the cost of a newspaper subscription was equal to two months' income!

The press revolution began in 1836, when Émile de Girardin decided to halve subscription prices to make his newspaper more affordable. But how did this become possible? Previously, the subscription price fully covered the cost of producing the publication. Now this was no longer the case. Sales revenue was not enough to return the money invested in production. Therefore, a source of additional income was found: advertising. Girardin invented a new economic model that still works today: the unified market. The newspaper is sold not only to readers, but also to advertisers who pay for space on its pages.

If a newspaper has a large circulation, it provides advertisers with good visibility, so you can charge them a significant amount for publishing information. Conversely, if a newspaper sells less, it provides less audience coverage, so advertising in it costs less. The system seems to win both ways: it saves the reader, the advertiser distributes his advertising, paying a price proportional to the size target audience... and the owner of the newspaper compensates for his expenses. At that time, some cultural activists already expressed fears that the press would become a service to the needs of commerce, and criticized the press's intrusion into the masses through advertising. Louis Blanc, for example, wrote that journalism “will become a mouthpiece for conjecture and speculation.”

Now let's go back to modern times: today newspapers and magazines depend 50% on advertising. During an economic crisis, investment in advertising declines and media outlets struggle to stay afloat. Many people have to go out of business. An example that fans can understand: Black & White magazine, the former official Michael Jackson fanzine that existed without advertising, began to struggle once the news flow dried up and competition from the Internet appeared. As a result, issues ceased to appear regularly and subscriptions became impossible to maintain.

The media depend on advertisers, and financial dependence inevitably raises the question of editorial dependence: can a journalist write whatever his heart desires in a newspaper? The answer is almost always no. Imagine if Sony bought an ad space in your magazine for a year to promote its 3D TVs, providing a significant portion of your income. As a journalist, are you then free to criticize Sony Music's business decisions? If you damage the company's image, they may withdraw investment from your magazine. And without financial support your magazine will not survive. This example illustrates the conflict between posting information and protecting the advertiser.

It would be incorrect to talk about censorship here, because in most cases these mechanisms are not voiced, and the media do not receive explicit instructions to hold their tongues. Rather, there is a kind of self-censorship: the journalist limits himself and does not touch on certain “sensitive” topics. Therefore, it is understandable that a celebrity is a more convenient target than a businessman. Take, for example, the LVMH group led by Bernard Arnault. He owns brands such as Vuitton, Dior, Kenzo, Givenchy, Guerlain - brands that are regularly advertised in magazines. Can you blame Bernard Arnault for a newspaper column without risking losing LVMH's corporate support? Of course not.

In concluding the article, it is important to emphasize that it is not that journalism “lies”, but rather that journalism is “influenced”, which leads to the prioritization of information according to the economic threat it poses: news that causes potential harm to the advertiser , wrapped. This topic is taboo for many reasons: the media often position themselves as a cultural industry, and talking about them in economic terms is somewhat unconventional. Profitability is seen only as a means to a “fact finding mission” and not as an end in itself, even though economic problems– the main headache in the life of every magazine.

The appearance of this excerpt from an interview with Martin Bashir is just an opportunity to mention these issues and highlight some of the controversial decisions that journalists sometimes make. These problems are not unique to France; they affect media all over the world, even the most famous publications.

Michael Jackson's last interview (recorded five days before his death)

Many will ask why this interview was not published earlier? For three reasons. The first - 5 days after the interview, unfortunately, Michael Jackson died. Secondly, I didn’t want to publish the material without the approval of Michael himself. Well, thirdly, there was a lot of turmoil around this person, I wanted everything to settle down.

Now I have decided to publish the latest interview with the King of Pop. Nothing has been changed or added to it, I honor his memory. And please be aware that Lenny Rodriguez is not a real name. Let this be proof of Michael Jackson's sincerity. It was his wish, and now it has been fulfilled.

It came as a surprise to me when Michael Jackson wanted to give a private interview to some little-known reporter, that is, me. When the offer was made to me to do this interview, at first I was even a little confused. To be honest, I was completely unprepared for it. But having suppressed my confusion, I, of course, accepted it. In a couple of weeks, I had to read a lot of different information about Michael, from childhood to the present day, including materials from dubious sources, simply put - the yellow press. I watched all his interviews and videos: concerts, videos, home recordings. I needed to understand what was going to be discussed, to reproduce the whole picture of what was happening, because Michael said that the main goal of this interview should be to clarify many aspects of his life. Many people have an established opinion about them due to rumors. Actually, we are going to dispel these rumors. I tried to trace his whole life and form my own independent opinion - I needed to make a list of questions that would be more suitable for our interview. The very idea of ​​the interview was based on this - a conversation with a person who is not interested in any selfish goal, completely removed from show business.

When I arrived at his mansion on Sunset Street, he looked a little tired. Michael invited me to a small table in the living room, where we began to talk. To be honest, I was a little nervous. I have never had the opportunity to talk to a star of this level.

Lenny Rodriguez: Michael, why did you need such an ordinary correspondent like me, because you can find a more famous and professional one?

Michael Jackson: You are young and not spoiled by show business, like those professionals who have haunted me all my life. I made a similar mistake once before, inviting one of them, and paid for it. I opened up to him, but what I received again was lies and gossip. Although my goal was to tell the world the truth in order to exclude all ridiculous fiction.

Lenny Rodriguez: You mean Martin Bashir?

Michael Jackson: Well, if you name names, then yes.

Lenny Rodriguez: Okay, I will try to justify your trust and will not change a single word in your interview. If you don't mind, let's get to the main part, shall we?

Michael Jackson: Come on.

Lenny Rodriguez: There have always been a lot of rumors, gossip, and various conjectures about your personality. It’s hard to live when they make a scarecrow out of you and invent all sorts of nonsense. You're right, people believe gossip more than the truth. I would like to know about your appearance: plastic surgery, bleaching, skin falling off in patches, a pressure chamber - which of these is true?

Michael Jackson: (Laughs) Almost nothing... You know, there was a time when such gossip made my hair stand on end, why don’t people invent their articles to get to the top of the ratings. But then I stopped paying attention to it; if they want to write something like that, let them write it. You see, when I was little, I lived in my own fantasy world, because... I had no friends at all. In that world I looked a little different. I think this idea is correct. So I decided to change my nose, make it narrower. I wanted to get closer to my real self. Yes, my face has undergone some changes only thanks to my nose and nothing more. Everything else remained unchanged, it only changed with age, like with all people. Well, maybe in Lately I lost a little weight, because of this my cheekbones became sharper, the profile of my face became more angular, but this is not a reason to say that a plastic surgeon worked on my face.

Lenny Rodriguez: Okay, the face is clear, but what can you say about the color of your skin? Still, you were born black.

Michael Jackson: Yes, I started having problems with her at a young age. The pigment spots lightened it. I had to use foundation on exposed parts of my body. Gradually my skin took on a pale appearance. The disease, called vitiligo, is rare enough and not common enough to be known about. Well, I didn’t dare tell this to the press before, because I was simply shy and didn’t want to give another reason for gossip.

Lenny Rodriguez: One of the causes of vitiligo is severe or long-term stress. I heard that your father made sure that you did not have any free time for all the fun that other children your age had, and also forced you to work hard towards a career as a musician with the help of his fist and belt, instilling in you you're terrified.

Michael Jackson: Unfortunately, that's how it happened. Yes, as a child I had absolutely no free time. I wanted to play basketball with other teenagers or just sit and chat, but no, I went to rehearsal. It was not me, but my father who planned my whole life. My father was a real tyrant for the five of us. And the fact that I was at the head of the Jackson’s Five set me apart from the rest. I was a role model and therefore had no room for error, otherwise my father’s wrath would fall on me. It was terrible to dance or sing and think that if you do something wrong, forget yourself or get tired, you will be whipped or beaten. Endless rehearsals with my father left more than one scar on my soul.

Lenny Rodriguez: Didn't you have a single friend growing up?

Michael Jackson: Yes - it's true. I couldn't make lasting friendships because I was constantly busy.

Lenny Rodriguez: How did you cope with their absence? You said something about your special world.

Michael Jackson: You see, a child’s brain is very sensitive to fantasy, it tends to create various fairy-tale worlds that are inaccessible to an adult because of his maturity. In the moments when I was alone, I created my own world, in which I stayed throughout not only my childhood, but throughout my life, when I was lonely. This is not autism, but a completely different feeling based on imagination. I don’t walk and talk to myself like crazy (smiles), but I go there mentally, at the same time I can communicate normally with the people around me. I always carry my world with me and can find myself in it at any moment.

Lenny Rodriguez: So your world created as a child interfered with your normal communication with people?

Michael Jackson: Not really. The people who surrounded me, for the most part, had some kind of selfish goals towards me. I just felt it. I don't mean the fans, they have always been loyal to me. That’s why I couldn’t make friends with practically anyone. This was one of my great disappointments in life. But there was no other way. I have always given people a chance to improve, but very often such chances made me a target for ridicule or I became a target for putting other people's interests into practice.

Lenny Rodriguez: Is that why kids became your friends?

Michael Jackson: Oh yes, the child is a miracle in itself. They have a very developed imagination. It's very interesting to talk to them. They think completely differently from adults. They have a pure mind, not spoiled by society, a different attitude towards the world, different concepts of love and friendship. Children themselves want to tell a lot, but adults usually don’t listen to them and teach them their values.

Lenny Rodriguez: You invite sick children and poor children to Neverland, what do you get out of it?

Michael Jackson: I get inspired. Nothing in the world gives me as much happiness as seeing the joy on a child’s face. In general, I like to give more than to receive, this is the meaning of my life. We often talk with them on various topics. It is unfortunate children who had a difficult childhood that are even more sensitive and receptive. It is easier for such children to instill kindness and respect for nature and animals. It is generally very easy to find with children mutual language. Through my conversations, I try to give them a piece of that kindness that will help preserve our beautiful world in the future. I just hug them, wanting to give them at least a drop of warmth and kindness.

Lenny Rodriguez: Unfortunately, it was hugs like this that gave rise to dirty gossip. I myself am embarrassed to talk about this, I feel your sincerity, I understand how unpleasant this question is for you, but since we are writing frank interview Michael Jackson, many would like to know about the case of harassment of a young boy, whose family filed a lawsuit in 2003.

Michael Jackson: You know, I was looking forward to this question the most, because I’ve been wanting to talk about it for a long time. Many rumors were born from envious people; many benefited from spreading such rumors. Adults are evil and heartless people. They can do all sorts of bad things for the sake of fame or money. How more star, the more gossip and dirt there is around her. My time with my children has nothing to do with these dirty rumors. If you look at me and think with a sober mind, can this person bring pain to a child? He himself will receive the answer - no, I will never and under no circumstances be able to do something like that, even under pain of death. On the contrary, I am ready to give my life for any of the children. It really hurts me to think about what a terrible monster they portray me as. You can't imagine how upset I am.

Lenny Rodriguez: I understand you. But what actually happened?

Michael Jackson: I... I don't even know how to explain it. I actually didn't do anything. Perhaps one day I hugged Gavin, as I hugged many other children, and someone thought that something similar was happening... If we start from the very beginning, I took Gavin and his family to my Neverland, because the boy was terminally ill, he I couldn’t even walk myself; I had to carry him in a wheelchair myself. I wanted to last days he spent in the most wonderful place for a child. But after some time he made a full recovery and was soon to return to his daily life. Maybe this was the reason for my accusation. There was a similar case in 1993 when I gave a certain amount of money for a similar lie. The case didn’t go to court, I just didn’t want to waste my time because of lies, it was easier for me to give the child’s parents what they wanted me so much - money. This happened this time too. The very fact of the accusation was another lie in order to use me as a money cow. If last time I put up with such a lie, then this time I did not want to put up with it. For everyone it would look like I was actually admitting my guilt and paying off.

Many people who, for whatever reason, disliked me came to the trial with their own made-up nasty stories. I was unpleasant not only from their stories, but also from the fact that people whom I knew and trusted were saying such things about me. I couldn't sleep, I didn't eat much the whole time the trials were going on. I started taking sedatives and sleeping pills, otherwise I simply couldn’t sleep. Afterwards, information leaked to the tabloid press that I was taking drugs, but I just wanted peace of mind. I wanted a break from a nightmare that is hard to imagine. About my creative activity I just had to forget. The trials left me so exhausted that I became deeply depressed and lost a lot of weight. Which served as another source of gossip about my appearance. Although my lawyers and I won the trial, my reputation was tarnished, I was practically ruined by these people, and my Neverland became the most hated place for me. It still kills me to think that I was simply tormented for my kindness. In our world, kindness is punishable, people do not believe in sincere goodness, they are not able to understand that not only God and angels can give goodness. People judge by themselves and, even without finding anything bad in your actions, they will come up with something for you themselves and pass off lies as truth, and so skillfully and cleverly... that you yourself will be ready to believe in it... This is very painful and bitter.

Lenny Rodriguez: You and your parents were followers of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect. Subsequently you left her. Living in a religious family, you must have formed an opinion about God and religion. How do you feel about this now?

Michael Jackson: About religion... I think if I were God, I would ban religion. It takes up time, makes you suffer, be limited. I don't like religion, religion has always been a limitation. What's the point of worshiping God if that's all you spend all your time doing? A question that often arose in my childhood: “Doesn’t God want good things for his children?” I still cannot understand why God, if he exists, does not see goodness in his children. Why does he often need to prove something in order for him to be kind to you, why do you need to be afraid of God? Jehovah is not my God, I don’t want such a God. He is too hot-tempered, angry and scary. Have you ever asked yourself how people live on Earth? I constantly ask myself this, I believe that God is unfair to good people. He never sees you, never hears you. He just watches and causes you even more suffering. If he had seen my soul, read my thoughts, he would never have allowed this to happen to me.

Lenny Rodriguez: After a long silence, you are now preparing a new world tour. What made you take this step, since after the litigation you still don’t feel well?

Michael Jackson: You know, sometimes I think about the Michael that was before. Now I want to resurrect him. It doesn’t matter that I’m exhausted by the courts, I just want to tell the world that I am the same as I was before, that the world did not kill me with its cruelty. I want to revive in the hearts of my fans the music that makes them go crazy, enjoy life, and flutter like butterflies. I want to sing old hits: Billy Jean, Dangerous, Smooth criminal... and get satisfaction from it. I can't live without the stage, I think - this should give me strength for new creative ideas.

Lenny Rodriguez: Finally, what would you like to say to our readers?

Michael Jackson: Have you ever thought that a discouraged person would rise again from the ashes of hope? Thanks to everyone who supported me on at this stage my existence. In the future, I will be able to justify your hopes; you will not remain forgotten. When we are there, you will understand what you did and who you helped. To the rest I will say goodbye.

Lenny Rodriguez: Is that it?

Michael Jackson: I think so.

We said goodbye, and as I left, a deep melancholy flashed in Michael’s eyes for a moment, which was imprinted in my memory as something indelible. And now he smiles again... I will never forget this look. And these strange ones last words...A man without age. This Michael Jackson is a strange guy, maybe there really is something unearthly about him? At least he's completely different from any of us.

Yan Runov, NY: British Martin Bashir's documentary about Michael Jackson, based on an interview with him, was a resounding success. ABC, which paid Bashir $5 million for the rights to show it, received the highest ratings that night: the film was watched by more than 27 million viewers. The emphasis placed by the author of the film was unexpected for Michael Jackson himself, who stated: “Everyone who knows me knows the truth: my children come first for me, I will never endanger or harm any child.” And further: “I believed Martin Bashir and let him into my life and into the life of my family because I wanted him to tell the truth, and he betrayed me. His program is terrible and unfair.”

After watching the film, many children's experts said that Michael Jackson should not be allowed near boys. And psychiatrist and director of a psychiatric hospital in Brewster, New York, Michael Nucitelli, said that Jackson is mentally ill and that he often loses his sense of reality. Doctor of Psychology Patricia Farrell from New Jersey believes that Michael Jackson cannot be a father, because he does not perceive the world as it is. He lives with infantile fantasies. In the film, Michael Jackson admits that he still loves sleeping in the same bed with his friends' children. In an interview, he denied that he had undergone plastic surgery and called the changes in his face natural under the influence of time.

British journalist Martin Bashir spent 8 months seeking Michael Jackson's consent to an interview, promising to help the singer breathe new life in his artistic career, which has clearly declined. But the result turned out to be the opposite: millions of viewers around the world witnessed the terrible state that had once reached most popular singer. Psychologist Patricia Farrell was shocked by footage of Michael Jackson holding his little son named Prince Michael the Second behind the balcony. The doctor is outraged that the singer’s children do not know that they have a mother.

10 years ago, Michael Jackson was accused of pedophilia. To avoid bringing the case to trial, the singer paid the plaintiff about $20 million. But he has now admitted that he continues to share beds with boys (although he denied it was sexual in nature). As renowned New York lawyer Raoul Felder said, Jackson's confessions should trigger a judicial investigation.

Michael Jackson prepared a counter-film from those fragments of his interview that were thrown out by Martin Bashir. At first, it seemed that none of the major American television companies wanted to show it. Then everyone wanted it, but the singer preferred the Fox television company, which announced on Wednesday, February 12, that it would show the counter-film on February 20. The film is called "Michael Jackson, Part Two: The Interview They Didn't Show You."

Martin Bashir to Michael Jackson:
Martin: You don't want to grow up?
Michael: No. I am Peter Pan
Martin: But you're Michael Jackson
Michael: Yes, but at heart I'm Peter Pan.

Actor Michael Madsen (who co-starred in Michael Jackson's You rock my world video) once told me, “Michael Jackson was very open and kind person, but he seemed to me the loneliest and most unhappy on the planet. It’s difficult to be sincerely friends with someone and trust people if you’ve been living in a world of lies called “show business” since the cradle.”

Six years have passed since the moment when the King of Pop's heart stopped on June 25, 2009, and with it the whole world. I remember on this day almost all the news channels in the world were talking only about this, the planet stood still. The magic seemed to have disappeared forever.

I would like to call this article my tribute, a kind of collection of factual sketches and personal reflections about my hero Michael Jackson, who united and inspired a billion hearts and instilled in me a love of music since childhood.

I am deeply convinced that the media played a large role in Jackson's illnesses. They tormented him for many years, shrouding him in cynicism, exaggerating unproven conjectures and pseudo-facts. The press, like countless faceless termites, undermined him until it turned the great artist into a paranoid, hermit and recluse who lost confidence in almost everyone. Michael became a hostage own glory, in the chains of which he lived his entire life. People killed him with rejection, and they resurrected him after death. A sort of Judas weathervane. Madonna at the 2009 MTV Awards, leading up to her Michael tribute performance, was at her most honest. She said boldly, as befits a queen, looking straight into the hall:

"We all pulled away from him when he was having a hard time. And you all and I. We were too busy judging instead of supporting a man who has never been equaled in the history of music. There will never be another Michael Jackson . I won’t say that we were close friends, but there was a period when we communicated. I once offered him a ride, and then we went home to watch a film. While watching, he suddenly took my hand. There was so much innocence in it. "

Michael Jackson and Madonna

Few people know that Michael Jackson had an “inspiration tree” at his Neverland ranch. He deftly climbed it and could sit for hours and look into the distance, composing songs. Some of his greatest hits, such as Will You Be There, were written on this very tree. In an interview with Martin Bashir, which later played a cruel joke on him, Jackson said:

“Some people like to play football, others like basketball, but I like to climb trees. Don't you climb trees in free time? - he asked Bashir. He shook his head negatively. "ABOUT! You are missing out on a lot,” Michael concluded. At that time, the King of Pop was 44 years old.

All his life he tried to regain his childhood, which was irretrievably stolen. And few people understood this, calling such attempts at least strange. As part of their myopia and conservatism, the crowd was unaware that this man initially did not know love and received many psychological traumas in childhood. They didn't realize that Michael's first Christmas was in mature age, and then thanks to the efforts of Elizabeth Taylor. Few people thought that the problems in Jackson’s relationships with the opposite sex lay in the fact that he couldn’t understand how you could cheat on a woman if you became her husband. He believed in the sanctity of marriage and the cult family values, but I constantly saw opposite examples even in my own family. According to the memoirs of one of the singer's biographers, Randy Taraborrelli, when Michael found out that he brother Jackie cheated on his wife Enid with singer Paula Abdul - he took it so hard, it was as if he himself had been betrayed. He had always lived in a world where male infidelity was considered commonplace, and this affected his perception. One day famous photographer Francesco Scavullo said: "Michael asked me: 'How do you act when you fall in love?' Aren't you afraid that she's with you because you can do something for her? “I replied, “Mike, you can’t live your whole life in such disbelief. You have to try to believe.” To which he told me: "I'm afraid. I'm afraid because of what I saw. The men in my family don't know how to treat women. I don't want to become like my brothers."

JacksonFamily (partially)

Despite the inimitable energy and confidence with which Jackson performed, causing crowds of people to lose consciousness with just one dance step, in life he was extremely shy and had a fragile mental structure. So Bill Bray, Michael’s security guard, who worked with him for thirty years, said: “When I met Jackson, I realized that he had really lost his childhood and could not come to terms with it. Despite his talent in business, there is a strange vulnerability about him. You want to go up and hug him, telling him to take care of himself. And I wouldn’t call myself a sentimental person.”

Too busy digging into the “dirty laundry,” the press did little to cover the other side of the life of the great artist and philanthropist. Little known fact: Michael Jackson was the initiator of the creation of the “Universal Bill of Rights for Children,” the content of which he himself determined. These points clearly demonstrated how accurately Michael understood the problems of children. Among them were such important topics as: “The right to be loved without having to earn this love”, “The right to consider yourself worthy of adoration (even if you have such an appearance that only your mother could love you)” or “The right to know what you represent unique value, even if you haven’t done anything in this world yet.”

Michael Jackson with childrenNeverland

“Michael’s smile heals the soul,” wrote Uri Geller, “he had a unique energy. He had a great talent for choosing words that could touch the one to whom they were intended.”

However, Jackson was an impulsive man, and perhaps if it were not for his colleagues at the peak of their careers, for example, John Branca, we would never have seen the most brilliant Thriller. The fact is that Michael was a Jehovah's Witness for many years, and the elders insisted that whatever the King of Pop created went through their personal artistic council. In the late 70s and 80s, Michael Jackson unquestioningly believed in the ideology of the Witnesses and showed the elders a video of the Thriller he had just filmed. The latter were indignant and said that they would excommunicate Michael if this short film was released. Jackson called John Branca, who at that time was handling his affairs, mainly legal, and literally “ordered” all copies of Thriller to be destroyed. “This, you hear, should never go on air,” Michael shouted nervously into the phone. Branca didn't sleep all night. “How could such a masterpiece, in which huge amounts of money were also invested, be allowed to turn into ashes because of this whim?” John recalled. Branca found a way out. He suggested that Michael write a statement before the start of Thriller stating that its content does not reflect Michael's personal and religious views. Jackson agreed, the elders were satisfied. Michael would later say, “God bless John Branca. If it weren't for him, Thriller would never have seen the light of day." If Thriller changed the world of music videos, making Jackson an innovator in the creation of short films, allowing him to erase racial and stylistic boundaries in music, canonizing MTV, then Billie Jean changed music forever. This song remains to this day one of the most successful singles of all time. Every year, the MTV Awards present the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award, which is one of the most prestigious awards in the world of video clips. During the creation of the Thriller record together with the brilliant producer Quincy Jones, with whom they recorded two more masterpieces Off the wall and Bad, different situations arose. For example, at the very beginning of work on the album, few people believed that it would sell more than 3,000,000 copies.

“Records are selling very poorly now, Mike,” his colleagues, as well as the head of the record company and Jones, told him. This statement infuriated Jackson. He said sharply: “This will be the greatest disc in history, and if you don’t believe in it, then there’s no point in wasting a second of your time.” There was silence in the room, which was firmly broken by Jones: “Ok,” he said, “Let’s get to work!” It is known that during this period there were very tense relations between Quincy and Michael. Jones criticized the song "Billie Jean" as not being good enough for this album, but Jackson adamantly insisted that the song be given special attention, and he was right. It was Billie Jean who brought the Thriller album to the top of Billboard, where the disc spent 37 weeks in first place. To this day, Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, a cult and a true classic. modern music, which has inspired hundreds of millions of people, as well as most of today's superstars. Thriller also erased once and for all all racial barriers in music.

Michael Jackson: The AgeThriller

The tandem of Michael and Quincy performed miracles, the largest in effect in the world of music. Jones said: “Mike, listen to the music, let it tell you what you need. Let God into the room." And MJ listened. Working until exhaustion, always not 100% satisfied with the result. Then he continued to work again and again until he achieved perfection. At the same time, Quincy was not a supporter of dictatorship in production. He did not impose his views; rather, he fully revealed the hidden potential that was inherent in you from the very beginning. The merit of Michael and Quincy is that they turned the standard idea of ​​​​pop music upside down and allowed people to see the limitless possibilities of truly great creativity. Despite the fact that after the Bad album, for a number of reasons, the couple never worked together, the warm relationship between Jones and Jackson remained until the very end. Moreover, after the singer's death, Quincy repeatedly criticized the idea of ​​releasing posthumous albums. He said that this is blasphemy, you can’t think only about money, and many colleagues agreed with him, emphasizing that if Michael were alive, he would never allow albums like Michael and Xscape (the latter produced by Timbaland, Darkchild, L.A. Reid and many other greats) saw the light of day. Michael was a perfectionist and would hardly have been happy with such “crude” releases. However, the numbers speak for themselves. When Xscape's latest album was released last year, it immediately topped the UK charts and reached number two on Billboard.

Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones

For many years, Michael's sound engineer was Bruce Swedien, a sound genius, master and wizard who always achieved a unique sound. This is a unique person. Nobody in the world knows the geometry of sound better than Bruce. Proof of this is at least his work on Michael's album Invincible, recorded in 2001, which is objectively considered the best sounding in the history of pop music. Still. 14 years later.

Initially, Jackson wanted to record his hit Bad in a duet with Prince, who was at the peak of his career at that moment, but communication between the artists did not work out from the very beginning. They met and discussed the project. Michael and his management have come up with a great plan: launch a rumor campaign in the press, saying that he and Prince are bitter enemies who hate each other, and then, when the whole world is savoring it and dividing into two camps, they will make an official statement that these are just rumors, and they will present a video for Bad, where, according to the original plot, they will compete with each other, finding out who's bad. Prince was not enthusiastic about this idea, and after he heard the demo of the song, he completely refused , citing the fact that the guys would succeed even without him. When Frank DiLeo (Michael’s manager in those years) asked what he thought about this, Jackson shrugged his shoulders indifferently and replied: “Numbers.”

There was always some kind of struggle and rejection of each other between them. Prince sent Michael a box of amulets and feathers as a gift. It later turned out that she was bewitched by Voodoo masters, which horrified Jackson. Prince considered Michael a bore, and he said that Prince, although he writes good music, is evil in himself and treats women terribly. “Besides, he’s not much of an actor. It doesn’t represent anything.” Not too upset, the king of pop performed the song Bad himself, and the great Martin Scorsese made a musical short film about it. By the way, Wesley Snipes can be seen on screen for the first time. The song became another revolution in the world of music and attracted a huge number of street audiences.

Michael Jackson: eraBad

The album Bad sold dizzyingly, but it never managed to replicate the sales success of Thriller. Moreover, at the Grammy Awards in 1988, in the most anticipated nomination for Michael, “Album of the Year,” he lost to one of U2’s most outstanding discs, The Joshua Tree. Having released the most hits of the year and sold the most copies, Jackson left without this award, which undoubtedly made him despondent, but not for long. The next super hit, Dangerous, went on sale in 1991 and became Michael's most successful record since Thriller. Among other things, Dangerous had the most significant influence on all modern R"n"B music, greatly changing it. There was a lot of controversy about the album cover, many tabloids were looking for it hidden meaning, there was even a message of Jackson’s involvement in the illuminati. The author of the cover, Mark Ryden, said that he was very inspired by Michael's video Leave me alone, which became the impetus for creating just such an image. “This is the largest format for a cover. The original was about 90 square centimeters,” recalls Mark. “If you look at it very carefully, you will see that the titles, themes and messages of the songs are displayed in detail on it. It took me several months to create it. It was long, painstaking and very important work for me.”

Michael Jackson album coverDangerous

One of the most personal songs on the album is Who is it, the video for which was directed by the iconic David Fincher. Who is it is imbued with tossing and inner questions of the singer. In the depths of magnificent harmony, innovative music, captivating hypnotic melody and performance, there is a deep drama of loneliness in a crowd of many-faced people, behind whose masks it is impossible to discern sincerity. Especially in women. The line of distrust towards female love in this work is so clearly expressed that it is impossible not to feel all this emptiness of brokenness as a result of the deepest disappointment. In Michael Jackson's life, there were perhaps four women whom he idolized: his mother Katherine, Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross and Lisa Marie Presley. And if Taylor was his closest soulmate and support, and Ross was his mother in show business, then he definitely had feelings for Lisa of a different nature. They were similar. Both of them spent their childhood under the spotlight, both did not know a normal life, she genuinely understood and idolized him, and he listened to her advice. It was she who once told him: “Michael, a peaceful sleep is more valuable public opinion“It was she who held his hand on the edge of the abyss. This puzzle had to fit. And he agreed. True, not for long, but, nevertheless, he gave Jackson and Presley several happy years. After Michael’s death, Lisa said that Jackson repeatedly repeated the phrase: “I think I’ll end up like your father.” The anthem of their relationship was the song, a super hit from the album History - You are not alone, written for him by R. Kelly. You are not alone - one of the best pop ballads in modern music.

Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor

Michael Jackson and Lisa Presley

Michael always wanted to reach people, to tell them: “don’t judge me, I’m just a person. Just like you, I, just like you, just want to love and be loved,” and he sent these subtle messages through his sensual songs. How else could he do it? But how many of us can read between the lines? Huge bird descends onto the stage, hugging him with his wings in Will you be there, “before you judge me try hard to love me”, begging, he sings in the soulful Childhood, “when you"re alone and you"re cold inside" on the doomed breakdown he explains in Stranger in Moscow, more aggressively tries to convey his pain to people’s understanding through Why you wanna trip on me, Scream and They don’t care about us and sums up this desire through global themes about the problems of the Earth in the brilliant Earth song, as well as hymns to goodness We are the world, Heal the world and Man in the mirror. If we look at the composition Stranger in Moscow in more detail, then, of course, it turns out to be the most personal song Jackson has ever created. Randy Taraborrelli said that the idea for the song and video was originally conceived as a reflection of intimacy inner world singer He started writing it after his first tour in Moscow. This metropolis seemed to Jackson a complete identification own life. In his perception, Moscow remained a gray, bustling city of people running somewhere, where you feel the loneliest in this crowd. Randy said that even at the peak of his career, Michael sometimes went on walks to make new friends. But unsuccessfully.

“Even at home, I feel loneliness,” Jackson said, “sometimes it gnaws at me so much that I can’t cope with my emotions, I lock myself in the room and cry. You have no idea how hard it is to find true friends. Sometimes I walk around the neighborhood at night with the hope of meeting someone, just to talk about something abstract, but every time these walks end in nothing.”

He envied people who could calmly walk the streets, shop in a supermarket (once his friends closed one of them especially for Michael so that he could imitate shopping), meet, fall in love, walk in the park. Greatest Artist dreaming of simple things. A hermit with hundreds of millions of crazy fans, a lonely dreamer, riding a Ferris wheel in Neverland for hours on the tenth circle, looking at one point, lost among hundreds of evening lights. A grown man with the soul of a nine-year-old boy, stuck in time, who so wanted to be understood. A man yearning for sincerity and genuine miracle in a world of people who always wanted to take something from him, touch him, be involved in fame and money, but never thought about giving this man at least a little real love in return. Unconditional. Open. Hence the purchase of human-size dolls, which he kept at home, giving them names and talking to them, in the same parallel there is a park of wonders, his favorite pastime is shooting with water pistols and friendship with Macaulay Culkin. Children are presumably the audience he was comfortable with because they are genuinely sincere. “If I wake up and find out that there is not a single child left on Earth, I will throw myself off the balcony immediately,” said Michael. The desire for this sincerity and the childhood environment in which he received it played a cruel joke on him in the world of selfish, unprincipled and greedy adults who were eager to snatch at least something from this “pie”, to destroy and trample Jackson’s empire, as it says, “by any means necessary.” In the end, they succeeded. But it is unlikely that it will ever be possible to shroud in oblivion the great musical legacy that the King of Pop left in his songs, videos, and performances. Incredible, brilliant creativity, settled in millions of hearts forever. This extraordinary man changed the world and gave us magic. And magic never dies.

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